My honor -the article

Here's the article that I am going to submit for the company newsletter that I recently posted about. Is it boring as it seems and what can I do to jazz it up a little besides getting horseshoe to rewrite it.



Well to be asked to be the first to be featured in this newsletter is quite an honor. For those that don’t know me I work in the foundry on B team. I think I was asked because I am the oldest employee or maybe it’s because I am the tallest. The old adage, age before beauty must fit here somewhere. Anyway I hope this is not boring. I will try to make it interesting.

Most of my working life was spent in the grocery business. I worked for A&P for 20 years, Big Star for 8 years, and Kroger for 11 years. Most of this was in management positions. I also worked 8 years at Mobil. For three years I owned and operated a photography studio in Opelika before we moved to Lagrange.

My wife Bobbie and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary in November. She was a child bride and I have always though of myself as being younger than she is. Someone must have entered the year wrong on my birth certificate. We have three sons that all graduated from LaGrange High School. They are Robbie, Chris and Mike. Robbie was born the first year after we married, Chris was born the second year, we bought a television the third year and Mike was born the fourth year. They were all involved in sports with two of them getting scholarships for football and baseball. We also have 5 wonderful grand children. They are Michael, Kennedy, Jamie, Jackson and Logan. They evidently didn’t take after any of us because they are perfect. I recently went to Augusta to watch my grandson Michael in the state baseball championship tournament. I enjoy sports but enjoy them even more when some one I know is involved. I always thought that being involved in sports would keep my boys busy and out of trouble.

I enjoy photography and gardening as hobbies. I combine the two because I take a lot of photos of the flowers that I grow. I am a member of an internet garden club named DAVE’S GARDEN. In June I attended a swap meet in Tennessee where members came from as far away as Arizona and Connecticut.. Most of the swaps were prearranged but if anyone had anything and you wanted it all you had to do was ask. I met about 25 members and their families that I had corresponded with that now seem like family. I really enjoy sharing plants that I propagate and many of my fellow employees are now owners of these plants. I have a few of my teammates that joke with me when they see me bringing plants in about them being the kind of plants that you get high on. I guess I do get a natural high from growing and sharing. I have only been growing from seeds the last couple of years and get a thrill when a plant that I started from a seed turns into a beautiful flower.

I think my favorite plants are the BRUGMANSIA ANGEL TRUMPETS and RED PASSIFLORA VITAFOLIA. I have many varieties of plants and really enjoy them all. I have over twenty of the angel trumpets in my yard and that number changes almost daily. I will root some and then I’ll give some away. I have five varieties of the passiflora’s and I have never seen two of them bloom so I am really hoping they will come forth with a blossom soon. I also enjoy the sweet potato vines and I have four varieties of these. Some of the most beautiful flowers are so easy to grow. The petunias and zinnias are great for color and easy as seeds, dirt and water. I am not always successful as anyone that gardens can attest to but I do enjoy trying.


I have had to curtail my garden activities somewhat this year because my wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and helping her adjust and get better has been and will be the number one priority. Hopefully she will respond to treatment and I can spend more time with the plants in the future. Thanks to all of Federal Mogul and especially my team for being so understanding and supportive during this time of adjustment. It’s heart warming to have teammates that are supportive of you when you have a difficult personal situation that you have to deal with. My thanks to all of you and members of other teams also that have offered your kind words of support.

Jim, That is just great!! You are on a par with our 'Shoe! Jo

I don't think it's boring at all. You did a good job Jim.

Bravo! Don't change a thing. It reads well and is true to you. I love reading Shoe's stuff but this just wouldn't fit you if someone else re wrote it!

Ah, Jim, your sweet nature comes bursting right off the screen here. I think that's why you were chosen to write first, so you can blaze a trail for other writers to follow.

Nice article Jim.

The Pulitzer Prize is being wrapped up at this very moment ;-)

Don't change a thing. I think it is excellently balanced, and is an interesting read.

All the best

Wintermoor

That is a great article, I enjoyed it!

Go for it, Jim! Nice reading! Like I said before, you could end up doing an on-going series. I'd submit that in a heart beat!

Jim, that was very nice, good reading, flows naturally.
Good JOB!!!!

You "story" is fascinating, enjoyed reading it. Hope DW gets her problem under control with medication.

Good luck to both of you with gardening, grow those Brugs!

I thoroughly enjoyed the article Jim. Don't change a thing. It is truly "YOU". Those were really great "Plugs" for our wonderful DG also. I never know if the things I tell folks about DG will make them want to join but I do my best to inspire them to do so. I see that you do that also. Keep up the good work and give Bobbie a hug from me.

I truly enjoyed reading it. It's a 'keeper'!!!

I thought it was a really interesting article. Not a bit dull or boring. It will help people get to know more about you and give your co-workers some smiles.

Jim it is just great! The way you described your life and your family makes me feel like I have known you forever! By the way is that TV still around that you guy's bought between son's 2 and 3????????
sue

Thanks everyone for the comments. I sure hope it turns out as well there as it has here. They had already talked to me about using some of my photos of my plants in the newsletter so I'm sure there will be some of those.
Sue the T.V. is long gone.

That is wonderful!!!!! A little humor, a little misty in the eyes ~ just terrific, Jim!!!! And pictures, too?! You'll have to scan the article once it's published so we can see it.

GeorgiaRedClay, that's a great article. It was interesting to hear about your life. I caught a touch of humor here & there to spice things up. For instance, "We have three sons that all graduated from LaGrange High School. They are Robbie, Chris and Mike. Robbie was born the first year after we married, Chris was born the second year, we bought a television the third year and Mike was born the fourth year." That gave me a smile!

Wasn't that a great line, Weez?! I loved that one!

Yeah, that was a really cute line. I got a kick out of it too.

That TV part made me laugh aloud here, all by my lonesome. Great article, Jim. The TV may be long gone, but at least ya still have your wife and three kids, LOL!

But if you had skipped the TV it could have been 4 kids!

Ha, Zany, that is funny!

Maybe even more than four, Zany...With no TV they'd have come up with other means of entertainment still, LOL.

Jim,
That was a well-composed profile. Though boring (don't mean it), it made nice reading. I liked the Television part. It reminds me of a joke:

A couple were having a TV and were addicted to it. Once that TV went out of order. They gave it for repairs. It was then they realized that they didn't have any children!

Did the same thing happen to you, Jim, before your third son was born?

I wish for your DW's return to health and your return to gardening.