When I was five years old we still lived in a small sub division just outside of Greensburg, Indiana.   A very important event happened that year – my brother Jim was born – we now had four kids in our family – and thank goodness another boy!

What I remember most was playing in the backyard with my sisters and neighbors almost every day in the summer.

I believe that was the summer that my dad taught me how to hit, throw, and catch a baseball.  I didn’t play on a team until the following year, because our town didn’t have tee ball like Grant has played over the last year.  I also remember going to my first Cincinnati Reds baseball game during that summer.  The Cincinnati Reds are still my favorite baseball team.

I got glasses that summer – I could now see things far away, it was pretty cool.  During the fall, I started kindergarten.  The only thing I remember about kindergarten is that I broke my glasses the first day of school, and I remember crying until my Mom came to pick me up.  I thought I was in big trouble for breaking my glasses, but Mom and Dad were able to quickly get me a new pair of glasses, and they reminded me they were always there to help me through the difficult and challenging times.