Aloha ,
What will you remember most about your life?
At the end of your life, will you have any regrets?
When I reflect on Memorial Day and what it means to me, I can't help thinking about my Dad. This is him and his skinny little legs standing next to his parents grave. Every year on the 4th of July he would go to visit his parents' graves in a cemetery in the heart of St. Paul. In later years, I would
often go along or drive him there.
You might be wondering why he would go on July 4th and not Memorial Day...July 4th was a memorable day for him because that was the day his dad died when he was only 11 years old. His dad died just shy of my Dad's 12th birthday. My Dad began working right after that. He lied about his age to caddy at
Hillcrest Golf Course to earn money to help his Mom out. Later, he worked at a drugstore. He was paid $12 for a 48 hour work week that started after he was done with school at 2:30pm and of that $12, he gave $11.50 to his mom so he had 2 bits to spend for himself.
My Dad was also a quartermaster on the USS Essex naval ship in WWII for 17 months (see pics below). There were 3,000 men aboard ship. He earned 9 battle stars and was in 15 battles. During one of the battles, on November 25, 1944, a Japanese kamikaze airplane hit their ship. He wrote
in his journal that he "hopes never to be scared like that again." and "I'll only live to be 60 now." (Of course, he lived a lot longer than that...to age 97!!) His favorite duty was setting the 98 clocks aboard ship. He also liked being a helmsman (steering) the ship.
Following the war, he went to college at St. Thomas and was the captain of the finest post-war hockey machine. They won the championship that year and these boys were tough...they played without helmets!
There are lots of lessons I learned from my Dad but there are a few as I write this that really stand out to me. My Dad impressed upon me the importance of:
- Following your dreams
- Doing work that you love
- Never giving up
- Having fun along the way
He was living proof of this and my Mom, bless her, went along with it!
My Dad was offered a good paying job supervising a group of ladies at the state. He had been working signing birth certificates (which is so funny because his handwriting was terrible!) and they offered him a promotion, but he turned it down. My Mom was upset that he turned down this good job, yet I think
she knew he wouldn't be happy doing that. He wasn't meant to sit in an office. He would have hated that job.
Instead, my Dad spent his life starting and running some 13 businesses. Among them he had the first Beer Nut franchise in Minnesota, a wrapped sandwich business, 3 cafeterias in the 3M Mining plant, golf driving range, and 3 coffee shops downtown St. Paul. He also built 2 restaurants - the
Fox and Hounds (which is now Crooked Pint) and Donny's Supper Club. He owned a bar in Wyoming Minnesota and his longest running business was a bar called Fitch's Sherwood Lounge in St. Paul, which is still there and now owned by his longtime bartender and friend Colleen.
There's a story my Dad shared with me more than once that has always stuck with me. He delivered sandwiches to the 3M Mining Plant in Cottage Grove (before he and my mom started the cafeterias there). He would arrive with the sandwiches early in the morning as the men were
streaming in for their shift at work. He said they walked in slowly, with their heads down. He could see from their faces that they hated their jobs and would rather be anywhere else. It was like they were walking to their execution, not their livelihood. My Dad's message to me was: No matter what, do what you love! Don't spend your life being miserable.
My Dad didn't always succeed. In fact, several of his businesses failed. He filed bankruptcy, lost his shirt and even had business partners that stole from him. But, he didn't give up! He kept coming up with new ideas and pursuing what he loved, which was interacting with people. And he
enjoyed his downtime golfing and laughing with friends.
I live my life by his example, following what lights me up and doing what I love to do. And what I most love to do is helping you follow your dreams and love your life! I do that by providing tips and tools for creating more flow in your life and for navigating your life
with more ease and grace (like a gently flowing river rather than a roller coaster.)
Let me help you create a life where you have no regrets.
Here's what I want you to do...
Click on this link to
schedule your Discovery Session.
That link will take you to my calendar page. Above the appointment times is a box that says CHOOSE YOUR TIME ZONE. Simply click the down arrow and choose your
time zone. Then you will see the open appts in your local time.
There’s a few questions for you to answer which will help make the most of our time together.
Once you’ve answered those questions, simply click “COMPLETE APPT” You’ll receive a confirmation Email and reminder
emails.
Space if limited (I’m only one person & have just 2 more days open for these appts before Spring Enrollment at the lower pricing ends) so SIGN UP
NOW
This could be the conversation that changes your life.
This could be the call that changes your life in some big or small way.
But you gotta click the button and book it. And then, of course, you need to show up ready to look at your life!
