| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | For my eleventh birthday, my siblings gave me the best present ever. They bought me a "trip" to Chicago that included going to a Chicago Bulls game, the Nike store, and the Michael Jordan Restaurant. This was during the heyday of the Bulls and MJ. I was a huge fan and remember it vividly to this day. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | My brother. He is considerably older than me and offered a hipper version of parenting that sticks with me to this day. I always run big life changes by him to see what he thinks. Jobs, moving, buying a house, etc. He has been there through all of that. He remains sarcastic, fun, and a great parent. He is by far my biggest role model. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | Honesty and responsibility are huge. I find that the people who are honest to themselves and others tend to be more grounded in reality. They also tend to be the most trustworthy of friends. Responsibility includes a person's commitments and fiscal life. The people who show the biggest responsibility tend to have the best follow through on plans and are always where they need to be. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | My best friend and I were known to "race" our crappy little first cars (during high school) in to the school as we were both in band and lived near each other. These were the impromptu, see each other on the back country roads and start speeding type races. Nothing to win other than pride. One day, the main route we would use was closed so we were forced to use even more back road type roads, including a "high speed" right turn on to a gravel section of road. Following my friend, I saw him make his car squirrely turning on to the road, I made the determination that it was because he braked in his front wheel drive car while turning on the gravel. I attempted to prevent that happening by trying to power through the turn. This did not work and in fact had me turning the car in to the spin that was happening, then once more opposite to deal with the overcompensation. Upon looking up, expecting to see the distant tail lights of my friend's car, I see that he is only around twenty feet in front of me. We both slowed down and finished our drive to the school. At which point, I asked him how I managed to keep up. His reply, "I stopped when I saw your car sideways in my mirror. I didn't want to have to turn around to pull you out of the wreckage." This is one of my scariest experiences but also my favorite/funniest moment. Friends like that are worth keeping. Which is why we have at least yearly trips where we get together and do something fun. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | Europe. The amount of history and ravages of several wars are there and it would be interesting to see some of what has made western civilization what it is now. They also make excellent beers (mostly the Belgians and Germans) and some really great food. Looking at you France and Portugal. It would be fun to spend some time getting drunk on the amazing Scotches while over there also. I realize Europe is huge and would require a year or two to fully experience all that it has to offer. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | Be the best, most inclusive person you can be. You only have a certain amount of time on this Earth and you need to be happy with what you do and what you have done. |
