MY GUARDIAN ANGEL

If you arrived at this post instead of the Christmas Trip to England, it's the previous one.  No, this post is about my Guardian Angel.  Now, it's quite possible that my GA is just a combination of coincidence and conscience/intelligence but I prefer to think I'm the recipient of a little higher-power guidance.  Or maybe I'm just lucky.  I know I'm naive (some might say clueless) when apprising my surroundings.  Some instances from my past:

When I was a young or pre-teen, I was into duckpin bowling (small ball, small pins), three shots per frame.  The better bowlers had their own set (two balls).  One day my older brother, Jack, came home and presented my with a pair of balls and a carrier.  The story is slightly fuzzy, but apparently he was walking down the street in downtown DC and some guy came up to him and asked if he wanted to buy these bowling balls.  Jack gave him $5 for them.  OK, we're pretty sure this was a vagrant who had stolen them and needed some money for booze/drugs.  But they were never going to find their way back to their original owner.  The balls were black with mottled green.  I used black shoe polish to polish them every week before league play.  My game improved immensely.  This might be a little shaky in the GA department, but that's where I'm slotting it.

When high school graduation time came, I had no plans for the future.  At least I was aware I needed to do something.  At one serene moment, it came to me to join the Army.  Both my brothers had served, Rich in the Army and Jack in the Air Force.  I can remember assuring my parents that the world was at peace and it didn't look to change before I could get in and out.  At 17, I needed their permission to join.  Five days after graduation I reported to boot camp at Fort Dix.  My recruiter had talked me out of signing up for the Motor Pool (I liked cars) after seeing my test results and discerning my demeanor.  He rightly said that the Motor Pool environment wouldn't be a good fit (as in, those guys are scum).  So that is how I spent time at Fort Devens, Massachusetts (our company was awarded "Best Mess Hall" on post) and two years in Germany (also with an award winning mess hall).  About six months before discharge, we were give the opportunity to train as helicopter pilots and become Warrant Officers.  Again, without plans for what to do after discharge and being quite happy with my Army experiences so far, I inquired what it would take.  I was quickly dismissed, because you needed to be 21 and I was only 20.  So that is how I missed going to war in Viet Nam.  

Next I thought about college.  With the GI Bill, I thought I could swing it.  I applied to Catholic University in DC, St. Louis University, University of Arizona, and the University of Dallas.  Having spent the winter in Germany with -21 degree weather and having the ground snow-covered from November to March, my search narrowed to Arizona and Texas.  I hadn't heard from any of them by the time I was discharged.  I found a clerk job with Pittsburg Paint at home.  This was in late June.  In August I received a letter from U of Dallas accepting me and offering a partial scholarship.  My SAT scores weren't quite to their standard, but being a veteran helped get me in.  Apologetically, I quit my job and headed to Dallas.

How I met your Mother.  Beginning of freshman year, I asked a girl for a date and she turned me down.  Then suggested this other girl.  I didn't make a very good first impression.  She gave me another chance.  We were married after graduation.  

UD didn't have an intern program.  As an education major I had to do student teaching.  That taught me I could never be a teacher.  But I had to do something.  I actually had a job offer in Maryland.  Marilane advised she wasn't moving to Maryland.  A UD grad offered me a job as assistant theatre manager.  $75 a week.  That was an easy job, but I knew I needed something else.  I interviewed at an insurance company in downtown Dallas.  Apparently I wasn't what they were looking for.  From out of the blue, I heard that State Farm Insurance was hiring.  That interview went well, and I was hired.  

Several years later, my old theatre manager, Mike Dettle, had become a district manager and offered me a job in Houston paying slightly more than what I was making at State Farm.  I cannot recall what else induced me to quit State Farm, but I did.  I can't fault the GA on this, I was presented good reasons why  should stay and didn't listen.  That was a disaster.  As I rolled from one headache to another for almost two years, I suddenly remembered that Bill Burke said if I wanted to return, to give him a call.  Bill Burke wasn't my boss, but was in charge of insurance education courses and was also a superintendent.  I had taken the first series, IIA, and he was familiar with my work.  I called and he gave me a job. The following year he was offered a position in the new office in Phoenix and wanted me to go with him.  He intimated I would be promoted to supervisor.  Marilane said she wasn't moving to Phoenix.  Another good call, in that Bill passed away the next year.

When the Austin office opened, both of my former supervisors, Cyle Atwood and Bob Sullivan moved to Austin as superintendents.  Cyle asked if I wanted to come.  This was a good opportunity and Marilane agreed, so we came to Austin.  Several years later, with me as senior underwriter in the Auto Company, the Fire Company was recruiting underwriters.  Cyle advised me to make the move.  Apparently I had become persona non-grata to an auto division manager and would never get promoted in the auto company.