The
2024 God Bless America Again Tour
Page Title
Lifetime Reflections... A Long Strange Trip
I recently buried my brother who passed due to Covid in Tulsa. I am the oldest of four boys of whom only I and my youngest brother remain. Our parent’s gravesite is also found at this cemetery located in Owasso, OK where my Mother had purchased the burial plots in various garage sales through the years. Many of my Dad’s four brothers & one sister and their spouses are also buried here. I was born in Fort Worth but grew up in Owasso, population 2,200 where my Dad worked at the nearby American Airlines maintenance center. Aside from being a reliable provider, his life ambition was to hunt, fish and chain-drink beer. He’s best remembered for his extremely rough & rowdy ways.
Even though the word ‘Love’ was never spoken, I had a relatively happy childhood. I went to a Baptist church each Sunday morning with my Uncle and his family, but drifted away as I became a teenager. Following a period of sexual abuse by my 6th grade English teacher that lasted through my high school graduation, I was married three times and have 7 of the most wonderfully perfect children imaginable. Their love and forgiveness of my many faults have led me back to Christ more times than I care to confess… PTL!
My greatest failures along life’s highway have always been rooted in lies, both large or small versions ended up in a disaster for myself or totally crushing those I loved and cherished most. Conversely, my greatest accomplishments were the end result of an all out quest for the absolute Truth in every situation. Early Truth successes included routine membership & officer in the National Honor Society, as well as President of my graduating High School Senior class. My Mechanical Engineering studies were interrupted by the worldly lies of sex, drugs and rock & roll. Failure always led me to dig out of trouble by working long hours and denying my faults. I began in Tulsa area fab shops as weld Radiographer, Draftsman, Quality Control… all in support of the Oil & Gas industry.
This industry has abundantly provided for my family for over 50 years in roles as Mechanical Integrity Assurance at Exxon in Baton Rouge, Equipment Reliability Leader at Arco Chemical in Pennsylvania, Maintenance Manager for Lyondell and Director of Maintenance, Engineering & Utilities for Bayer in Berkeley and West Virginia. In post-retirement, I have had the pleasure of success in Project Manager or Director roles on several multi-Billion dollar projects. In each project we openly communicated the Truth about Risk Mitigation, Detailed Task Planning, Group Safety Assessments and Financial Performance. Results: On Time, Under Budget & Zero Recordable Safety Incidents in Millions of Completed Manhours…
How? Project Safety Meetings Concluded with Team Prayer!