Natchitoches, Louisiana is a relatively small town south of Shreveport in Northwest Louisiana. It's home to the Annual Christmas Festival and was the site of the movie, "Steel Magnolias."

My family - Mother (Mona), Father (Arvyn Bruce), Sister (Miriam) and brothers (Bruce and Toby) all lived in Natchitoches together. I am seven years younger than my next oldest sibling - Toby. Natchitoches was the last place that ALL of the family lived together. Miriam left high school early to attend Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and shortly after married her first husband

I was 2 when the family left Natchitoches and don't remember much of the intervening 3 or so years, but I vaguely recall stories of living in East Texas before the eventual move to Shreveport by the time I was 5 and ready for pre-school

My oldest brother, Bruce, left Shreveport for college when I was 9 or so. He went to Clemson three years then transferred for the next 10 years to UCLA. Bruce is your typical over-achiever older brother whose standards you can never meet. Not only did he letter in track and football in high school, but he was a National Merit and Presidential Scholar and generally over-excelled in academics. His degrees were in High Energy Physics.

My Father wasn't overly fond of working at jobs for any extended period and moved from one to another in fairly quick succession. He was, however, fond of paperback books and eventually opened quite a few used paperback book stores in various locations throughout the South. His fondness for horses is also a vague memory. At one point, he kept as many as 9 horses on rented land near the family home while I was still in elementary school.

By the time I was 10, my Father and Mother had separated for the first time. Mother, Toby and I moved to an apartment in Shreveport. Two years later Mother bought a mobile home and we moved to Keithville - a small town outside of Shreveport

My High School years were not particularly pleasant ones. There were highlights, though. An interest in Ice Skating as a hobby was ended by the closing of the only ice rink in town the summer before 8th grade. A year later, Father passed through town and dropped off a 5-week-old German Shepherd puppy, later named Sam (Samantha Jean, UD).. The "gift" was for Mother in response to her sister's passing. A new puppy was the LAST thing my Mother wanted, so I ended up negotiating to keep Sam in exchange for the long-coated Chihuahua (Dinky) that Father had dropped off in similar fashion some years before

Sam's care and training was my hobby and passion for the next 4-6 years. Throughout Junior and Senior High School, Sam trained me for AKC Obedience Trials and we met some amazing people. It was during this phase that I learned that I got along much better with adults than people my own age. Training and showing Sam evolved into many leadership responsibilities with local Dog clubs and gave me the chance to travel all over the Mid-South (Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma).

High School itself was not particularly challenging and reasonably good grades were easy to maintain. Mother returned to school to obtain her Masters of Social Work degree during these years. I was her designated typist and learned a lot about such fun topics as "Deviant Sexual Behavior."

While I was often depressed and moody, I was not a particularly "difficult" child. I traveled and socialized with dog show people and was well-cared-for by them. Mother provided what support she could, but many dog show trips were only made possible by generous friends like Cathy James, Jimmie Brookings, Joyce Zmek, Ruth Pollay, Jonathan Franklin and Marilyn Kircus

My Mother and I graduated at the same time - May, 1982. She from LSU School of Social Work, me from Southwood High School. We combined our senior trips into a trip to South Louisiana to attend her graduation ceremony and tour plantation homes on the way back. (if nothing to this point has made this clear - I was and always will be, a MAMA's boy)

The college years were not much different than the high school ones except that I worked full time at Ocean Coffee Company to supplement grants and scholarships. The initial selection of an Accounting major was fairly quickly abandoned in favor of Finance. The dog showing continued and the work at Ocean Coffee changed from factory laborer to front office clerical staff. Jimmie and Frank Brookings put up with a lot from me.

By the end of my college years, I had grown into a VERY large young man. Binge eating was common and my social life consisted of older married couples and dog show friends.

The search for employment following graduation didn't go well. The job market in Shreveport in 1986 - 87 was not good. The primarily oil-dependent economy had suffered for many years and business graduates were a dime a dozen. The first few months of job hunting were eased somewhat by a continuing internship with Real Estate Appraiser, Bill Burkes, but Bill had not signed on to support me for the rest of my life. The Summer of 1987 found me fairly desperate for REAL employment - so desperate, in fact, that I accepted a job as an assistant-manager-trainee with Payless Shoe Source. They put me in the highest volume sales and theft store in the district. Within a week of taking this, my first and last retail job, I was opening AND closing this store and delivering deposits across dark parking lots late at night. It was not a job I was cut out for. The job offer from CUNA Mutual came three weeks after I had begun working at Payless and seemed like a dream compared to those conditions.

The job was working with credit unions to install software, audit loan files and train staff on various programs that CUNA Mutual offered. The territory included North Louisiana and all of Arkansas. That part of the job was a blessing - it let me begin to establish some independence. I continued to live with Mother for the time that I worked that territory, but most nights were spent in hotels throughout the Ark-La-Tex. 14 months into the new job a new opportunity presented itself. I accepted one of six new technical consultant positions. The promotion involved a move to St. Louis with extensive training (most of the first 6 months) in Madison, WI - CUNA Mutual's corporate headquarters.

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