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My father came to own the general store in Shedd, Oregon.  It served the prosperous 
farmers surrounding this small town.  He sold everything from milk shakes to automobiles and 
farm tractors.  He coached the Shedd High School baseball team. He had pitched in the minor 
leagues as a young man.  I tried to learn to pitch a baseball from him.  But I simply did 
not have the talent.  He could still throw a curve, fast ball and slider when I was in my 
teens that I found difficult to catch.  He was a jack-of-all-trades as well as an athlete.  He 
could do tricks on both ice skates and roller skates.  He could always beat me playing pool.
I was the oldest boy in the family.  I got to work with my father at a multitude of  
different tasks from the time I was six years old.  Because of this I say that I inherited 
a fortune.  Learning all these things from a father who understood how to motivate a young 
boy was a fortune indeed.
You should know that my father was a man for whom I have much love and respect.   
A man whom I honor.  I was not alone in this.  He had the respect and friendship of his 
peers.  He made friends easily he was adaptable and competent.  He grew up on a farm in 
southern Minnesota near the town of Kent.  His ancestors had emigrated from Scotland and 
settled in New York State.  From there my great grandfather migrated to Minnesota.
 
Today I took out my diary from 1981.  I want to share with you any entries relative 
to your birth.  My wife, Carol, and I were in Juneau, Alaska on the morning of the day you 
were born.  We had flown there with the AMERCO District Vice President of that part of the 
USA and Canada.  His name was Jim Martin.  His wife Susan also accompanied us.  Our mission 
was to establish some U-Haul dealers along the Alcan Highway in Canada and Alaska as well 
as a U-Haul Activity Center in Anchorage, Alaska.
 
I was flying a single engine, pressurized, Cessna airplane known as a P-120.  We flew 
first to Prince George, Alberta, then to Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.  Next to Fort  
Nelson where we met up with the Alcan Highway and flew along it to Watson Lake.  Then on to 
Whitehorse in Yukon.  We opened U-Haul dealers in all these towns.
It’s easier to ride the horse in the direction he is going.

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