My banker dad's alter ego was Dracula, and he always wanted to be an architect. Yea-that's him dressed up as "The Prince of Darkness" for Halloween circa 1975.

 

My maternal grandfather Carl, was a muscle-bound Swede, who came to America at 19 with nothing in his pockets and built a life, and my paternal grandfather Big John, was a 6'3 hard charging, plain speaking "jack of all trades" German.

 

Over time-all of their stuff rolled down hill and took up residence in me, to a greater or lesser degree.

 

I learned some valuable lessons from these three men, all of them long gone, but their presence in my life remains alive to this day.