Memories a 90 Year Retrospective

My intent in this Retrospective is to highlight my life experiences, most of which, it seems, have emanated out of work related activities. This doesn’t mean there has been no play, quite the contrary, having fun and doing fun things has always been a major part of my life. But it does seem that my zest for life and what it has presented is inextricably connected to what I do and have done for a living at the time and to maintain my love for just “doing”. My attitude has always been if I can’t have fun doing what I do, then I don’t want to do it. And, while it has been true that some employment and business opportunities have been more fun than others, learning and gaining knowledge is a passion with me, which usually brings some good with whatever bad there is. I was born under the Zodiac Sign of Leo, and the Chinese sign of the Horse, dictates of which seem to run true when viewing my life experiences. LEO LIKES: Speculative ventures; Lavish Living; Pageantry and Grandeur; Children; and Drama. DISLIKES: Doing things safely; Ordinary, day-to-day living; Small-minded people; Penny-pinching; Mean-spiritedness.The Chinese sign of the Horse says: People born in the Year of the Horse are popular. They are cheerful, skillful with money, (this may leave me open to question) and perceptive, although they sometimes talk too much. They are wise, talented and good with their hands. They are impatient and hot-blooded about everything. They like entertainment and large crowds. They are very independent and rarely listen to advice. Leo and the Horse seem to sum up a prediction of my life experiences quite nicely.My story begins in St. Luke’s Hospital, Duluth Minnesota, where I was born on August 4, 1930. However, a brief history of my family origins follows.My family surname can be traced to townships situated in the medieval Germanic states, now Switzerland, and also a medieval parish in the German region of Lorach.The first recorded instance of our family surname occurs in the ‘Freiburger Diozesanarchiv’ in the year 1324. The ‘Wurttembergische Viertelsjahrhefte’ lists a family member as being the ‘Ratsherr au Zurich’ (The Alderman of Zurich) in 1463. Politics are clearly in my genes. We believe the home of our fore bearers was the Village Aixheim in the district of Tuttlingen. Aixheim is an area comprising about 1300 inhabitants and is incorporated into the municipality of Aldingen. Aixheim is located about 60 miles south of Stuttgart, on the eastern border of the Black Forest. Through the years 1820 to 1930 about 300 persons emigrated from Aixheim most of them to the United States. There are currently 550 families existing in the United States.