Category Archives: Life

The love of my life

Family, Life

Today is my anniversary to my beautiful wife, Elaine. 42 years! It seems like I should only be 42 years old.

She is literally the sweetest, most compassionate and most caring person I know. In Proverbs 31:10-31 the bible lays out what a virtuous wife is, and Elaine is all of that.

The passage starts with, “Her worth is far above rubies and the heart of her husband safely trusts her. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Verse 20, “she extends her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.” Verse 26, “she opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness.” This is who I married 42 years ago.

We met in high school history class in the 11th grade and she used to read off my test papers because I was so smart. Maybe,,,, I got that backwards. Ha. By Christmas of that year we started dating and have been together ever since. She is the best wife, mother, partner, confidant, love, counselor and advisor any man anywhere could ever have. She is also my very dearest friend and has stood by me when it might have looked like I didn’t know what I was doing. She trusted me and loved me through it all.

Many times, in life people don’t really understand what they have until they lose it. Fortunately, I knew from the beginning what a treasure I had.

One funny story. The first time I went to her house was on a Sunday evening. I didn’t call ahead and tell her I was coming because I thought she might turn me down. Being the salesman I am, I just went and surprised her. Oh boy, it was a surprise all right. I show up and met her dad (Max) and he tells me she should be home from church shortly. Well, she comes in the door with her brother Wayne who is one year younger but looks like he is the same age. I didn’t know he was her brother and here I am at a girl’s house and she walks in with her boyfriend.  I was about to make a quick exit until she told me he was her brother and then she kissed me in the driveway. ha

So today the love of my life and I cerebrate 42 years of marriage and I am the luckiest man alive. KT

Christmas lights. It is a thing now

Life

There was a news article yesterday where people are starting to put back up their Christmas lights. The people that have done so said they wanted to give passersby’s some joy. Apparently, this is now a thing.

It is funny because Monday (day the Dow went down 3,000) I got in my truck to go home and somehow the audio was turned to Christmas music. I reached over to change it and thought, “you know what, it makes me happy,” so I listened to Christmas music on the way home. Even though the hotel markets were crashing, I felt happy when I got home. Ha.

In times like these we need to find a place of rest and peace and comfort and if you can, joy also. So, for me, I may be listening to Christmas for the next several months. KT

Call Me the Breeze

Life

After another day of devastation to the hotel markets, this afternoon I decided to listen to a little Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ha. One of my top five best songs of all time is, Call Me the Breeze. It was released in 1974 when I was junior in high school and It is probably the best cross over song every written that can be played as southern rock or bluegrass.

The band was formed in Ronnie Van Zant’s garage in Jacksonville FL in the mid-60” s and had three different names before settling on the name, Lynyrd Skynyrd around 1970. They named the band after their high school PE teacher Leonard Skinner and went on to be one of the best bands ever to grace a stage.

If you are older like me, the music from than time period is untouchable.  It can take your mind off your 401k and make you smile. Listen to it and see if you agree. KT

When the tide goes down, you can see who is wearing clothes

Career, Life

Yes Siree Bob, if you were at the beach watching a bunch of people swimming, when the tide drops, you can see who has pants on. That is what is going on in the stock market.

In the greater stock market and in hotel stocks particularly, the tide just dropped, and half the people are naked. All the big talkers that three weeks ago were wearing five thousand suits and big smile, today are just wearing the smile. Everything else is exposed. I mean really exposed.

What has happened to hotel stocks in the last three weeks is nothing short of breathtaking. I have never seen anything like it or never thought I would. One day (three weeks ago) the world was right, people were doing well, construction was at an all-time high, houses were selling in several days, new buildings were under construction, banks were lending, and the stock market was roaring. That was 21 days ago. Today, the world has changed and for the most part, fear has paralyzed the US economy.

I told my wife last night that this whole situation drives home the point that regardless of what we may believe, we are not really in control. It also drives home the fact that if you are going to go swimming in the investment ocean, may sure you are wearing a swimsuit. KT

Dogs and the stock market

Career, Life

Did you know there is a reason for how a dog got its name? It is God spelled backward.

These past 14 days have been breathtaking for the hotel industry. Companies that I have known for years have lost 60-75% of their equity value. The transaction market will undoubtably be in turmoil for the coming months. Yesterday (Thursday March 12) was a day of value decline that I have never seen in 30 years.

So, I went home and didn’t want to see any news or check my phone. I just wanted to eat dinner with my wife and watch some TV and let my mind cool down. We have two dogs, a fat Sheltie and a little 5-month-old Yorkie. They didn’t care what happened to the stock market yesterday. Ha. Their love and unconditional acceptance were the same as the day before and the day before that. All they wanted was to be loved. That’s all they cared about. So, I picked them both up and loved on them. The little one (yorkie) licked my face like she was telling me, its ok.

A dog is an amazing gift because their love is truly unconditional. Whatever happened that day just doesn’t matter to them. I believe (at least imagine) God created everything and stepped back and said, now, I am going to create the only animal that desires human contact and human love. The dog was created with the most forgiving heart and the greatest ability to love of all the animals.

So, our fat Sheltie and little 3lb Yorkie will be waiting for me when I get home today and it doesn’t matter what the stock market does. KT