Home

Today, of course, is Easter Sunday. However, today also marks another anniversary for yours truly. On Sunday, April 12th, 1992, I arrived in Tulsa to begin my job the next day as General Manager for a hotel here in town.

This is particularly noteworthy on many accounts. Those who know me well, or who have heard my voice on more than one occasion, are aware than I was born in Chicago - and lived there until a couple months before my 8th birthday. In June of 1954, my mom, grandmother, and I boarded the El Capitan Train in Chi-Town, and arrived some three days later in Pasadena, California, to be greeted by my dad and older brother, John, who had previously moved out west.

I spent from June of 1954 until January of 1970 - not quite 16 years - as a resident of California until accepting a transfer by my employer to Omaha, Nebraska. Much like my own father, the youngest of his siblings as I am, I was the first to leave the family hearth for new environs. This move to Nebraska was, though short-lived, the most eventful of my life. It was there that I met my bride - now almost of 38 years.

From there, my life was filled with moves to places around the United States as I sought the Brass Ring. Having fallen into a career in hotel management, I accepted transfers that required 8 more cross-country moves, the last one being to Tulsa, Oklahoma in, as I mentioned, April of 1992.

At the time, I fully believed that Tulsa would simply be yet another of my career moves, perhaps keeping me in residence from 3 to 5 years, which seemed to be the average for the position I held. As I was but a mere 46 years old when I transferred here, this seemed to be a logical assumption. There were a couple of potential situations offered to me - one being a relatively high profile job within the company, back in Southern California at a rather large hotel at Los Angeles Airport. I gave it some thought - for about 3 minutes. The reality, of course, was that "going home" would have caused an incredible drop in lifestyle. Though the money presented in such a move seemed good on the surface, the cost of housing, the factors such as where we'd live and how long it'd take for me to drive to and from work, and how my kids would fare being uprooted once again, played heavily in my decision making. As a result, I turned down this offer.

All of a sudden, the calendar reflected that I was fast approaching 8 years in the same city - at the same job. Then the proverbial Sh*t hit the fan. I suffered a life-changing health event - one that caused me to have to stop working. That occurred in December of 1999. While I attempted to return to my job, I was unable and after 3 months, it was apparent that I couldn't perform my hectic work schedule anymore. My last day working was April 14, 2000.

We have remained in Tulsa. Initially because we had children to get educated. All three of our kids graduated from high school here in Tulsa. All three have also graduated from State Universities - one from Oklahoma; two from Oklahoma State. Although one of our children - coincidentally, the youngest - strayed the furthest, moving to Colorado - the other two live within a two-hour drive of us.

We have now been in Tulsa 17 years. It has been longer than anyplace else I have ever lived - including my home state of California. Both my wife and I have grown to love it here. When we complain about the traffic, it's because we've been stuck for over 10 minutes, not an hour or more. When we complain about the weather, it's because of the change of seasons, and all that those changes bring. Does it have as much to do as California, or other BIG cities we've lived in? No, but the truth is we never took much advantage of all the things available to us - either due to the drive involved or the costs associated with them.

It is home.

Old Fart Mike