•  Marriages: Three is the magical number.
  1. The first one ran out on me some 18 months after the wedding day. I lost sight of her and could not contact her until the day I received the divorce notice.
  2. The second marriage lasted all of fifteen days before divorce proceedings began (by me). At this point in my life I just was unable to deal with my own problems, which were several, and her mental health, which turned out to be severe. I kept dreaming of my being murdered by her. While the divorce proceedings were going through their stages, I learned she was, and had been, actually carrying a gun in her handbag ... and this was before the "concealed weapons" permits were being offered. I gues my first clue something was wrong with the union with her came about as I leaned over to kiss her after the preacher said, "You may now kiss the bride." She whispered to me, "Are you planning on divorcing me?" HUH? DOH!
  3. Finally I grew enough and was learning whatever it was I was supposed to be learning. I met my present wife and we are celebrating out 30 wedding anniversary this coming April. Just think, 18 months, 15 days, and 30 years. Each figure is divisable by 3, which is a holy number.
     
  
  
•  Children: Actually this one is easy. The magical number is One - a daughter. You can see her picture by clicking here. We were illprepared for a family life as my wife was supposed to be unable to maintain a full-term pregnancy, according to the medical profession. I, also according to the medical pros, was supposed to be sterile. Whoops! A beautiful daughter. Believe me, people were counting their fingers when she was born to make sure ours was not a shot-gun wedding. It wasn't, to some's dismay. Now we have two delightful and fun grandchildren.
  
  
•   Writings:
  1. I've been writing for years and years and years ..... ZZZZZZZzzzzzzz. Oops. Sorry about that. Didn't mean to bore anyone.
  2. My earlier writings were hinged on death and dying. There had been so much death surrounding me, being born toward the end of WWII was my first clue. On Feb, 1954, my grandfater died. The next day my brother died in a car accident. Then, the day after that my father died in the same car accident. In the next ten years there were fourteen deaths in and around me of family members and close friends - all but 4 were accidental deaths.
  3. Later writings dealth with Life and why we are here on this planet. Are we all there is? Is there nothing more? Is there life after death? If no, then what is the purpose of being born in the first place? Are there any real "accidents" or is there purpose behind everything in Life? You get the picture, minor questions like these pervaded my thoughts. This, raising my daughter, and then attending college to learn more.
  4. My college years were spent at Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas. Here I started out majoring in Psychology, but ended up with a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy. I found a place where I could express my thoughts, what I've learned through my life, and other trivia. I found a place where I could express myself equally with the "Greats."
  5. Now that the twilight years of my life ae upon me, (huh?) I'm dedicated to writing and designing webpages. I've been teaching myself everything about computers I can learn. Obviously there's lots more I have to learn, but at least I'm working at it. I love the computer and know that Man has finally developed something that can be well worth the headaches. When a car crashes, people are maimed or even killed. When a plan crashes, many people are maimed or killed. When a computer crashes, well... you get my picture - I've sure.
  
  
• Final Thoughts: You now know more about me than you ever wanted to. You will see me in all my fictional writings, but most of them are taken directly from many of my life's experiences. When you read An Affair Remembered you will be reading a fictionalized account of what took place between my present wife and I some thirty years ago. So, the last thing I want to leave with you, concerning me, is this: Life is to be lived to the fullest extent allowed by whatever forces be in power. Call them what you will, they all turn out to be the same thing when stripped of their idealistic clothing we call "beliefs". It matters not if we get in a car, a van, or a bus, and travel a long or short distance to a building for a place of worship. The truth of our beliefs comes through how we live every single day, how we treat others, and how we treat ourselves. Our bodies are our temples, our shrines, our edifices. Our body is that temple we carry with us everywhere we are. We may pretend to be one way while in a Man-made edifice, but we cannot lie to ourselves when it comes to what we are with ourselves. How we walk, how we talk, how we live is our true belief system - is our true God, if you will.

Thank you for taking the time to read this exerpt about me and who, or what, I am. I live to be the best I can be, and I strive to be me. In case there be anyone who's interested, my pen name is Shakana Vae'dril - and that is another story!