I think I could write a whole book about Jeff. He's quite a character and one of my favorite people.
I'll continue elaborating on the topics at the bottom of the page over time. So check back regularly.

Starfish hugs!

When Jeff was 5 or 6, I was dating a man named Thom. Thom had several aquariums in his apartment and Jeff was completely fascinated by them, especially the saltwater tanks. He would stand and watch them swim around for what seemed like hours. Thom and I would watch a movie or a football game, but Jeff was more interested in 'talking' to the fish.

One night, after a long shift of watching Thom's two starfish slowly climb up the side of the aquarium just to release their grip and float to the bottom in a heap, Jeff comes up to Thom and says, "Hold your hand like this."

Once Thom did that, Jeff did the same thing, bringing their hands together until the palms were touching.

Then Jeff bent his fingers until he was holding Thom's hand; Thom did the same.

Then Jeff said, "I think this is how starfish would hug." We've been giving starfish hugs ever since.

Who is Shakespeare?

For Jeff's first Easter, his dad and I wanted to get him a stuffed animal. But Mike didn't want to get anything too 'girly'. So, we finally agreed on the cutest, softest, Arctic seal. I named all of Jeff's animals after famous people. He had Beethoven who was a bunny, JFK who was a bear, Newton who was a penguin, and so on. So, I named the seal Shakespeare. When Jeff was really little, he used to call him Bakes-Beer. Shakespeare went EVERYWHERE with Jeff. They were all but inseparable. Once when we were traveling from Colorado to Indiana, Jeff left him in a hotel near St. Louis. During the week that he spent in Kentucky with his dad, Grandpa drove to St. Louis to retrieve Shakespeare so that he'd be in Indiana by the time Jeff got back. THAT'S how important Shakespeare was...as real as the Velveteen Rabbit.

I'd like to thank the Academy

Mike and I were both active duty in the Air Force stationed at the Air Force Academy when Jeff was born. His first breath was taken at the AFA Hospital. He attended preschool at the AFA. He went to a handful of AFA football games. He lived in AFA housing until he was nearly five. So, when it comes up in conversation with his friends today, Jeff always says that as far as his parents are concerned, he was the best thing that ever came out of the Air Force Academy. It comes across as cute or cocky...but he's absolutely right.

Tour of the Cockpit

When Jeff was young, we lived in Colorado and his dad lived in Kentucky. Once he turned five, he could fly on a plane by himself to travel between our homes. I'm not sure that I'd ever allow that today, but at the time, it worked for us. I could put him on the plane, buckle him in, and arrange all of his 'stuff' so that he could reach it. We packed him snacks, a book, a coloring book and crayons, and several Hot Wheels cars. Jeff loved it. He felt SO big. On one such trip, as I was putting Jeff on the plane, the pilot had just finished his pre-flight inspection and asked if Jeff would like a tour of the cockpit. Jeff of course, said yes. I had never seen the inside of a cockpit either and thought it would be very interesting. After showing us around, the pilot asked Jeff if he wanted to work on planes one day. Jeff grinned really big and said, "Yeah!" So, the pilot asked him if he wanted to fix 'em or fly 'em. Jeff said, and I quote, "I wanna wash 'em!" The pilot was completely speechless. He had obviously never received that response before. All I could think of was, "Aim high, little guy!"

Jeff Makes Free-Throws

When Jeff was in kindergarten, he attended Grant Elementary in Colorado Springs. The schools were extremely over-crowded. So, the kids shared many of the same resources...at the same time. Case in point, in the second grade, Jeff's classroom actually held two whole classes. One class faced one direction; the other class faced the opposite direction. The only thing separating the two was a make-shift partition wall. Each class had probably 25 kids in it. Could you imagine 50 7-8 year olds in one room, trying to focus on what THEIR teacher was saying while trying NOT to be distracted by the noise going on behind 'the wall'? But I digress... One day in kindergarten, the kids were playing basketball. The drill for the day was free-throws. They weren't actually standing at the free-throw line. The ball they were using was smaller than a standard basketball. And the goal they were using was much lower than the average goal. Nevertheless, I was very excited for Jeff when he told me that he made more free-throws than anyone else in his entire kindergarten class...because all four classes shared the gym or the playground for gym class. In an effort to perpetuate the conversation and show my support, I asked him how many shots he made. He was so proud when he responded, 'One!' Apparently, each kid stepped up to the line in alphabetical order and attempted five shots. Jeff was the very last shooter and made only one free-throw and everyone cheered. He said it was the best day. Several years later after we moved back to Indiana, Jeff took part in the Knights of Columbus Free-Throw Contest. He won the local contest. He won the sectional contest. And he did pretty well at the regional level, but finished third. Still, he's a pretty good free-throw shooter just the same. Almost as good as his three-pointers, that is!

Olympic Dreams

Speaking of basketball... During the summer of 1996, much like everyone else in the world, Jeff and I spent a lot of time watching the Olympics. That was the year that the Magnificent Seven did so well in gymnastics and the Dream Team won another basketball gold. At one point, Jeff says to me, "Do you think I could go to the Olympics?" To which I replied, "Baby, it's WAY too late to get tickets to the Olympics now. I'm sure they've been sold out for months. But the Winter Olympics are in two years in Utah. Maybe we could make plans to go to some of those events." Being that we lived in Colorado at the time, it seemed like a reasonable suggestion. But that wasn't at all what Jeff had in mind. He came back with, "I don't want to WATCH; I want to PLAY. Do you think I could go to the Olympics?" Keep in mind, in '96, Jeff was five. I find it impressive that he would even consider being an Olympian. I'd watched all kinds of Olympic events every four years my entire life and I can honestly say that it NEVER crossed my mind to actually BE an Olympian. But here is my five-year-old considering it. Wow. Made me smile. So, I told him that if he was serious and was willing to put forth the effort, I most definitely thought that he could be an Olympian. Then I asked him what event he thought he'd compete in. Of course, he said basketball. I didn't want to burst his balloon, but the current Dream Team was made up of the twelve best players in the NBA...not just 12 great players...not just 12 great guys who liked to play decent basketball. No, we're talking the 12 BEST basketball players in the NBA. Okay, it's impossible to know how good Jeff would be at basketball by looking into those five-year-old eyes. But he'd have to be REALLY good at a VERY young age, get picked on every AAU and/or travel team he was eligible for, get signed to a college during his JUNIOR year in high school, start for a college team as a FRESHMAN, and hope that he's the BEST, SHORT point guard to come out of his graduating class...in order to have a shot at even being CONSIDERED for the NBA. After a couple/few years of playing in the league, he just MIGHT be considered for a position on the national team. So, it was a long shot, to say the least. I subtly suggested that he consider archery or maybe steeplechase.

Punt - Pass - Kick

In the fifth grade, Jeff played football. He was a Redskin. And his team was really young and really bad. But it was fun to watch them. Jeff played quarterback...and safety...and either kicker or punter, I can't remember which. There were only like 12 kids on a team, so almost everyone played on both sides of the ball. Because they were young and no one was very good, they didn't have much of a passing game. So, it was all about the run. Jeff was a good passer. He was a good receiver, though he never had to prove it on that team. And he was a great runner...unless he was carrying a football. Jeff had the most difficult time getting through the line and making it up the field. But he ran more yards from sideline to sideline than Barry Sanders ever thought possible. He just didn't like getting hit. Who could blame him? But that same year, he took part in the Punt-Pass-Kick competition. And won! Unfortunately, that was the last year Jeff ever played football. We moved the very next year and Jeff had already outgrown the only football program in our current community. So, his football career ended after only a year. Kind of a bummer since that is our FAVORITE sport to watch.

The 'Other' Football

In the eighth grade, Jeff started attending a Catholic school in a neighboring city. He went to sign up for the cross country team in order to condition for basketball. But he found out that they didn't have a cross country team. But the secretary said he should sign up for soccer because there's a lot of running involved and he'd get plenty of conditioning. I was a little leery. I mean, he'd never played organized soccer before. He didn't even know the names of the positions. And I shared that with the coach on the first night of practice. He said no problem. He'd take care of him. Jeff was a hit...mostly because he was fast. But at their very first away game, Jeff took a really hard hit and ended up in the ER with a mild concussion. He had to stay off the field for two weeks. But then he was right back at it. The following spring, he tried out for the travel team and made it. Talk about a commitment! They practiced 5-6 days of the week, had 2-3 games every week, played in three different states and four different tournaments. But it did a lot to improve his skills. The next year, he was the only freshman starter. After his first game, his coach mentioned him by name when being interviewed. Jeff even made the paper! I was so proud. Later that season, he even scored...as a defender! Jeff had ALWAYS played basketball, but I think soccer had become his favorite sport.

What's that Dinosaur Doin'?

When Jeff was almost two, we drove to southern Indiana to visit family. All of my brothers and sisters were in town for Christmas. One evening, we were all sitting in my parents' living room, just talking and catching up. My sister Jill was recording much of it on her new camcorder. And Jeff was sitting next to my brother Alan, looking at a book. At one point, he says, "What's that dinosaur doin'?" Because everyone was talking and laughing, no one heard him...but it's on tape. Eventually, he repeats, "What's that dinosaur doin'?" While panning the room with the camera, Jill notices that Jeff is trying to get someone's attention. So, she keeps recording him pointing at a picture in his book and asking, "What's that dinosaur doin'?" Every time he asks the question, he gets a little more insistent. Eventually, Jill raises her voice to say, "Will someone answer him?" My brother Alan, looks at Jeff and says, "What?" So, Jeff says again, "What's that DINOSAUR doin'?" To which Alan replies, "That's not a dinosaur!" Maybe you had to be there, but it was so funny, we all laughed for like ten minutes. Jeff was looking at a Disney book where Mickey Mouse is dressed like the Sorcerer and is making the brooms dance. Apparently, something about it reminded Jeff of a dinosaur. He was just sure it was a dinosaur, though he couldn't figure out what that silly dinosaur was doing. I honestly can't remember if Jeff thought Mickey in the Sorcerer's hat looked like a dinosaur or if it was the brooms dancing around that looked like a dinosaur. All I know is that Jeff asked the question several times in hopes of getting an answer and all he got was, "That's not a dinosaur!" It was hilarious. We still talk about that and laugh.

Open House at Pre-School
Appendicitis
The Panda Bear Story
Park the Cars
Your First Show of Independence
Jeff has a GREAT memory.
Seals vs. Sea Lions