Rich L.

I grew up on a 1000 acre ranch in Norther MN with 400 cows big flowing fields cats and dogs and horses and boats, 4 wheelers, and fun. Above all else I LOVE FISHING! all species salt water and fresh.Then a perfect childhood turned into a disaster and mom left. My dad and I ran things on the farm. I ran with a tuff crowd and loved mixing it up with guys from other towns. Probably because my dad taught me to resolve conflict with violence. Had a wild teenage life lots of parties and risky behavior. I was lucky to be good looking and popular without trying but I knew it was luck and pride myself on never judging. I was nice though and my friends ranged from awkward loaners to the prototypical jocks to gangsters. I found people of substance in all the crowds. I always had girlfriends usually little blond blue eyed girls like me but I think it was because those girls liked me I don't really have a preference. I played and excelled at sports I was best at baseball and that took me to college. I went to college in Northern MN and partied and fished all over the north land. I had lots of girlfriends but stopped the relationship thing after awhile because at that age they all wanted to get married and i was no where near that. My dad valued education and although he was a rancher he had an animal science degree from the U of MN. I was lucky to know and be close to my grandparents both of my grandpa's were geniuses, imagine the odds of that.... they were both successful and both were self taught musicians who both stressed education. I worked in the mortgage industry out of college and moved from Duluth to Minneapolis and hung out with the French Poodle crowd on the west side. That wasn't for me I was a little too wild for that scene so I went to a rural lending Co. In the country and actually made more money. I met a pretty little ?? n girl at a bar in St.Paul on Grand Ave when I was 25 she lied to me and said she was a 26 year old lawyer. It wasn't until our 2nd date that she told me she was 19! But I liked her so we dated and ended up getting engaged. I We moved in together near my mom's house on Grand Ave. and had a great time with the Summit Hill party scene In St.Paul and worked for a property management Co. In Inver Grove. We got married and moved to Cincinnati the next day where I worked for Home Depot Corporate. I babysat 13 stores on the west side of Cinci made a bunch of friends and became a lifeling Reds Fan "Go Reds!" Lived the city life and partied with my wife's younger medical sales friends at all the best clubs and house parties and got deep into the Cinci scene. Then we moved to South Bend Indiana and bought a home on the St.Joseph River. Where i fished Steal Head constantly. I tried out for and made the South Bend Cardinals Baseball Team and that's who I partied with and hung out with. South Bend was rough me and a buddy got a gun pulled on us after the bar by a G after an altercation. Lesson learned on that one. This is when my step-father retired as a full bird Colonel from the Army and started a Defense Consulting Co. And asked me to work with him. This brought me all over doing business in L.A. Colorado, TX, Georgia, and mostly D.C. I got into all the best parties because my Step Dad was well known for his accolades in the Gulf War. We specialized in soldier safety products and had some contracts closed working with the Defense Dept. You would not believe the $ in this Industry I still work as a consultant now. In South Bend I soon became a lifelong Notre Dame fan. We spent weekends in Northern MI in Traverse City and Petosky and at friends cottages, but I was very home sick and unhappy I couldn't deal with my wife's bipolar disorder and I drew inward and began drinking constantly.I was always the life of the party before and drank almost daily but I took it to the next level. I let her see me drinking beers but I had bottles of whiskey and vodka hidden all over the house. We were going to counseling which is a bullshit racket but I ended up packing up and going home "for a little while" but I knew it was forever the first night I camped on my way home and it was me, a bottle of southern comfort, and a 12 gage shotgun in a tent. By far the longest night of my life, but made it and went home to the farm. Helped dad ranching in summers and also worked for my step dads Defense Consulting Co. Selling the U.S. Defense Dept. Military products. I lived in Florida in winters all i would take with me on the plane was a laptop and my phone and wallet I bought clothes when I got there. Now 10 years later I have a new wife/solemate and raised 3 step children. If you want to know that whole story and my new life till now it will give us something to talk about.