A Package from Pittsburgh

In 2000, while I was still the Superintendent of the Ringgold School District I hired Jim Miller as my new director of transportation.  Jim and I spent three years working together until I took a similar position in another district.  However, during those three years we developed a close bond and camaraderie.  Jim was my sounding board.  I yelled, I hollered, I laughed and I worried with Jim. Many times he was the brunt of my wrath when the fault lay with others.  He was just a man that understood me and I him. He was one of my colleagues that I hated to leave for greener pastures and the memories of him alway brought a smile to my face.  Unbeknownst to me, Jim found my website through a mutual friend of ours. He followed it for awhile and last week he called.  He and his wife Patty were taking their vacation in the West and he would be visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park. He wanted to know if we could get together.  What a pleasant surprise. Well, yesterday, Jim and Patty showed up at our door.  After handshakes and hugs we decided to lunch at the Elkhorn and  catch up on small talk about work, mutual friends and acquaintances, health and family.  After lunch we rode through the Park and continued our commiserating while Robin and Patty chatted away in the back seat.  It was great to spend that time with a past friend and someone from “back home”.  We spent about four hours with them as they had to hit the trail, heading west for Great Falls, Montana.  They planned to be in Glacier National Park tomorrow.  This visit from Pittsburghers was even better than the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup.  Thanks, Jim and Patty, for a great afternoon.  Travel safe, my friends.