I was too small for football and too slow for track. I played catcher, but was a lousy hitter.

My dad had been the captain of his football team and had even been offered a football scholarship.

In my case, the apple fell pretty far from the tree.

However, there were two sports that I was good at. Neither of which my dad thought were manly.

Tennis and bowling.

I discovered tennis around age 12. My aunt and uncle had a summer cabin in Oklahoma. ...

“You’re 24-years-old. You really need to find a primary care doctor,” my wife said.

“But, there’s nothing wrong with me,” I responded. “Why go get something I don’t need?”

“You will one day,” she answered. “You need to establish a relationship with a single doctor who can take care of you for the rest of your life.”

It was the 1980s, and I was working, going to college, and raising a family. Her request just seemed like one more thing to add to ...

(photo: 1976 Ashdown High School Panther Eyes annual)

If you want to see what life was like and what a community was doing in any particular year, pull a copy of a high school annual from just about any hometown and look at the ads in the back.

Skip the senior portraits and the group photos of the Beta Club and the school choir. Look at the ads in the back of the annual.

That’s where the real story lies for how the ...