Memories of My Montana Youth

I'm inspired by Liz and Bill Spear 's recent post about Home Is Where Memories are Made.

Funny thing for me....and much different than's Bill's nomad life, I was born and raised in a small town in Montana, and lived there till I went to college...and THAT was only 35 miles away. 

I grew up in Livingston, located on the Yellowstone River, and 50 miles North of Yellowstone National Park. I have very spotty memories of my growing up....but most of what I DO remember happened after we moved "out of town" onto our 200-acre ranch in Paradise Valley. From there, I remember playing with my Matchbox cars in the dirt (now they are proudly on display in a glass case in the Florida room!) and going to a two-room country school. Third grade there were only two of us, and Danny flunked. So I went on to 4th grade...alone. In the other room. On days when it was time for my history lesson, I would go up and sit on the filing cabinet next to Mrs. Stermitz's desk and reading to her. 

Learning to drive in the field with a Willy's Jeep or the Ford Truck. And later, that 1960 Mercury Comet Station wagon was my car. (Oh LORD, what I would not give to have that car now!) 

High School I prefer to forget (but I remember it) as I was still discovering who I was going to be later in life, and it did not fit in well with the rest of my classmates. But I do remember crusing "the drag" on weekends in my '69 Mercury Cougar, or my '73 Ford Galaxie 500! (if those were still around!) 

But what is funny, is once I went off to college, I "missed out on a lot" of what happened within my family. See, I didn't come home often, even though home was only 35 miles away. I lived in the dorm only one year, so I and to come home for the summer, but after that I was in an on-campus apartment, and then an off-campus apartment, till I was accepted to the University of Houston and the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management. Then, I packed up my possession that would work in a dorm room in my 1979 Ford Granada (yes...I wish I had THAT car too!) and drove off across the country to Houston! 

My trips home, literally since I was 19 years old have been once a year! I can say I regret that now....my Dad passed away in 1994, and at least that year, my partner and I flew to Las Vegas to seem them when they came back from Hawaii. In fact, it had been 3 years since I had been home due to my work schedule in the hotel business. I miss my Dad, and wonder what else I could have learned from him. 

My time in the hotel business took me from college in Houston, to The New Orleans Hilton Riverside and Towers, then The Myrtle Beach (SC) Hilton, then the Fountainbleau Hilton Resort and Spa (Miami Beach) to the Atlanta Airport Hilton, The Tarrytown Hilton(NY) and finally back to Atlanta to work for Nikko Hotels until 1997. 

I've lived in Atlanta longer than I lived in Montana. I've got memories from all those places. But since I've live in Atlanta so long, it's now where I truly call home. I "grew up" in Montana, but it's not my home now. 

Now, in my life, I help others find a house or condo, and turn it into their home, where they can make memories. It's a pretty awesome business!