A few years before my grandfather’s death, I made a list of questions that I wanted to ask him - questions about his youth, his family, how he lived, his early career and marriage, and his experiences in World War II. On a visit one Christmas, I recorded hours of him talking about these things as I asked him questions. I loved listening to his stories particularly the ones that made him laugh.

Recently, when my parents were in town, we listened to one of the tapes I had made many years ago. We listened as grandpa Richardson talked about his experiences as a Navy chaplain. While there were many aspects of being a chaplain that he found interesting, there were mundane tasks as well. To liven up his day, he would sometimes go out on the PT boats near where he was stationed. One day, he was listening to a young sailor who had come to see him. The sailor lamented about how much he missed his girl back home. He went on and on as my grandfather checked his watch hoping the young man would finish before the boat left to search for enemy destroyers. As soon as the young sailor left, my grandfather ran down to the dock and watched as the PT boat left the dock. He had missed it by just a few moments. That boat never returned. He later learned that it hit a mine and all on board were killed.

I can’t imagine how my life would have been if my grandfather had been on that boat. I spent a lot of time with him growing up and he influenced me in many positive ways. Grandpa was a great joke and story teller and someone who loved his family dearly. He was one of the most amazing, humble, kind, and loving men I have ever known.

Today, I am particularly grateful for the many people who, like my grandfather, served or are serving our country. It’s always sad to hear the news of a soldier who sacrificed his life in defending freedom. So many will never make it to 90 years as my grandfather almost did. Thankfully, I have stories that I can listen to and pass on to future generations in my family. That’s what today is about … remembering and being grateful to people like my grandpa who made life for others better because they served.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go towww.TimRichardson.com

I am not sure where I would be today if it weren’t for mothers. There are many women who played a role and are playing a role in my life. I’m so grateful for them all:

For my Mother -  who gave birth to me, raised me, taught me right from wrong, showed me God’s love, who helped me launch my career when, in 8th grade, I had to memorize a speech for which I was petrified (little did she know then that she also helped plant the seed for my career  as a professional speaker). I’ll forever be indebted to you, mom. 

For my grandmothers for whom I still think of fondly. They were as different as night and day and I so appreciated the contrast. My mothers mother was quiet but caring. She made blackberry cobbler every time I came to visit and she turned down the sheets on my bed - sheets that were crisp from drying in the sun. Love was the common ingredient in every meal she cooked. She was dependable, steady, predictable, cautious and despite what I thought when I was a young child, she was not only the meanest grandmother ever but the kindest. 

My fathers mother was rambunctious and outspoken. I can still hear her voice as she read to her grandchildren and great grandchildren. As an adult, I still loved to hear her to read. She loved to entertain with dialects and accents as she read classic old books and tales. She also loved to tell stories of her childhood. There was always something interesting to do at her house and she made sure to be in the thick of it. She modeling giving unlike anyone I have ever known and gave freely and regularly to many causes in her life. It was ingrained into her character and her generosity is still evident several years after her death.  

My best friends mother who took me under her wing for a year of my life when my parents moved before my senior year in high school. She made me eat vegees that I now love, laughed at my jokes, nursed me when I was sick and put up with my many teen allergies. She treated me like I was her own and asked questions when I didn’t want to give answers. 

My mother-in-law who raised my wife to be the loving and caring person she is and who loves me unconditionally despite my many faults. She never forgets a birthday or special occasion and makes me feel almost as comfortable in her home as I am in my own.

My wife who is my best friend, my confidant, my idea sounding board, and an incredible mother of our five children. She is witty, loving, caring, and is modeling so many positive character to young minds who watch her daily. She has a long memory of the good things I do and is quick to forget when I mess up. I hope my son is as fortunate as I when he finds his life long mate someday.

Thank-you mom. Thank you mothers. I love you all. Happy Mother’s Day!

Inspirational speaker Tim Richardson speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, healthcare, and financial services. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

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Recently one of my girls asked me if I were rich. I told her that I was very RICH - I have an incredible wife and five wonderful children, I live in one of the most beautiful places in the country, I am fortunate to have traveled extensively, and I am blessed to do something I love - professional speaking. What could make one more RICH?

Though the activity level was at a peak this weekend, the experiences contributed to the wealth I feel. I had a relatively “local” speaking engagement for which I took my eight year old daughter. She just loved the hotel, the swimming pools, and the food. She asked me if my client had the cookout the evening before my speech because she was there! She couldn’t have been more pleasant and we had a ball together.  We drove back into town for her upcoming dance recital practice and then I was off to my son’s soccer game with another daughter in tow. Last night, my son and I attended a campfire outing in which he was “tapped” into Order of the Arrow, a leadership honor for which he was elected by his peers. I couldn’t be more proud of him and loved sharing in the experience. The tapping occurred at dusk on a peninsula on a lake and started with two canoes arriving on shore with six older boys dressed in Indian costumes. It was very cool to watch and reminded me of my own Order of the Arrow experience when I was a scout.

The weekend concluded tonight with my younger girls playing “daddy’s playground” - which basically means they climb all over me like playground equipment. If they hugged me any more, I might have bruises.

While I might someday have more money, I’ll never be as RICH as I feel right now.

Inspirational speaker Tim Richardson speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, healthcare, and financial services. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

Twitter with Tim or get LinkedIn

If you don’t know Damon Shelton, you will someday. This kid is destined for greatness. If you have a few minutes, gather your kids around the computer and watch him speak to an audience of over 15,000 people. The audience loved him and his message. Please don’t say spread propaganda about “these kids today.”  Instead spread good things about “THESE kids today”. That will create more Damon Sheltons. And more of them will change tomorrow.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, healthcare, and financial services. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

As a Florida State graduate, i have rooted against the Gators for years. However, I find it pretty difficult to root against a player like Tim Tebow. Though I lived close to where he grew up, I never had the pleasure of meeting him or even watching him play football. While he will likely become “rich” next year when he completes his college career and moves on to the NFL, he is already “RICH” because of what he does OFF the field. Even if you aren’t a football fan, you likely enjoy reading this article from ESPN.com. Go Tim Tebow and go Gators!

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, healthcare, and financial services. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

Yesterday, was a great day and an really bad one too. Why it was great: I attended my first Decoration Day Celebration with my family and was able to ride the Cades Cove loop with my son.  Previous to yesterday, I had little knowledge of Decoration Day. To the relatives and families of those burried in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Decoration Day is a time to honor their families burried there. They travel to churches in the place there ancestors settled in the pioneer days to decorate their graves and celebrate their heritage. As I sat in a hard wooden pew listening to singing without musical instruments, a bird flew into the room. Then the cicadas kicked it up a notch. It was a visual and audio feast for eyes and ears. I imagined 100 years earlier when the pioner farmers rode many miles to the old church in a covered wagon or horse drawn carriage. It was a treat to meet some of the people for whom history may someday forget. Sadly, the park service is making it difficult for these celebrationt to continue though some of the people who attended lived in the Cove until moved by the US Government.  I heard the old-timers talk on the way out about Decoration Day in the past where there were so many people that the church couldn’t hold them all. It was a great day with my family but a terrible one for one of my best friends. While we were enjoying learning about how people celebrate life, my buddy was questioning why life was so hard. His brother, father of two precious little girls, took his life yesterday.  In doing so, he changed the lives of so many who knew and loved him. Yes, yesterday was a very good and terrible day - a day when many would like a “do over”. Yet another reminder of the preciousness of life. Hug your child a little tighter today. Reach out to someone you know who might be going through a tough time. Write a letter to a friend and tell them how much they mean to me. Pick up the phone and have a heart to heart conversation. Life is so very precious…

Mr. Mom: The Saga continues:

4:30: Wake up

4:45: Mount St. Laundry/plan day (write note that says, “bring towel to gym”)

5:22: Arrive at Rush fitness center

5:49: Disembark from stair stepper (VERY short X-ercise as trip to the car to look for towel shortens workout). Hey even a few minutes is better than nothing even though it’s not X-treme

5:51: Shower (dry of with paper towels and Accelerator hand dryer - the one that can blow your skin off your body)

6:11: Arrive late to Bible study(the group is already praying. I need them to stop and pray for me!)

7:08: Run quick errand downtown

7:32: Arrive back home to wake up kids

7:45: Make 4 quick business calls and check email

8:13: Burn grits (everyone north of the Mason-Dixon cheer in unison)

8:28: Change wet sheets (urgh!!!)

9:03: Began home school till you drop

9:11: Quiet whining of older kids that they “don’t like me as their teacher”

9:40: Wife leaves for doctor appointment, errands and Starbucks

9:43: Miss my wife more than should be allowed

9:49: Send older two kids out to get fresh air (and so I can breathe)

9:58: Hear protest march outside front door led by oldest son

9:59: Screamed something that my mother made me say (it was something like -  you don’t know how easy you have it. WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE …swore I would never say that). Then something about having to walk to school… uphill both ways… in the snow… carrying football pads AND my trumpet (yes I did both)

12:30 - 12:45: Multi-task episode one: listen to Paul Harvey while making lunch (fresh broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, salad and spaghetti (left overs)

1:30: Wash dishes while giving spelling test and more home school till you drop

1:36: Whining and gnashing of teeth

2:37: Wife comes home (Kool and the Gang ‘Celebration’ music plays while confetti falls from the ceiling)

3:30: Think: gotta  get out of the house or someone is going to get hurt. IDEA: P.E. time!!! Go jump on neighbors trampoline (kid hurls…can’t remember his or her name)

4:45: Errands with everyone, including a stop at new downtown men and womens clothing shop Boyd Thomas Clothing (the more words in the name, the nicer the clothes …Exhibit A- Walmart, K-mart, Target - got it?). On the way out of the store, kids are ticketed by fashion police (remember I am doing EVERYTHING this week. What’s wrong with red and pink and UT orange colored shoes?)

5:58: Walk downtown streets of The Ville (I flat out refuse to pronounce my town Maryville like as MURVAL like some do (say Maryville like you  have a mouth full of marbles or more likely Redman)

6:01-6:03: Enjoying Christmas lights until “I’m hungry” whining starts

6:31: Multi-task: the prequel (throw Kashi frozen pizza in the oven, return phone calls wearing head set while fixing kids plates and bathing three)

6:52: Kids whine about having to eat healthy pizza(mom enters my body for the second time: “Don’t you know there are starving kids in Africa who would would love to eat this dinner?”).  Almost 12 and too sassy for his size son says, “Wouldn’t it be spoiled when it arrived there?” My chore load is now lightened for tomorrow! Son whines about it not being fair.

7:02: Mop up Niagara Falls in bathroom

7:11: Serve dinner to kids, wash dishes, read bedtime stories, grade home school math. Tell wife how incredible she is

8:33: Eat cold pizza with wife in dining room with candles and romantic music (to drown out three year old’s whining which turns to wailing from upstairs bedroom prison)

9:23: Mount St. Laundry II: The return of Jedi Laundry Warrior (still can’t get ink stains out with hair spray of FAVORITE pants - make up song to the tune of Sleigh bells ring, are you listening. Goes like this:

Heloise are you listening. In my house, ink is glistening, a beautiful day, with plans gone astray, walking in a whiner wonder land

9:45: Check email again, blog and tell wife, “Not tonight, I have a headache!”

10:32: Lights out

10:32: 1/2 fall into kid induced coma

Several years ago, I was intrigued by an award winning recipe I had read about in USA TODAY. It was for Apple Pie, my favorite dessert. There are few things I love more than homemade apple pie and with Thanksgiving approaching, I salivated. We had been at my grandmothers for a fall trip to the beautiful western North Carolina mountains. My grandmother had a small apple orchard on the hill in front of her home, so I picked organically grown Wine Sap apples late in October in anticipation of making a great pie for Thanksgiving. The award winning article included a recipe for whole wheat crust as well as a cranberry strudel for topping. I couldn’t wait to dive into this project and thought about it way more that I want to admit in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. As we traveled to be with family on Wednesday before the great all American eat-a-thon, I thought about the fabulous dessert project awaiting me. I carefully planned and reviewed the ingredients again in my mind. When Thursday morning arrived, I was up with the sun and greeted by my grandmother in her kitchen. As she put the finishing touches on the turkey, I began laying out the ingredients. Then I started washing and preparing the apples. With her much needed assistance and encouraging instructions I began making the filling and pie crust. Since my previous pie experience consisted of visiting Mrs. Smith in the frozen food aisle, I was both anxious and excited about how it would turn out. Although I grew up baking ginger bread men and making oatmeal and raisin cookies with grandma, this was out of my league. Despite the fact that I might have pulled it off without grandma, having her there to help me peel and cut the apples and give me needed instruction on the crust preparation was invaluable. More than anything, I appreciated the company and encouragement, as this pie took about as long to make as the turkey did to cook. Knowing that I had 70 years of baking experience in that kitchen gave me a little more confidence that things would turn out. As I got further into it, I realized a few things-

• Making a homemade pie was taking much longer than I had anticipated.
• The pieces would be pretty small if EVERYONE were to have some.
• I was missing the Thanksgiving Day parade and the great conversation that was happening elsewhere in the house, (I was probably being talked about!).
• If things didn’t progress more quickly, the pie would not be finished before the feast.
• Mrs. Smith would get my business next year.
• The Dallas Cowboy game would be starting soon.

When the pie came out of the oven AFTER lunch, I felt as proud as I have felt about any accomplishment I have had in the kitchen. (I realized that wasn’t saying too much for a guy who has mastered the one course meal, or prepared meals, almost always centered around tuna fish). The accolades were sincere, even if they were mixed in with ribbing from my three older brothers. The very best part of all was the time I had spent talking with my grandmother as she coached me through the process. Though I have only made the pie once since then, the memory of the experience will last a lifetime. That’s what the holidays are about to me; making or starting rich traditions and making lasting memories.

I’d suggest this season would be a good time to start doing both.

In memory of Alta Faye Bunton b. November 23, 1911, d. June 30, 2006

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

We live just off Court Street in a pretty quaint area of Mayberry (what the locals call Maryville, our East Tennessee hamlet). There’s a neat college (Maryville College) across the street that adds to the flavor of our ‘hood’. The college runs along Court Street and we are one house off Court.

One of the things I LOVE about living where I do, is that I can walk or bike almost everywhere I need to go. I wrote about this in a recent post. This morning while walking to church (yes I am still doing my X-365 plan), I heard the deafening and peace disturbing sound of a leaf blower. It’s that time of year where the gas powered annoyances are being used with vigor and I just HATE them. They are loud, pollutants, and are Sunday nap spoilers. To be fair, I own one so what I am about to write MAY sound hypocritical. However, my ox REALLY has to be in a ditch before I crank up one of my testosterone boosting gas-powered accoutrements on a Sunday. I try to use the servants (my kids), to sweep more so the blower blows less.

Until I was about 13, I lived in really small towns (Chattahoochee and Live Oak, FL). In Chattahoochee, the IGA was closed on Sunday, the Western Auto was closed, all the gas stations were closed. Downtown was barren except for the Riverview Bait and Tackle, the Draftwood Restaurant and Chattaburger, the only fast food for miles.

No-one worked on Sunday, few if any meetings were held, on Sunday, and no sports teams played, no school extracurricular activities, no shopping, no work, pretty much no nothing (unless you happened to work at the Chattahoochee mental hospital which invented 24/7/365). Sundays were days for worship, for family meals, for talking, for taking walks and for being together. Sundays were usually quiet. I long for that. We have become a society who has to have noise 24/7/ 365. We walk around with cell phone ear pieces that make us look like robots. We wear white Ipod ear buds dangling like earrings. We keep the TV on for “back ground” noise. It’s like we almost can’t handle quiet. I am “guilty” of some of the very annoyances I write about and sometimes sleep with the AC turned when it’s not needed, just to mask the night noises. I long for quiet (in my mind that always seems to be active with new ideas), in my two Walmart town, and on my street - Court Street. I’d love to see more people out walking at night and neighbors who sit out on porches. I’d love to hear about more families gathering to hear grandpa and grandma tell stories and for TV’s to be the lonely ones. I’d like to drive across the town where I live and not see someone yakking on a cell phone as they drive - endangering their lives as well as others whom they might pass along the way. I long, like my wife, for less electronic communication and more personal touches. We’ve taken convenience technology too far with e-birthday cards, e-invites, e-alerts, e-newsletter, e-Christmas Cards, e-shopping … I say e-nough!

Maybe this holiday season would be a good time to start with more silence. I read where a NJ town impacted by 9/11 cancelled all meetings, all sporting events, and pretty much all activities on one night of the week to get families connected - it saved marriages, built relationships, and probably added to the population! Maybe a Silence on Sunday campaign could be implemented in small towns across the USA. Maybe someone should write a Christmas carol about Silence during the night time. Maybe someone should just decree “Silence in (and on) the Court (Street).”

Silent night, holy night, all is calm. All is bright.