Forty years ago this summer, a young man returned after several years in the navy and went to work at the Jersey shore restaurant his family had been involved with for many years. That same summer, a young woman headed south with some of her girlfriends to celebrate the completion of their first year working as teachers, and she wound up working in that same restaurant. The two met in July of 1965, were engaged five months later, and got married the following June. And this is how my parents came to be my parents.

To honor this beginning, our family always tries to return to that shore town each year, if only for a few days, which we just did last weekend. While there, we always spend many hours at the same arcade on the boardwalk. Upon arriving this week my eyes immediately flew to a miniature Packers helmet signed by Brett Favre (or, as the card read, Brett Farv). But after two days of enough skeeball to give me debilitating back pain, I was still woefully short of the 299,990 points I needed to add the helmet to my collection of sports paraphernalia. So instead, I now own this…















That’s right. It’s neon. And it is lovely. It will look fantastic in my office next to the football lamp I won playing skeeball last year.