Back in September of 1974, I returned to my home town of Waco, Texas after serving a two year stint in the US Army after being drafted. I had been in what was then West Germany, serving as a military sports broadcaster for the Armed Forces Network in Frankfort. About a month after my return home, I accepted the job of Sports Director for a Radio / Television station in Waco. Then, four years later in 1978, I took a similar position at a broadcast station in Austin, Texas. I remained in Austin for the next 19-years and my job had me traveling all over the country broadcasting various radio and television sporting events. In addition to my duties as the sports anchor for the TV station that I worked for, I had a radio sports talk show, and also spent time as a radio and television announcer for University of Texas football and basketball games, the radio announcer for the NFL Houston Oilers football games, and even had an 18-year long part time gig as the track announcer for a horse race track in the Austin area.
During that span in Austin, I got married, had two children, got divorced, and retained custody of my two children. So, juggling my job while raising two kids on my own was difficult at times – okay, difficult a lot of times. I spent those years focusing solely on my children and my job. I never really had any time for playing the dating game. I was consumed by my kids, my work – and of course, my love of pipes & tobaccos, which was and still is my only hobby. So, I guess you could say that my work is now my hobby, too. Not many people can say that!
How did I go from being a sports broadcaster to a peddler of pipes and tobaccos? Well, back in 1997 I was pretty worn out with all the travelling around the country for more than two decades, and my children were teenagers and required less maintenance. So, when offered the job of CEO and director of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Museum back in my home town of Waco, I eagerly took it. I was able to spend time again with my aging parents and no more flying all over the country 12-months out of the year to broadcast sporting events. I have never regretted moving back home because I was able to be close to my parents and spend a lot of great years with them. My father died from Parkinson’s Disease in 2004 and 9-years later my mother died after succumbing to a variety of ailments. While running the museum, I started a pipe club in Waco, and started selling some of my club members pipes and old tobaccos (as well as my own) on eBay. Then, in 2006 after eBay began regulating tobacco sales, I started my own website to sell tobacco. I retired after 17-years of running the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, and have been in the pipe and tobacco business full time ever since.
Backtracking a bit, a year after I took the Texas Sports Hall of Fame job, I met a beautiful slim blue eyed blonde lady by the name of Beverly. She worked (and still does work), at the bank that the museum used for all of its financial business. Like me, she had been divorced for a lot of years and having never had any children, spent a lot of her spare time at her country home taking care of her variety of animals. Little did she know at the time that I was trying to figure out a way for her to take care of me, too!
After six months of trying to get her to go out on a date with me, Beverly finally shocked me by saying yes after yet another request to take her out. Later, after a few dates, I asked her what finally got her to say yes. Her response was that she figured that agreeing to an innocent dinner date would be cheaper than having to get a restraining order. I’m sure glad she had mercy on me and chose the dinner date!
When Beverly found out that I was a pipe smoker early on in our relationship, she was fascinated. She seemed to enjoy seeing my pipes, hearing about all the varieties of tobaccos available to smoke, and even enjoyed the smell of my pipe when I lit one up. And in December of 1999, she actually gave me a pipe, some tobacco, and a subscription to the now defunct Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine! I knew that I had to marry that gal, so I proposed to her the following week. Thankfully, she said yes and on July 23rd, 2000, we got hitched. We even had a child that we raised together – his name is Blayre and I am proud to say that he is now 19-years old and in the Intelligence field in the US. Army while pursuing his college education that the Army is paying for. I really like that part – no student loans!
Today, July 23rd, 2022, is our 22nd Anniversary. She has put up with me for more than two decades, loves my pipe smoking hobby, and she even proudly owns and smokes a pipe every once in awhile with me. She also loves to go to pipe shows and has made tons of friends at those shows over the years. Best of all, she’s still as beautiful today as the day I first laid eyes on her and crazy as it seems, even still loves me! I am a blessed man.
Steve
