Nobody Is More Blessed
Life can change in an instant, but sometimes you don’t realize it for more than a year. It was the summer of 1965, at the end of our senior year at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Gayla McRae was taking two classes so she could graduate before heading off to become a Pan Am stewardess and travel around the world. I had an internship with a business school professor before I went to Michigan State for my MBA. We bumped into one another crossing the street, ended up having a few dates that created something stirring, but then parted ways with no expectations.
Flash forward to the following September. Gayla was based in New York City flying to the Caribbean when I arrived to start my career at Grey Advertising. What a ride! The magic started immediately. We were young, free, hopeful, excited, and soon in love. In four months we were engaged, and we married the following August. It was the beginning of an incredible life together, united by optimism, shared values, mutual respect, and commitment to our family. Nobody has been more blessed.
It was easy to fall in love with Gayla. Her favorite activity is laughing. She shows her love for other people and makes everyone in the room feel good about themselves. She has always excelled at whatever she undertook, whether it was an academic, vocational, social or sports activity. She refuses to argue and would rather look for solutions. Her love is especially strong for children, pets, and underprivileged people. How can you not love someone like that? (Why Gayla is so Loved)
When we married, Gayla gave up her career as a world traveler to become a teacher. We raised two wonderful kids (Brooke and Robb) who we are extremely proud of. Over the years, she was a counselor, coach, dean of students, assistant principal, principal, and ultimately the principal who opened Monarch K-8, the first K-8 school in the Boulder Valley School System. Then, she excelled at retirement: volunteering for several different causes, running, playing tennis and golf, vacationing in warm places each winter, and always surrounded by close friends.
We are so thankful. We’ve had exceptional lives, filled with love. But we didn’t know what was around the next corner