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Much has happened, since graduating from high school - so this is the condensed version. For those that knew me at Brush, I was involved with Marching Band and Orchestra. I played the clarinet, and thought that my career path would lead me to either becoming a professional musician or at the very least, a music teacher. I went to Ohio State, and at the end of my third year, decided I did not want to be involved in music. So I changed to the Horticulture school and after graduation, began working as a landscape designer for a company in Columbus, Ohio. It was during that time (1976), my Father asked me to return to our family business and give up landscape designing. Growing up, I always worked in our family jewelry store in Maple Heights (Maple Jewelers), so this was a no brainer. My parents wanted to retire, so in 1977, I opened up my own store in Solon, Ohio and ran a very successful business until 2006, when the economy took a nosedive. Closing the jewelry store was the hardest decision I have ever made, as I've always been self-employed and truly enjoyed the jewelry business (I am a GIA Diamond expert). So after much searching -- I found a management position with a family owned jewelry store in the Ft. Myers area. In July of 2006, I relocated my family to Cape Coral, Florida - a peninsula just West of Ft. Myers. It's been a whirlwind of various positions since that time, and I grew very tired of moving from job to job. So, in 2008 I made a decision to pursue another career path and began studying to be an optician. I became certified in 2009 and graduated from the Opticianry program at Hillsborugh Community College in Tampa in 2010. Although I really enjoyed my program and looked forward to working in the opticianry field, the lack of jobs here in Florida (and very low pay scale) forced me to pursue another career path (for a little while). I did dable in the insurance industry for a few months, but eventually returned to Opticianry full-time. I have been fully licensed since 2010, and have been working for Walmart in the Ft. Myers area. I enjoy working with patients and continue to learn every day. We are planning to relocate out of the Ft. Myers area sometime next year. The past 40 years has been an interesting journey (with alot of twists and turns along the way), but the best thing that ever happened to me, was meeting my wife Susan and having our beautiful daughter, Jillian.
