Minutes to Memories

It is hard NOT to be inspired by people like Jim & Dimple McVeay. I stopped by their place of business to snap this picture today, and I couldn't help but think that I hope I'm running a business when I'm Jim's age (75 years old; I am not at liberty to reveal Dimple's age!).

Jim is the definition of the word "go-getter." Born in the Depression in the middle of 11 children, he came out fighting. He left Biloxi for a career in the military, and after two tours in Vietnam among other dramatic stops, he emerged as one of the most decorated soliders in the history of his state (four Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, among many others). He attended Command & General Staff College with people like Arnold Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell, and Jim even served as the TAC officer for former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili. Jim was on his way to such lofty positions himself before his abrupt decision to retire while stationed at the Pentagon in the mid-1970s.

Jim didn't know how to retire, though. After returning to his native Mississippi Gulf Coast, he found himself busy with all sorts of things, not the least of which was a race against Trent Lott for Congress! But in 1989, he started having the nightmares. Unbelievably, nearly twenty years after leaving Vietnam, he developed a clear case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. And he's been fighting it ever since.

But nothing stops him.

I had the honor a few years ago now of spending Thursday afternoons with Jim to write his life's story. His life is amazing, and my writing is not, but when all was said and done we made a book together with, if nothing else, the perfect title: The Fighting Never Stops (linked to the side).

So there they were today, Jim and Dimple, side by side for a very long time (if my memory serves me, I believe they've been married for 56 years now), and at an age when most people are watching "Wheel of Fortune," they are wheeling and dealing in the business world. Inspiring people like me...