Oh, so over due
Neal Reid my not be a house hold name to you right now, but if you run in circles of the LPGA and ESPN, he is right now.
This is so over due and to Neal I have to apologize for that. Neal is a dear, dear friend of mine. In fact we have been friends for more than half of my life. We met the year he moved to Georgia. This Alabama boy moved to the booming burbs of Georgia when I was 13 years old. I was playing softball and he was playing Pee-Wee or whatever the league is when you are 14. We went to the same high school had the same friends and spent a lot of our first few years of high school playing Cupid to hopeless romantics who we called friends and hung out with. We played tennis during the summers, talked ourselves into honesty on a the worst movie we ever saw "Death Becomes Her", and kept in touch through my last year of high school and all of our years in college. He went to Auburn and eventually became the editor of the school paper. He loved it there so much that I half considered going there. (My father-in-law would have loved me more had we shared Alma mater) But, I could not bare the thought of being that far away from my parents. I learned after I graduated and started working in Alabama that Auburn was as far away from home as my school was.
We counseled each other through very bad dates and laughed about them later. Neal listened as I vented or cried on the worst break-up of my life and when I married Prince Charming, Neal gave us the most unique and special gift we received. Being the very talented writer that he is, he wrote a poem that he had engraved on a beautiful vase. It brought tears to my ears when I opened it and I look at so fondly almost every day. He has always been good about putting me in my place when I get close to the deep end and for a brief time (when I actually did the work) we had a writing volley. Like Tiffany, Pam, Carrie, Chels, JJ and some of my other friends, Neal has seen the transition of a bouncy cheerleader, grown into a business woman. He was one of the first people to hear me admit that I was head over heels for the man that I married and with this I have to say more than thanks.
Since Neal was in college he has been making his mark in life. We celebrated over several Tequizas our last year of school because he was going to work for the LPGA. He fulfilled that commitment and spent years there working in press rooms, traveling to exotic courses that I was very jealous of and collecting stories all along the way. He is a master of words, ruler of logic and reasoning. He advised me shortly before I graduated from college to take an internship that would be life changing yet very financially deficient and I decided against his good judgment, not to do it. Then, his chance came to take a job in Colorado (my favorite state over all), and when he asked my opinion I told him to take it. That answer did not matter because his mind was made and he was going to do it regardless of what anyone thought. Now, he is living, exploring and writing in Colorado and I could not be more proud. He is a gifted writer, one of my biggest fans and dearest friends. So to Neal, I say- Congrats! Well done! Keep it up!
As I mentioned before, Neal is a great writer and I hope you enjoy his work as much as I have. Because I have known him for so long, I have the appreciation of a man who knew what he wanted, went after it, got it and continues to thrive. For my own writing he is my inspiration.
To my dear old friend- Well done and thank you for allowing me to be part of it. When you all get a chance please add this link to your daily reads. You will be as grateful as I am that you did. Neal's Notes
Neal Reid my not be a house hold name to you right now, but if you run in circles of the LPGA and ESPN, he is right now.
This is so over due and to Neal I have to apologize for that. Neal is a dear, dear friend of mine. In fact we have been friends for more than half of my life. We met the year he moved to Georgia. This Alabama boy moved to the booming burbs of Georgia when I was 13 years old. I was playing softball and he was playing Pee-Wee or whatever the league is when you are 14. We went to the same high school had the same friends and spent a lot of our first few years of high school playing Cupid to hopeless romantics who we called friends and hung out with. We played tennis during the summers, talked ourselves into honesty on a the worst movie we ever saw "Death Becomes Her", and kept in touch through my last year of high school and all of our years in college. He went to Auburn and eventually became the editor of the school paper. He loved it there so much that I half considered going there. (My father-in-law would have loved me more had we shared Alma mater) But, I could not bare the thought of being that far away from my parents. I learned after I graduated and started working in Alabama that Auburn was as far away from home as my school was.
We counseled each other through very bad dates and laughed about them later. Neal listened as I vented or cried on the worst break-up of my life and when I married Prince Charming, Neal gave us the most unique and special gift we received. Being the very talented writer that he is, he wrote a poem that he had engraved on a beautiful vase. It brought tears to my ears when I opened it and I look at so fondly almost every day. He has always been good about putting me in my place when I get close to the deep end and for a brief time (when I actually did the work) we had a writing volley. Like Tiffany, Pam, Carrie, Chels, JJ and some of my other friends, Neal has seen the transition of a bouncy cheerleader, grown into a business woman. He was one of the first people to hear me admit that I was head over heels for the man that I married and with this I have to say more than thanks.
Since Neal was in college he has been making his mark in life. We celebrated over several Tequizas our last year of school because he was going to work for the LPGA. He fulfilled that commitment and spent years there working in press rooms, traveling to exotic courses that I was very jealous of and collecting stories all along the way. He is a master of words, ruler of logic and reasoning. He advised me shortly before I graduated from college to take an internship that would be life changing yet very financially deficient and I decided against his good judgment, not to do it. Then, his chance came to take a job in Colorado (my favorite state over all), and when he asked my opinion I told him to take it. That answer did not matter because his mind was made and he was going to do it regardless of what anyone thought. Now, he is living, exploring and writing in Colorado and I could not be more proud. He is a gifted writer, one of my biggest fans and dearest friends. So to Neal, I say- Congrats! Well done! Keep it up!
As I mentioned before, Neal is a great writer and I hope you enjoy his work as much as I have. Because I have known him for so long, I have the appreciation of a man who knew what he wanted, went after it, got it and continues to thrive. For my own writing he is my inspiration.
To my dear old friend- Well done and thank you for allowing me to be part of it. When you all get a chance please add this link to your daily reads. You will be as grateful as I am that you did. Neal's Notes
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