[Ricky_Bobby]

When my dad was in high school he used to ditch school to go to the library.

When he was in the Army in Germany in 1967 he volunteered to got to Vietnam to prove to himself that he could do it. He was awarded a Bronze Star for preventing a friendly fire attack, almost certainly saved someone(s) life.

He worked as a coal miner, which was a great job in southern Illinois, back in the late 70s and early 80s until the mines started to get shut down and he got laid off. I remember him taking care of me and my 2 brothers while mom went to work as a music teacher. He passed the exams to get his insurance and series 7 (I believe) license so that he could apply for a position in my hometown as a stock broker. I can still clearly remember when he came home with a brand new 1984 Oldsmobile 98. At one point he was working 60-80 hours a week to build his book of customers.

He taught me how to work on cars, operate machinery, cool stuff like that.

It's funny when I think about it that when I tell him a big pot I won or a big loss at poker (microstakes) he says he wouldn't have the stomach to take those kinds of risks.

If I had half of his ambition and willingness to take risks I'd probably be 10x more successful than I am now.