Life’s Memories, Inside Mine: In Our Lives, There Is a Lesson in Every Experience

By Al Holzapfel, Jr.

Originally intended as a simple memoir to share with his family, Al Holzapfel, Jr. decided to bestow his thoughts and hindsight upon anyone interested in hearing them. The result is a collection of unrelated but real-life moments, sparkling with truth and insight. On the other hand, Al may have discovered the cure for insomnia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543968774

Book preview

Life’s Memories, Inside Mine

Copyright © 2019 by Al Holzapfel Jr

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN (Print Edition): 978-1-54396-876-7

ISBN (eBook Edition): 978-1-54396-877-4

For Kim, Ethan, and Alex.

You are each a gift from God.

I cherish you more than anything.

You are my whole world.

Contents

Preface

The Book Signing

The Crying Girl Behind Me

The Hotel Pool

The Number One Seller

The NFL Legend

The Summer Camp

The Homecoming Dance

The Night With The Band

The Yearbook Photo

The Dinner Train

The Away Game

The 7th Grade Speech

The Art of Getting Dressed in the Dark

The Investigator - Not Magnum PI

The Christmas Eve Déjà vu

The Two Girlfriends

The Ping Pong with the Band

The Rainy Kindergarten Day

The Remote Control Boat

The Fixer Upper

The Childhood Lesson

The Forgotten Brother

The Strength of Mom

The July of Pain

The Alter Server

The Resilience of Women

The Hero, My Father

Final Thoughts

Preface

This book is intended for my family, friends, and anyone I’ve known past or present—or basically anyone who may need to kill some time with a simple read.

I honestly admit I’m a bit naïve, which can often be a good thing because its innocent. But at other times my naivety can lead to awkward/embarrassing moments. I’m also very inquisitive and often wonder why life or God put me in certain situations.

Very few of these experiences I share are connected. There were some sad moments shared here, but I mostly share the ones that are odd, unusual, or even embarrassing. There is no real goal here. I started this journey as a simple memoir for my family.

Throughout, I share my honest thoughts and feelings from the moment. It jumps around in time, but hopefully it can provide the reader a smile, a tear, a chuckle, or with a perplexed feeling like me, along the way.

There is a lesson in every experience

1

The Book Signing

I went to a book signing in Lincoln, NE. University of Nebraska Head Football coach, Dr. Tom Osborne, announced that he would be signing his latest book On Solid Ground (1995) at the University Bookstore. This road trip was an idea I came up with on short notice, and I asked my friend Shannon to go with me.

We drove to Lincoln, with a plan to buy a few books and get them signed. One for me and a few I could give later as gifts. We arrived at the bookstore and there was a very long line for the signing session, so Shannon and I bought our books and entered the signature line.

As we finally approached the table where Coach Osborne was signing the books, I noticed that the line was moving fairly quickly as the Coach was simply signing each book and moving on; it appeared very transactional. I also noticed that the communication between the book owners and Coach was little to none. Hmmm, I was hoping to say something to Coach Osborne…but I can clearly see he isn’t speaking to anyone. I leaned over and told Shannon that perhaps saying Congratulations on the book would be all I would have time for.

We arrived at the signing table and I set down my four books, fully expecting silence as the books were autographed. To my surprise, Coach Osborne looked at my four books, leaned his chair back from the table and said, Boy, you must truly be a huge Nebraska Cornhusker Football fan! I thought, what? He spoke? I was speechless since I had fully expected silence. I was literally frozen, but my brain cried out to me: say something! Shannon nudged me, but all could muster was Yep! The Coach looked at me for a second and grinned. Gracious as always, he proceeded to sign the four books in silence. Yep? That’s the best I could do? Yep? I felt like SUCH an idiot.

Inside, I was dying! Of course, Shannon was laughing at me, as she could see how uncomfortable I felt. I said to myself, think fast. Am I starting to sweat? What is wrong with me? I’m blowing it! I need to recover. The coach was halfway done signing the books, and I needed to say something at least halfway intelligent. So, as he was signing the last book, I blurted out, Coach Osborne, thank you and I want you to know that you have brought great pride to this state and you have accomplished great things in lifting all of those around you or something like that, I was totally rambling. So, Coach Osborne looked up at me, and as he slid the stack of four signed books back towards me, he leaned back into his chair with a grin and he deftly said, Yep!

Needless to say, at our early dinner after, then on the drive back to Omaha, and the rest of the evening, Shannon jokingly repeated that infamous word the entire time. Yep! Yep! Yep! Yep! But hey, that’s what friends are for.

2

The Crying Girl Behind Me

I was driving home one night, around nine or ten. I reached a stoplight, and looked in my rearview mirror, and I noticed a girl sobbing in the car behind me. I drove on a few blocks and noticed that she was still behind me at the next stoplight, still crying at the wheel. What’s wrong with her? Perhaps a family tragedy? break-up with boyfriend? or bad news at work?

The light turned green and I continued driving. I took the next right, as I was stopping at a Grocery store for a few items on my way home; I noticed that she turned too. Still behind me, still crying while driving. Meanwhile, my compassionate side was still wondering. Poor thing, did she lose a loved one? Whatever it is, she is very upset, I don’t know her, but I feel sorry for her.

A few blocks passed, and I took another right into the large shopping center parking lot. She turned in too. I pulled towards the market parking, and she was still behind me, still crying, possibly more so. She appears so upset. Poor thing. The sympathy was pouring out of me. She is obviously stopping at the store to get some Kleenex, perhaps some comfort food, and perhaps something to drink. I’m sad for