A quiet moment at Culver's

On my way home from the veteran's hospital, I stopped at the Culver's in Dodgeville and ate a Mushroon Swiss burger.


I didn't write about this at the time, but the four months my wife and I spent in Wisconsin back in early 2007 were among the worst in my life. I had just finished a really cool MBA program -- in Hawaii -- that I had gotten a scholarship for. At that time, I was looking forward to this bright future as a diplomat in the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service.

But then, all of a sudden, I just ... wasn't. And I didn't have a plan for what else to do.

We lingered there for a few months before I took another contract as an English teacher in Korea, but that was a huge let down. I remember walking with her to the Culver's in Dodgeville and sharing a $10 Mushroom Swiss burger basket because that was the most affordable date I could manage.

So to come back to this spot, 16 years later and in a very different place in life, and reflect on all that's happened since then ... was kind of special. A couple of kids, a couple of houses, and a couple of jobs later ... I have a lot to be grateful for.