Mr. Bill and Miss Kathy

My biographical series continues with a man I met growing up on the hard streets of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Just kidding, I don't think there's a more bucolic place in the country than Bloomfield Hills. We had lived in our house for a couple of years when a young family moved in across the street. They were young, hip and had a cool yellow Corvette. They had one child at the time. I was nine going on seven. It turns out that my life and Bill and Kathy Sante's lives would intertwine for many years.

As I recall, they were the first adults who treated me as an grown up-or at least a kid with a decent head on his shoulder. I'm sure there were others including my parents, but they don't count. It took a couple of years to get to know them given my busy schedule as a fourth grader. Soon though, I was doing odd jobs and babysitting on weekends. Bill has a great sense of humor and often used it to pass on a life lesson. He was excellent at helping me manage up the chain of command at our house while not taking sides. I helped him paint one summer and enjoyed his witticism and war stories-all appropriate for a young teen.

In 1978, while I was at college, Bill took a job with Rockwell International and moved the family to Pittsburgh. A year later, Bill was diagnosed with Hodgkin's and went through an aggressive radiation therapy. He survived and continued to be a mentor. As luck would have it, my first job took me to Pittsburgh. Bill and Kathy opened their home and took me under their wing. I know they appreciated my roommate and I cooking at 2:00 in the morning. It was during that visit that Bill got concerned about our choice of an apartment and shared his reservations with my dad. Good call-though I didn't see it that way at the time. I saw them frequently and Bill continued to give good career advice.

I left Pittsburgh in 1984 only to return again with a family in 1995. Bill and Kathy were wonderful and enjoyed the turnaround as I tried to manage two boys under the age of 5. They lived a couple of miles away and were frequent visitors. They also enlisted their oldest daughter Jennifer to help out. They have been great friends for us-always there when we needed them. The circle of life plays out in our relationship as they watched our boys while we attended my father-in-laws funeral and I have given their son Bill some career advice.

We saw Bill and Kathy a couple of years ago when we were looking at colleges for the boys. They are in great shape and have several grandchildren in the area to dote over. I have been blessed to have them in my life and appreciate all the love, support and advice over the years. One never knows what lessons will be learned drinking a Coke in the shade during a break.