Published: 10 Jan 2019

On our way out of town Thursday, after school, we stopped at the huge barn and walked around the outside of the building, looking over the huge structure. There were a lot of square windows that looked like they were double or triple pained, but they were blocked by boards on the inside. The building had a typically shaped barn roof and you could see where some skylights and solar panels could be installed. There even appeared to be a basement retail space but it was hard to tell just how much usable space down there there was. We were standing by our car, still looking at the structure, when Deanna Flynn drove into the parking lot, and stopped alongside our car. The boys ran to hug her as soon as she stepped out of her vehicle and Brian and I walked over as well, and each of us gave her a hug. She asked what we thought about the barn and we told her it had a lot of possibilities. The first floor windows could be cleared so more daylight could get in and a few skylights would help as well. Brian spoke up and said that he’d like to see some solar panels on the roof which could cut down on the heating costs and the boys said that they loved the red color with the white trim, it looked very traditional and solid.

She was smiling as she pulled out a big ring of keys and asked if we wanted to see the inside. We readily said yes and we followed as she unlocked the front doors and we entered. There was a vestibule that she suggested would make a good reception area and once past that we were in the main space, which was, no lie, as big as a barn. It was now one huge wide open space, but you could see on the floor and walls where partitions and low walls had broken up the space into sections for the store that had once occupied the space. I could envision offices around a big area of cubicles, and meeting rooms along another wall. On the back wall was a door which opened into a kitchen area with space for three tables or more for staff meetings and lunch. She told us that the other space was the basement and she said it was the same floor space, but only ten foot high headroom. She said that the heating was all electric which was why the spaces were hard to rent, but the solar panels could help tremendously with that. I asked how much she was asking for it and she gave me a bare bones figure and we told her we would call Ray when we got home and have him draw up a formal offer and the contracts, we’d buy the building.

We explained we had been on our way to the mall and asked if we could pick her up anything, but she thanked us and told us she had a dinner guest tonight and had to move on herself. We stopped at the next bank branch we saw and I cashed a sizable check and gave the boys more spending money as Brian drove us to the mall. We ate again at the mall, but this time we tried one of the sit down restaurants. We all agreed it was just OK and nothing special. The boys went back to shopping and Brian and I went back to the jewelry store. Last night while shopping for my sisters and my mother we had seen a display of very expensive foreign made watches, but next to it was one of American made ones, some of them looking better that the over priced ones. These were not cheap watches, but they were reasonably priced. We chose one for David and one for John and then decided what the heck, and we bought our fathers each one and one each for Ray and Bruce. There was one more name on our list, and we had no earthly idea what to get for Ben, so we decided to give him a restaurant gift certificate and cash in an envelope, we really hadn’t gotten to know him yet. Mrs. Flynn we were were going to give a huge holiday plant and a restaurant gift certificate too, we didn’t want to overwhelm her.

Once home the boys went to the barn area and did their evening chores as Brian and I hid more gifts in our closet and the storage room. Bobby came back in with about eight eggs he had collected, which meant the birds were settling in. He was so proud of them that you’d almost think he had laid them himself. I told him we’d use them on Saturday morning when we had a big weekend breakfast when Ben came to eat with us between 8 and 9. Just before the boys went up for bed Brian called Ray and told him the price we had agreed upon with Mrs. Flynn for the barn and he told him we had some ideas we would talk to him about after we were through with the financial adviser on Saturday, so why didn’t he and Bruce stay for lunch. Ray thanked him for the invitation and said they’d like that.

We hadn’t heard from David and John this week so I called them just before dinner when I knew they’d both be home. John answered and when I asked when they were coming out for dinner he told me that David had the flu and he thought he had shared it because he (John) wasn’t feeling too swift himself at the moment. He had dragged David to the doctor yesterday and they were both on antibiotics right now. I told him how sorry I was to hear that and I wished them both a speedy recovery, and we hoped they knew that Brian and I missed them in our everyday lives. John sniffled too and said both David and he felt the same.

Saturday morning we all slept in a tiny bit longer but we were all up and helping to prepare pancakes and eggs over easy for our big breakfast with Ben, who arrived about on time, and with an even dozen eggs he had gathered from the chicken coop this morning. We told him that the eggs we were having with breakfast were also from the coop and we encouraged him to make use of any amount of eggs he himself could use, and he thanked us for that. We asked how the move had gone and he said all he had he got moved in one load in his pick up and that he already felt settled in. We asked him if he needed anything and he said he was fine, but when I pushed a little he admitted he could use some rugs as the floors were quite cold, especially in the morning, as he found out this morning. As the boys cleared the table and started the clean up Brian and I talked to him about his plans for renting out the fields and he said he had been talking to a few of the neighboring farmers and he already had commitments on most of the farmable acres and even if we never leased out the rest, the deals he had made were really good and we’d be bringing in more already than what we were told we could get by leasing out all the fields. He said he had one lease where the farmer would also plant and work the fields Ben had set aside for our own use and they’d even harvest it for us and we’d still make money on the deal.

As I got up and started to wash some dishes Brian asked how his date with Mrs. Flynn went the other night. I told Ben that he didn’t have to answer that, but we did like her and we were curious as to how their reunion went. Poor Ben was blushing but he said they both had a good time and they had another dinner planned early in the week and that they had already agreed to share Christmas at her house. I told him that we thought that was great, and we could tell she was happy about it. Once I had washed and the boys had dried, Brian stepped in to put everything way and I told Ben to follow me. I took him to the storage room and showed him 4 rolled up rugs and I told him that if there was anything he could use in his place there he was welcome to them. He looked at the folded back corners and he said he’d like to use one for the living room and one for his bedroom, and maybe the short runner for the little hall between the bedrooms and the bathroom. We each took an end and had the first one by the back door just as Brian opened it for us. I told him we needed the green one too and the short runner and he and Mike followed us with the big one while Bobby followed with the runner. We rolled out the big carpets and with everyone’s help we had them under the furniture in no time. And it only took a flip of the wrist to set the runner in place.

Bobby ran back to the house and returned with a big roll of wide double stick tape and he and Mike set about securing the rugs to the floor, thus lessening the chance of anyone tripping on a loose corner. With that all done I realized the rugs might just have come from down here in the first place, the colors seemed perfect in the spots he had chosen. We had just gotten settled back in the house when Ray and Bruce arrived and Ray started right in, telling us our new credit cards were being over nighted to us and should be here by the time we got out of school on Monday. I thanked him for that and we settled at the table after Bruce got a tour of the downstairs of the house. He said he thought the place had a real homey feel and we told him that we couldn’t take all the credit, we bought it furnished and just moved in.

Ray had some ideas about investing some of the money, and when the financial adviser turned up I told Ray to tell him what he had been telling us. The adviser was a middle aged man who kept looking at Brian and I as if we should go along and play and let the adults get on with business. I was starting to get steamed when Bruce burst out laughing and leaned in to Ray and whispered something in his ear, and then Ray apologized to both Brian and me, telling us he was sorry for not introducing us to Mr. Cleaver. Mr. Cleaver looked confused but Ray introduced us as Archie and Brian, the two guys who just won over three hundred million last Saturday night. I thought Mr. Cleaver was doing a fish imitation but after a few gulps he sprang up and apologized to us, and Brian said that people didn’t always take us seriously, even our own students! He looked confused until Bruce spoke up and told Mr. Cleaver that not only had we earned our Masters degrees just last Spring, but a month later we achieved our doctorates degrees and were now teachers at the local middle school, and parents to two 12 year olds. Mr. Cleaver was suitably impressed and after that his comments were addressed to us mostly. We explained what we wanted to do as far as the charitable foundation we wanted to fund and that a certain amount was to be put into accounts we could live off of if the need ever arrived. I then took out my notebook and explained that our first two priorities were setting up college trusts for our sons and a retirement trust for our farm manager.

Once he had the pertinent information on those I gave him the list of those we wanted to pay off their mortgages for and that we wanted to be able to purchase a house for Brian’s fathers. He looked slightly confused until Ray did a finder wiggle between he and Bruce. Then Mr. Cleaver smiled and nodded his head and proceeded to explain what he was proposing to do with our money. He asked for the address of my parents and John and David, the two mortgages we wanted to pay off, and Brian spoke up and said we ought to do something for Don and Clint up in Amherst, I agreed, so I gave Mr. Cleaver the address and full name of Don and they would be the third mortgage paid off. He suggested we give Brian’s dads a check made out to them and noted in the memo “for the purchase of a house”. He said that all those items together would be less than a million. Then he’d take three million and put it into high yield securities and stocks and bonds and that in a few years would generate a nice comfortable income for the two of us.

He explained that funding the charity would be about a twenty million dollar investment and then I told him that we were buying the huge barn, he must have driven by it to get here, as an office for the foundation and Ray’s private legal practice for his idle time. We told him the agreed upon price and Ray produced a copy of our contract to purchase the barn. That would cost us less than $200 thousand. He told us that so far we had spent less than twenty eight and a half million, that left approximately two hundred and sixty million. Brian spoke up and said we had forgotten something, and I couldn’t think what and he turned the page of my notebook and there in front of me was what I had forgotten, us. I blushed and told him I was sorry, and he whispered to me, that that was why he loved me. So we told Mr. Cleaver we needed to pay off our own mortgage, add an in ground pool and a pool house, up date the kitchen and hopefully add a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. He chuckled and said that all that wouldn’t break the bank, even if we added new cars, as he looked over at my paper. Brian asked if he knew of a small country for sale, or better yet, an island, and Mr. Cleaver laughed again and said that sounded like his boyfriend speaking. He looked at our surprised faces and said, “It’s the seventies, we’re everywhere.” He said he’d do some investigative work on the four mortgages and some of the other figures and then he’d give us a call and we’d arrange another meeting, probably in the coming week. We thanked him for his time and his considerations.

Ray and Bruce stayed for lunch which was quite cheerful when the boys found out Bruce was a male librarian. They both thought it must be real cool to be able to work with books all day. Brian and I told him we were going to nominate him for the next career day at school, and for good measure we’d throw Ray into the fray also.

The rest of Saturday we four family members had our first lessons in horsemanship with Ben in our barn. He started with the basics, food and water and treats, moved on to looking the horse over to see if everything looked and felt alright on the horse, then on to grooming and finally the gear, the tack used on the horse. First the bridle, then the rug (blanket), then the saddle, always making sure the horse was comfortable, the hoofs free of debris, and the saddle well cinched. We all got a chance to ride in a big oval inside the barn, but Ben said he was working on a plan for a corral along side the barn and when that was done he was going to put in a dog run along the other side with a doggy door through the side wall. He sad here might be enough of the left over wire fencing to make one out of, but both projects would have to wait until the weather was better. He said once the lane on our property was clear of snow and ice we could ride outside. The lane he referred to was the farm road used to gain access to many of the fields off to the sides of the basically dirt road that ran from the farm yard to the other end of our property. There was a large white wooden fence that was locked in place where our farm road met a regular road that led to the center of town one way, and to the pass over the mountain to Amherst the other way.

That night Brian and I and the boys had a fun night at home. We discussed what the next week was going to be like with only three days of classes, our Winter break started on Thursday and ended 12 days later. We had a lot of fun teaching each other how to wrap presents, something I had done, and Brian had done, but neither of us would win any prizes for our neatness or the excessive use of tape. Bobby was the best of the four of us and if we weren’t having so much fun I would have been tempted to pay him to wrap the whole lot of the gifts for family and friends we were tackling that evening after the whole crew cleaned up the kitchen from our dinner. We asked the boys that night if they would be singing with the choir at church on Sunday and they said yes, and the next night too for Christmas Eve service, could one of us give them a ride that night? We told them we wouldn’t miss them singing for the world and we’d be glad to take them to Mass on Sunday too. They seemed very pleased to hear that.

We got hugs and cheek kisses when they went up to bed that night and the next morning we were all ready for church at the same time. We saw the boys to the choir loft and then had to be introduced to the whole 15 others in the choir, but the boys were proud of us and we them, so it wasn’t any bother at all to meet the mixed age group. We were invited to sit with them, but we had noticed Deanna come in and sitting by herself in a back pew, so we told them thank you, but we’d sit down with the congregation where the sound was much better (and not so loud) and we could keep Mrs. Flynn company. She brightened right up when we approached her and we led her to a middle of the room pew where we all could sit and still hear the choir perfectly. When the mass had reached a slow point she leaned in and whispered that she really liked the colors of the rugs we gave Ben to use. I told her we were glad to do it.

The choir was wonderful and again we were able to pick out Bobby and Mike’s voices as they sang. After mass we asked Mrs. Flynn if she’d join us for breakfast at the nice Italian restaurant we all liked. But she said she had things to do and she’d see us all in school the next day. While we waited for our food order to be served, we talked it over and we decided on a $200 gift certificate and another $200 in cash for Ben’s Christmas present from our family. The boys asked if we were getting anything for Mrs. Flynn and we told them about the huge plant that was being delivered Christmas Eve, along with a $200 gift certificate just like we had just gotten for Ben.

Tuesday we held a Holiday party for the school children in the auditorium and everyone had a great lunch and a good time. Brian and I had offered to pay for it, but Mrs. Flynn told us it had come out of the lunch budget, but it was always included in the budget proposal for the school year and so far it had never been turned down. I was called into the office just before the school closing bell rang. It was Ray and he didn’t sound happy (now this would be a good place for a cliffhanger!).

Ray said he was at the hospital in Springfield and he had been called there by the DCFS because one of his former clients had been in a horrific house fire and she and her 5 year old son had been brought to this hospital. Their home was a total loss and there were no contact or emergency numbers in her purse or anywhere in the burnt out home that anyone could find. He said the 5 year old was doing all right and having oxygen treatments, but the mother was not going to live, although right now she was lucid and asking him to take care of finding a good family to take in her son. He said that he and Bruce would do it in a minute, but both he and Bruce knew they were not the fathering types. Short periods were fine, but not for the long haul. He said that he had frankly discussed us with the mother and she would like to meet us. Could I think about it and talk to Brian and maybe the boys and see what everyone thought? He did warn me he didn’t know how much longer she would last, I told him to get the paperwork done and tell her we were on the way.

I pulled Brian into the office as he walked by with our boys and I told them to wait in the hall for a moment. I quickly told Brian about the phone call and he just asked why we were here and not there (I know you know I love him, but do you see now why I do?). We called the boys in from the hall and I told them what was about to happen and Mike said we better have Dad B drive if we want to get there before dark, and then the three of them were laughing. It sounded like they really knew me. We separated and gathered up our things and then met at the car and with Brian driving we got there all in one piece and in 25 minutes and no speeding tickets. Ray met us in the lobby and led us to the emergency treatment ward where in a separate section we were introduced to Sandra Connolly. She looked so frail, but she had a determined look to her. She thanked us for coming and Brian introduced her to our sons. Once that was done we asked Ray to take the boys out of the room and we both sat with her and answered the questions she had and we also told her about our farm, and about us being teachers. She looked a little disbelieving, so we explained about our schooling and our degrees and how each of the boys came to us and how well they were doing now they had a stable home life. She took our hands in hers and told us she was so glad now that she had a chance to meet the men that would finish raising her Kenny. She had lost her husband to a drunk driver just after Kenny was born, and now she would be going to see her Bill knowing their son was being well looked after. We promised to bring him to her before we left the hospital, as no one wanted him to see her die.

We went out in the hall and Ray took us to see the boy, who he had already told Bobby and Mike about. He was on a treatment cot, with a nurse in attendance as he lay there with an oxygen mask just about covering his face. The nurse looked at her watch and told Kenny that she thought that was enough of that for now, and he had visitors. He sat bolt upright as she took the mask from about his face and he locked eyes with Mike and held his arms up to him. Mike grabbed him in his arms and asked Kenny how he was doing, it had been months since he had last seen him and he was so big now. Kenny asked Mike who are those other guys were and Mike introduced his new family to Kenny, telling him Brian and I were his new dads and that Bobby was his new brother. Kenny told Mike his mommy was really sick and I gently told him that we would take him to see her (the nurse was nodding) so he hopped into Mike’s arms again and we all walked to his mother’s cubicle and he leaned down to her waiting arms and we kind of backed out of the cubicle to give them some privacy and then her nurse motioned for us to come back in a few minutes later. Mrs. Connolly apologized to Mike for not recognizing him earlier, and he said he hadn’t recognized her either, but he was so glad to see Kenny again and so sorry he was going to loose his mother, as he knew how good they were together.

Mrs. Connolly was fading and showing signs of being even weaker, so the nurse suggested we leave, but Mrs. Connolly motioned for Brian and I to remain and when the boys and Ray were all outside the cubicle she, in a very soft and raspy voice, asked us to take good care of her boy, to try and give him a happy life, and we tearfully promised to do everything we could to fulfill her wishes. There was a low level beeping going on and the nurse quietly encouraged us to leave and as we did the beeping got louder and stronger, as we knew she was fading fast.

Ray had another set of documents to deal with, all signed and witnessed by the attending doctor and two nurses. He’d take care of filing those, and we’d take care of Kenny. Ray told us in the waiting room what he had been told about the fire. He said there wasn’t anything left, not even the shell of the house since that had collapsed. He said that Kenny was coming to us with nothing but the clothes on his back and the memory of his former life and his mom. A nurse came to us and explained that Kenny had inhaled some smoke and had a few bruises, but otherwise he was fine, his mother had taken the brunt of it all, trying to save her son, and she hadn’t been in the best of health to begin with. A short time later another nurse joined us and softly told us that she had passed. Brian went to the desk and gave our information to the clerk there and Ray joined him to verify that we’d be responsible for any fees incurred, and we’d be making arrangements for her remains to be interred next to her husband’s in the town’s cemetery. Ray had said he’d handle all that for us.

We gathered up the boys and we explained to Kenny what had happened, that his mommy had gone to be with his daddy, and he told us she had died, she told him that she didn’t want to, but she had to go be with his daddy now and Kenny was going to live with Archie and Brian and he would have Mike and Bobby for brothers. He crawled up in my lap and I swear I had never felt the need to protect and nurture more than I had felt it at that moment. With Kenny in my arms we made our way to the car and with him sitting between Brian and I, and all of us strapped in, we made our way to a big KMART on our way home and we all went in and picked up a new wardrobe for Kenny who didn’t even have a winter coat left. With our cart full we headed to the checkout and I again wrote out a check and we were on our way home.

Once there we split up, Brian headed to the kitchen to start dinner and the boys and I went to the living room to cut the tags from our purchases. With that accomplished, and Bobby and Mike keeping Kenny occupied, I took the clothing to the basement laundry and began a wash of little boy clothes. Upstairs again I checked and saw the boys were bonding and Brian had a good start on dinner. Just before we sat to eat I loaded the dryer with the washed new clothing and then I took Kenny to the bathroom along with the older boys and we got Kenny all washed and clean and into a nice soft pair of sweat pants that Bobby had said shrunk in the wash and was too small on him and a sweat shirt Mike had that was way too small on him. Kenny still was too small for these, but it would only be for dinnertime and then he could but on better fitting clothing when the drying was finished.

We all got to know more about Kenny and Mike as we ate. Mike had lived close to the Connollys when he and his dad had lived in an apartment and he had often babysat him if his mother had an errand to run. Mike had a good rapport with Kenny and it looked like that was rubbing off to us. After dinner we all pitched in to clean up and as it was now dusk we turned on the tree and Kenny oohed and ahhed about it. By then the dryer was buzzing so Bobby and I went down to fold the clothes and we went up and everyone followed us upstairs so Kenny could pick his own bedroom. Not surprisingly he chose the one next to Mike’s and this one had a connecting door to a different bathroom.

We set his clothing into the dresser there and Brian helped him put on a winter shirt and pants and his new underwear and shoes. He was able to put on his new coat himself and we all went downstairs and got our own outerwear and we took a walk down to the barn. Kenny got to meet the dogs and the horses and then Bobby showed him the chickens out back. He loved all of them, but he liked the way the dogs “kissed” him. On our way back to the house we came across Ben as he was coming home from being out and Kenny and Ben got along really well, and he asked me if Ben was our grandpa, as he never had one before. I told him he would have a grandma and three grandpas soon. I had another call or two to make before bedtime.

By the time we arrived back to the house Kenny was pretty worn out, but we had done what the nurse had told us and we had kept him occupied and entertained and we’d gotten him out in the fresh air. We showed him again where everyone slept if he needed us in the night and I even found a few nightlights and we put one in his bathroom and one in his room by the door to the hall in case he did wake up in the night. He was in his new pajamas when the four of us tucked him in and everyone gave him hugs and kisses before he dropped off to sleep. Downstairs the boys watched TV before going up themselves and Brian and I went to the phone in the kitchen and called our folks to announce another member added to our family.

After making those calls we called Mr. McMasters, our school’s principal, and got his permission to take Kenny into school with us tomorrow, as it was only a half day and the last day before the Winter break. After filling him in about Kenny and the circumstances behind his being with us he agreed to let this happen, and offered to look into getting Kenny enrolled into the kindergarten which was in the grade school right next door to the middle school where we taught. We thanked him for that and after ending the call we got ready for bed, but not before tip toeing upstairs and checking on Kenny. We were pleased he seemed in deep sleep and cuddling a teddy bear we knew Bobby had given him.

In the morning we all had breakfast before leaving the house and heading for school. Before breakfast the older boys had taken Kenny to the barn to help feed the dogs and let them out to do their own bathroom duties. They then took him to the chicken coop to gather the mornings eggs and feed the flock. Bobby feigned indignation because the roosters still pecked at him, but they seemed afraid of Kenny!

At school our students were quite amused by Kenny, who would sit and color and rush to the next door room to show Brian or I what he had colored, and after getting praise he would rush back to the other room and resume his seat to color again. Before long he was caught in the hall by Mrs. Flynn who asked him where he was supposed to be and he held up the coloring book and said he was coloring pictures for his new daddys. She caught on right away and told him he had done very well and he took off again for Brian’s room and she came into mine and asked when that had happened. I explained it all to her and she was moved by the circumstances, and told me he couldn’t have ended up in a better place.

After lunch school was released for the long break. We were gathering up the loose things on our desks and straightening our rooms so the cleaners didn’t disturb anything important when we heard Kenny out in the corridor. He was explaining the pictures he had colored as his school work to someone out there and as the two older boys hadn’t finished cleaning their lockers on the first floor as we had suggested, I stuck my head out of my classroom door to peek and saw Kenny showing his “school work” off to four or five teachers with Mrs. Flynn holding the book up for him. It was so cute, and he was so serious about getting good marks from his new daddies for his work. One of the teachers asked who his new daddies were and he told her that they were Dad A and Dad B. They all chuckled and told him what a good job he had done, Mrs. Flynn looking on like a proud grandmother. I looked over and Brian was doing exactly what I was, snooping on our newest addition.

Once we were through with our rooms we headed for the first floor to see what Mike and Bobby were up to and they were just finishing with their clean out. I don’t understand it, both of their rooms were neat as pins, but their lockers looked like tornadoes lived in them. Brian and I stepped into the office to sign out for the vacation period and left Kenny with his new brothers. Mr. McMasters came out from his office to tell us that Kenny was accepted into the kindergarten and could start the first day classes started back up. He wished us a good holiday season and we of course did the same to him. We both thanked him for the assist in getting the kindergarten to accept Kenny mid year, but he said it really wasn’t a big deal as they often had changes during the school year and he was happy to do it for us.

We ran into Mrs. Flynn in the corridor and we asked if we would see her at the official closing on her big barn in the morning, as Ray had told us it was all set up, and she said she hoped she would, and she asked if we would like a final walk through right now? We thanked her for the opportunity and accepted, if it wasn’t putting her out, but she said it might be fun. She was looking at Kenny when she said that.

We agreed to meet in 10 minutes and then we gathered in the car and drove off to meet her at the barn. Kenny wanted to know why we weren’t going home to play with the dogs, and Bobby and Mile tried to explain that the dads were going to buy this big old place and turn it into offices. We had just pulled in the parking lot when another car pulled in, and we didn’t recognize it or it’s driver. He was a tall lanky guy, about in his thirties, close to Ray and Bruce’s ages. He wasn’t bad looking and he reached back in his car and removed a briefcase and a camera. He started to walk toward us as we exited our car when Mrs. Flynn pulled in close to us. Once she was out of her car the man walked up to her and they hugged and exchanged cheek kisses. By then Kenny had run up to them and took Mrs. Flynn’s gloved hand in his and she bent over and kissed his cheek too.

She then walked up to us and introduced us to Jeffry Palmer, an old student of hers and an up and coming architect from Springfield. She thought we might want to meet him, tell him what we wanted from the space, and let him draw up some plans to show us. I got the distinct impression we’d been set up, but he was a nice looking man, very unassuming, and the three boys took to him right away. Mrs. Flynn (Deanna) unlocked the doors and turned on the lights and we all followed her in. I told the boys to stay close as they began to explore on their own and we four adults strolled the length of the building, with Brian and I spouting our thoughts as Jeff took notes as we did. We both mentioned the skylights and the removal of the boards and false walls blocking the windows, and solar panels for more electricity. We also thought there should be air conditioning, but not the big window units, something like central air and heat like in big commercial buildings. All this and more was written down, such as the ideas for some separate offices and some open cubicles for the staff. He then asked just what kind of company we were opening. We told him about our plan for a charitable foundation that would then donate funds to several charities, staring with our own county and then state wide and then national.

He asked who was funding such a fine idea and Deanna laughed and told him that we were. He looked at Brian and I skeptically and said that we were only about 20 ourselves, how was this scheme supposed to work. Brian spoke before I started laughing and told him that we were not quite 20 yet, but we had recently come in to some money. Deanna actually laughed aloud and told us to tell him everything, that not only was he a former student, he was her nephew and he would keep our secret for us, and maybe become a friend. She went to see what the boys were up to and I told Jeff that we had accelerated classes through our two years of high school and also in college, and we both had not only our Masters degrees, but our Doctorates as well. When he had absorbed that I asked if he had heard about the mega jackpot paid out by the lottery two weeks ago?

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