Rich Philp:  

I was working an all-night shift at the Pentagon at the end of 1972. Someone from the Secretary of the Army's office knew we were on-shift, so came down and asked if anybody knew how to type. I did - so he handed me a sheaf of White House stationary and a handwritten rough draft. I typed the letter that President Nixon signed that ended the draft in December 1972. I've done other stuff, but that one sticks with me. When I was 18, my draft number was 366. Just before I turned 19, they extended draftable age to 19. When I was 19, my draft number came up 7. I was drafted. Spent 18 months working at the Pentagon in Intelligence. When my time was done, I came back to Stanwood for 2 years, married Debbie Johnson in 1974, and moved back to Washington D.C. Worked for the Federal Government in Executive Development, explaining to Presidential Appointees and new Senior Executive Service folks how the Federal Government works. Received a B.S. in Finance and an MBA from the University of Maryland during this time. In 1984, Deb and I moved to Los Angeles so she could be closer to her family. She continued nursing and I worked for an international bank in Compliance, and Mergers and Acquisitions. In 1986, we bought a house in the San Fernando Valley and are still in that house (almost paid for). As you must know by now, life sometimes requires us to make difficult decisions. My father had a major stroke on Saturday, 7-13-96. On Monday I was making plans to fly to Seattle when Debbie got a phone call out of the blue from a nurse friend: "Are you interested at all in adoption? There is a young lady (23) here who gave birth yesterday (7-14-96) and she is willing to do an open adoption. If you are interested, you need to beat the LA County Social Worker here, or the baby will go into the 'system'" Hmmm - go see my father, who may be dying, or the baby?? We chose the baby, my father survived and lived until 2003, and our lives have not been the same since. We named her Jennifer Lynn. Debbie at first wanted Jennifer Katherine, in honor of her grandmother. But we decided that Jennifer Lynn rolled off the tongue better. A while later, Microsoft's Bill Gates had a daughter. Named her Jennifer Katherine. When Jenny was 10 weeks old, Debbie developed sepsis and a very high fever and spent 11 days in the hospital, during which she had major surgery. Due to the combination of the lengthy high fever and the effects of the surgery, she could not deal well with the demands of a newborn. We could have hired full-time help, but I hadn't agreed to adopt a baby just s...Expand for more