When David graduated from high school, he worked for Phoenix Welding where his father, Howard, worked as a welder. Don Johnson is the owner of this company and he saw the potential in David way back then. It was Don who brought David into the shop and taught him to read blueprints. It was Don who encouraged David to go to back to school to further his education.

Don has such a huge heart and is such a humble person. Sadly, this past year, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and has been battling it. While David was home, he was able to spend some quality time with buddy and mentor, Don.
One of those visits turned out to be a fun, fun day. It was a rare Saturday afternoon, where neither David nor I had anything planned. We were just getting ready to go for a ride in our sports car when the phone rang. It was Don and he was at one of his buildings that he rents out for various businesses. One of these businesses is a detailing shop owned by Joe. Don had shared with Joe that he was in the mood for sirloin, so Joe pulled out his bar-b-que and started grilling.

Don invited us over and what a fun, fun day it was. The sun was shining, the music was grooving, turkeys were in the back field, people were coming and going and the sirloin sandwiches were tasty….according to those who ate them.  Since I don’t eat meat, I didn’t have a sandwich.

’69 Ford

Don has a 1969 restored Ford pick-up that he wanted David to take out for a spin. For whatever reason, David didn’t want to drive it so Joe took David and me for a ride around the block. On the return trip, Joe offered for me to drive back. I think that Don was pleased to see me behind the wheel. It was fun to drive. As Joe said, you need to use some “leg action” to apply the brake and that was true! The brakes were not like our power brakes of my car by any means!

I am certain that you have memories of an unplanned day that just turned out to be a gift and gem of a day. This was one of those days for us. We had a day of sharing and laughter with our dear friend Don and the new friends we made that day.