My parents, Don and Carol Block were born in 1937 and 1941 respectively.  They have both lived all their lives in the St. Louis area, and live there to this day in the same house I grew up in.  They are both retired, but are still some very busy people.My mom was a computer scientist before there were computer scientists. She worked for 30 years (1963-1993) as a software analyst. She was a pioneer, and has seen some amazing things, not the least of which being her involvement with the early days of the space program. Pretty neat stories to be told — like when she watched them unload the first computer off the truck that actually had memory, or when the recruiter for her job told her that if there’d been any men around to hire, she wouldn’t have gotten the job, or when she worked on the F-18.  Amazing stuff.  Mom’s a book worm and a writer. Although she’s worked with computers all her life, she could easily have been an editor.  She now volunteers as the librarian for their church, and has a heart of service toward so many people around her.

My dad was a mailman, for about 25 years. In his life, he’s been a banker and the foreman at a steel mill, but was a mailman as long as I can remember. He was great at it to. My dad’s the kind of guy that’s never met a stranger. He seems to know everybody. Even when we went on out-of-state vacations as a family, he would always run into people he knew. Dad’s the hardest working person I’ve ever met. He loves spending time on his farm, planting trees, building bird houses, harvesting vast quantities of blackberries or peaces or whatever else his orchard is producing in a given day.  His arch nemesis:  the Japanese beetle. 

Key food-related information (gotta keep my priorities straight):  My mom makes the best pies I’ve ever had.  My dad’s famous for his pancake breakfast.  It’s no wonder I’m big.  🙂

My parents have always been my biggest fans.  They’ve never failed to be supportive of me, even when I’ve so often had no clue about anything.  And as I’ve grown up and become an old bald guy myself, we have become friends too.  I love that!

Here are some pictures, both of my parents, and of some of our extended family…

In the picture to the right, here’s everyone’s names… From left to right:  Don (my dad), Jeff (me), Phil (my mom’s dad), Mike (my brother), Carol (my mom), Marilyn (my dad’s sister).  This was before I was married and before grandpa died, when we surprised my parents for their 30th anniversary, in 2001.