Smooth Sailing.. Note from the author.. It has been my intention for some time to set forth in writing some of the events of my life, not because they were more noteworthy or important then anyone else's, but because they seemed worthy of recording. Many details of those events may not have been known even to family members or close friends. That is because we all live in separate realities. Even parents and children live separate lives, with some events shared and some not shared. My philosophy is that life is a series of experiences, many good, others not so good, but all valuable. So, I write these pages for my family, my relatives, and my friends to say "I existed."