Archie's Spectacular Mid-Life Crisis

Untitled Part 1

ARCHIE'S SPECTACULAR MID-LIFE CRISIS!

Gloria DeGrange knew something was wrong when her husband of 30 years suddenly went on a diet to shed some pounds around his middle, put a dark rinse on his short gray hair to make himself look younger, and traded in his chunky SUV for a bright red sports car!

The truth was that 48-year old Archie was having a mid-life crisis which would end up costing him tens of thousands dollars to boost up his sagging ego.

Archie had been feeling his age and very sorry for himself for some time. Now pushing 50, he had the uncomfortable feeling that time was short and life was passing him by. His hair was going grayer by the day, his waistline bigger, and the arthritis in his knees had become so bad he had to give up his mountain climbing. And very recently their only kid 20-year-old son Derek announced he wasn't going into the family shoe store business or to college. Instead he was moving to Hawaii to "work on his surfing" (his words). Archie feared Derek could easily end up being a beach bum!

For many years Archie had made a comfortable living as owner of the two high quality men's shoe stores his father had given him. But his real talent lay in promoting himself. He had even gone as far as planting a flag with his name in bold letters on each of the mountain summits he reached! But now that his 30th high school reunion was coming up in September, Archie was desperate to accomplish something even more make him feel vastly superior to his former classmates!

Archie's Youth in Eucalyptus Grove

As the spoiled only child of older parents (they were in their early 40's when he came along), Archie had a happy secure childhood. He grew up in sunny Eucalyptus Grove, a small town in the central San Joaquin Valley in California. One of his favorite memories was camping with his dad up in Yosemite and climbing the steep trails near the waterfalls. It was hiking in Yosemite which inspired his interest in mountain climbing.

During his high school years, Archie was envied by his classmates and some called him a "spoiled brat". His home had a swimming pool and every sweltering summer he didn't have look for a summer job - -he helped out his dad in his air conditioned shoe store downtown.

Then, every August, Archie and his parents vacationed for two weeks at their summer home in beautiful Washington State.

Archie's dad, who was a workaholic, usually spent a good part of those two weeks at the second DeGrange High Quality Shoe store he had opened in a town about 35 minutes away from their summer home. It too was doing a great business. Every September Archie's parents bought him a new wardrobe for school and when he got his driver's license they even bought him a new Honda sedan!

Right after high school graduation, Archie and his long-time girlfriend Gloria got married. His generous parents not only gave them their summer home in Washington as a wedding gift but they also gave Archie the Washington shoe store as a graduation gift! He knew the shoe business well by then and had no interest in going to college.

"Everything was handed to Archie on a silver platter," as one of his envious former classmates would say.

Gloria, who took a bookkeeping course in high school kept the books for the store. That summer home would end up being their home for many years to come.

It was while living in Washington that Archie became serious about mountain climbing. He began with Mt. Rainier and then later climbed peaks in Alaska and Europe. The only downside was that his mountain climbing took him away from Gloria and their new baby Derek who had arrived around their tenth anniversary.

Archie's thin, blonde, athletic wife Gloria had no interest whatsoever in mountain climbing. She had been on her high school swim team and she was the reason that they had a heated pool installed in their back yard. But recently she was having difficulty adjusting to the thought of life as an empty nester. Their son Derek who had learned to surf on family vacations had really meant it when he said he was going to move to Hawaii!