My name is Bill Ainslie...    

I was born one fine late summer day some 52 summers ago not too far from the Baseball Hall of Fame in upstate New York. I was the second child in a family of six children. The first "Gin Baby" as my Uncle Jess would say. You see I was born about nine months after one of those Christmas or New Years celebrations where my mother had obviously consumed too many gin and tonics. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea; my parents weren’t boozers. In fact, I can’t ever remember seeing either one of them staggering drunk. Like I said I was the second child of Hap and Jane, my two brothers, three sisters, and I lived with our parents in a modest three bedroom home just down the road from my Grandparents rural farm. How rural you ask? There were three houses on a 2 mile stretch of dirt road, the two already mentioned and my Uncle Jim’s house. We were 15 miles outside of the village where I went to school, population 2,500.

If you are still reading this then I guess I could tell you more. When I was growing up I had two really close friends. My cousin Jamie who lived just down the road (on the other side from Grandmas) and John. John lived on a dairy farm about a mile as the crow flies behind my house, we went to the same school, were in the same grade, rode on the same school bus, but he was in the next telephone area code. I guess they have to draw the lines somewhere. Our main activities involved being outdoors, exploring the streams and wooded areas close to home. We were either shooting bows and arrows, creating a dam in the stream, or building some hideout. Our main mode of transportation was on foot. It wasn’t until I was probably nine or ten when I started riding a bicycle but being on a dirt road and with the hills it was easier to just walk where ever we wanted to go.

Still with me, OK this is great. Living close to Grandma was nice. I could always visit her if there was nothing going on. She always had a warm cookie and a big hug waiting for me. My Uncle Leo lived with Grandma and Grandpa. Uncle Leo was a half brother of my dad. As far back as I can remember he was always old. He was also a loner, I vaguely remember something about him being married or engaged while a young man but I think something tragic happened. No one ever talked much about Uncle Leo’s past. There never were any feelings of sorrow for him; no one ever tried to marry him off. I always sort of envied his independence. Uncle Leo did have some interesting hobbies. One was, collecting butterflies and moths. He had the upstairs of Grandma’s house lined with case after case of beautiful specimens. He corresponded with people all over the world, trading his butterflies and moths for species from other places on the planet. I know if he were still alive today he’d have an internet site dedicated to that very thing. Uncle Leo taught me a lot about his hobbies, some of which I still enjoy today.

I grew up in a home where Mom didn’t work outside the house., Her job was tending to us kids and making the house a home. My Dad worked hard, he was a plumbing, electrical, and heating contractor. During summer vacations and other breaks from school I can remember going to work with my Dad. I must have been all of 8 or 9 years old when I started. My Dad taught me the value of a good days work, as well as what it meant to be proud of the job you’ve done.

My Mom and Dad celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary during the summer of ’99. While attending their party, I couldn't help think that 50 years seemed like such a long time. But then it only seems like yesterday that me and my wife were getting married and we will be celebrating our 30^th this summer.

Speaking of marriage, Betty and I got married in the summer of 1975. We moved to the big city of Syracuse, NY where we were blessed with the births of our two boys. In the early 80's we moved to Florida and have raised both boys as southern by the grace of God. They are the best thing that has happened to My wife and I, they have given us a purpose in life. A purpose that I think I can say we have not squandered. Both boys have grown up to be wonderful young men. 

This bio is going to be a work in process. Look for additions in the coming weeks.