NOTE: The first installment of this series is a little bit different and more personal than the others will be. Ed Budde is part of the reason I am with Arrowhead Pride today.
The year was 2001. It was around 4:30 am. I was working the graveyard shift at the Phillips 66 on the corner of Blackbob road and 151st street in Olathe, Kansas. I was standing at the counter with my nose buried in a copy of David Landes’ 658-page book “Wealth and Poverty of Nations.”
The bell over the door chimed — and when I looked up, the first thing I saw was a Super Bowl ring on a bratwurst-sized finger.