When I was a kid, I wanted to ... a major league baseball player. Who didn't?
What would you rather be doing right now? Right now, I'd rather be working in the yard or maybe hacking my way through a round of golf.
Shhhhhh! Don't tell anyone that ... I keep a lucky "charm" on me almost all of the time. I have a few different ones, depending on the type of luck I need.
Other than your wedding day and the birth of your children, what was your proudest moment? After leaving home for many years for school and work, my wife and I finally realized our goal of moving home so our kids could grow up close to their family.
It really stinks when ... people don't put the shopping cart into the racks in the parking lot.
What word in the dictionary would your face be next to? Engrossed. Once I start on something, I can't quit it until I'm finished, be it a book or a project I am working on. I can't stand to have things unresolved, and I will just keep on with it until I have it done.
I always laugh when ... my daughter does something that drives me crazy, and then I realize she inherited that trait from me.
Invite any three people, living or dead, to dinner. Who are they? Thomas Jefferson, so he could tell stories about the changes he saw and oversaw in the history of the country; someone from my family who lived a long time ago so I could find out more about who I am and where I came from; and one of my great-grandchildren. That way, I'd know that I'll still be around a long time from now.
At the end of a really long day at work, I like to ... go home, start up the grill and hang out with my family in the yard.
People who knew me in high school thought I was ... fun-loving and easygoing.
My most unforgettable brush with greatness was ... in the middle of the 1998 baseball season, when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were battling it out for the home run record. I headed to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals. I was with my future father-in-law, and we were meeting my future wife and the rest of their family. They got to St. Louis a little before us so they could go shopping in the mall. Who walked in but McGwire? They talked to him for a moment, and later that day he hit a home run. Unfortunately, I could only hear about it and kick myself for not liking shopping malls better.
I would drop all my plans tonight if I had the chance to ... go to a Kansas City Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium.
If someone gave me a million dollars, there is still no way ... hire people to do my handyman work around the house. I like to work on little fix-up projects and wouldn't like it if I had other people working on the things I'm capable of doing myself.
America should be more concerned about ... the things that have always made our country great. If we would just focus on these, it would be much simpler to know the right thing to do and to go ahead and do it.
I'm OK if there's ever a national shortage of ... jerky. I make my own.
What place in the world would you most like to visit? It would probably be Alaska because of the awesome expanse of untouched wilderness. I like looking at a map, seeing big areas without any towns or roads, and wondering what those areas are like.
What is the most useful piece of advice you have ever received? My grandma has, on the whole, given me the most practical advice. However, my dad once told me that you can fry almost anything and it will probably taste good. Whether it's useful advice, I'm not so sure, but it certainly is memorable.
When I'm cruising down the road, I'm likely listening to ... talk radio unless the Cardinals game is on.
I always get sentimental when ... I think back of all the time my cousins and I spent at Grandma and Grandpa's farm, catching crawdads and minnows in the creek, playing ball, running around in the woods or just helping in the garden.
The older I get, the more I realize ... that time spent doing the things that you enjoy is never time wasted.
If I had one "do-over," I would ... have asked my Grandpa Welch more questions when I had the chance.
My favorite item of clothing is ... my old hiking boots. They have seen me through a lot of fun trips and many, many miles. They're wearing out, but I can't seem to get rid of them.
If I've learned anything at all ... it's that it is wise to listen, think and then speak (always in that sequence). I seem to continue to learn that on occasion.
Jerrod Welch, 31, is a husband and a father of two. He is the director of health protection at the Adams County Health Department. In his limited free time, he likes to work in the yard during the spring and summer, and be in the woods during the fall and winter.
