Meet Rich

I was born and raised in Bethlehem, PA. My dad, Butch, was a Bethlehem Steel Worker, and my mom, Dolores, was in textile manufacturing. If you've ever heard the Billy Joel song "Allentown", which is a city connected to Bethlehem on the west, you already have a good idea of what life was like in my area while growing up. I had a great childhood that provided for many great memories. These memorable years really were more simple times while growing up in Bethlehem as a child. My grandfather, Peter, got me into woodworking at a very young age. He worked at a lumberyard, and when I was very young, he would sometimes pick me up and take me along when he delivered lumber. Both my dad and my grandfather were craftsmen who were constantly involved with one project or another. I would sit at my grandfather's basement steps when I was about 7 years old and watch him rip lumber, build cabinets, stain and finish woods, etc. My only sibling, Ron, got me into music. It was the Stones, the Who, Zeppelin, and the like that I cut me musical teeth on because of my older brother. I started playing bass guitar around that time, and my dad got me my first acoustic guitar shortly after this. It was a Yamaha FG-331. I sold that one that I got from my dad, and years later, my brother picked up the same model at a yard sale. I still have it and enjoy it until this day. Throughout the years, I've played in bands, and I've seen many guitars come and go. As a teen, I always had a way of making money. Whether it was airbrushing, making keychains with names on them, making signs, or remodeling projects in people's homes, I always managed to go about servicing various needs and desires that I was skilled at doing. I did well in school, but I was really looking forward to getting out! I contemplated college, however, my dad died in my senior year in high school and it threw me into a tailspin of sorts. I graduated high school here in Bethlehem with life being somewhat of a blur at that time. I always wanted to be a business owner as a young man, wanting to kind of chart my own course, instead of following along with the crowd. I opened my own business at 22 years old, complete with a storefront, and it did very well for many years. It was a sales and service business, and I really enjoyed the customers and the craftsmanship that I put into the product. I had a beautiful baby girl named Sarah at that time. Being a father to Sarah is the absolute greatest blessing for me here in the world, and it has provided for great memories that will last a lifetime. The business ran its course, closing shortly after me and my daughter's mom called it quits, and after a few jobs here and there, I started working at Martin Guitar in Nazareth, PA. As life chugged along, I became more aware of things that I seemingly have been ignoring and evading for years as it concerns spiritual matters. I became personally regenerated and born again by God, and my life took on a decidedly different direction. I'm eternally thankful for this! I'm single, even though I would love to have a godly woman by my side to enjoy this life with here on Earth. If I meet the right woman during my journey, I will gladly share life and grow old together with her as a gift from Jesus! I enjoy working around the house, and I'm a big animal and nature person. I enjoy playing and singing worship songs, as well as getting lost in noodling around on the guitar. My daughter Sarah is a graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, PA. Sarah traveled the world as part of a program that took her to five different countries that involved her whole junior year in college at Lafayette. Besides these five countries in this program (India, Turkey, Tanzania, New Zealand, and Mexico), she lived in France, and spent time in Russia, South Africa, and Egypt. Sarah loves traveling, and I'd say that she got her wanderlust bug from me, because we were always traveling while she was growing up. She now resides in the state of Washington. I closed the chapter of my life that dealt with me working at Martin Guitar with much excitement and anticipation directed at being a business owner once again. My friends and family are very important to me. My dad died a long time ago, and I still got my biological brother and mother who live close by. My grandmother, Anne, (Peter's wife) was a very important part of my life. She had Alzheimer's for five years before she died in 2010, and prior to her dying, I spent nearly every evening with her for years helping her along in life. I miss her dearly. I love creating! I love music! I love guitars! I love numbers, charts, and accounting! And, I really love people! It seems fitting to be the co-owner of a music shop and guitar repair and restoration business. I especially love traveling, Christian fellowship, worshiping in song with guitar, study time in Scripture teaching, and writing articles. Writing articles is a big passion for me! I've had some really rough times here and there, but God's grace has always prevailed and shown me that we are all trying to make our way through a sometimes totally insane world. There isn't anybody who has the upper hand on their neighbor. We all struggle and contend with different things in different ways in the world, despite what things look like and how some people choose to live their life. I'm blessed way beyond what I can ever know and what I deserve! I look forward to meeting you and working with you!
-Rich