Being Grandparents

Ruth and I are grandparents of one boy and four girls, and when fall comes around we really miss the activity that our grandkids generate during the summer. Although not all of them are school-age yet, fall months seem to lower their speeds.

Our grandkids are the reason Ruth and I moved from our longtime home in Alvin to Central Texas. We wanted to be near them and it’s been really nice to see them all the time. During summer, it’s not unusual for all of them to come by my office during the same day. And if they don’t, I know they’ll filter through at some point during the course of the week.

As parents, I remember hearing people tell me: “Just wait until you’re a grandparent.” And I thought that didn’t make any sense. How can being a grandparent be any different than being a father and raising your own children and participating in all the things that your children experience? But now I can honestly say that having grandchildren is completely different than I ever anticipated. They bring a lot of joy to our lives. We’re already looking forward to the holiday season when we’ll gather all the kids up and take them to the ranch because they love playing down by the river.

Promoting Beef in Japan

About the middle of July, Ruth and I and our three children—Reid, Reese and Wendy—some of their spouses and one grandchild traveled to Japan to promote U.S. beef for a couple of weeks. It was a great learning experience for our children as well as an opportunity for them to enjoy a different culture. We attended a lot of functions geared around the beef trade in Japan and learned a great deal about the Japanese consumer.

A highlight of the trip was attending a professional baseball game between the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Orix Buffaloes. Chiba is coached by Bobby Valentine, who was my teammate on the California Angels and my manager when I played for the Texas Rangers. Before the game, Bobby and I jointly promoted U.S. beef at a special event for the fans. Then I had the pleasure of throwing out the game’s first pitch. To round out our day, my family and I hosted a reception in one of the stadium’s open-air boxes for Japanese beef buyers.

We enjoyed visiting with the Japanese people. We discovered that, like Americans, the Japanese place a premium on tenderness and all-natural qualities in their beef. But there are differences too. Japanese homes don’t have a lot of freezer space, so they don’t shop in volume. Instead, Japanese consumers shop for fresh food every other day to prepare the next couple of meals. They take a lot of time selecting the right beef cut.

The Japanese enjoy a wide selection of beef products ranging from their native Kobe and Holstein beef to imported beef from the U.S. and Australia. Yet what I came away with was the respect that the Japanese have for U.S. beef and their excitement about being able to purchase it.

It was a great trip because it combined all my passions – family, baseball and beef.