FIRST, before all else, I want to acknowledge the underlying inspiration for creating this website: MY FAMILY. Everything, and I mean everything about this website flows from their love and support: my beautiful wife and soul mate of 43 years, Nancy Anne Beaulieu Kleiner, our 2 amazing married sons, Matt and Adam, our two wonderful grandchildren, Alexis and Brady, and our two loving and supportive daughers-in-law Sarah Elizabeth Kleiner and Addison McMann Kleiner.
DEATH BED WISH
On May 8th 2013 I suffered a life threatening stroke. On my death bed at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta Georgia, I heard (?) a faint whisper, “Richie, Make a Difference!” At the time of my stroke I had been a professional psychologist licensed in Massachusetts with a dual specialty in clinical and organizational psychology. I had taught at Yale, The University of Washington, UMass, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Also, I have had extensive experience over many years of professional practice dealing with problems of married couples and families.
However, after my stroke, I retired due to permanent disabilities which affected my ability to walk, use my left arm and to see using my left eye. Now being retired and disabled, I had the time and a unique perspective to reflect on my life, especially as a parent. I realized that my life, which I was very proud of, had been guided by a number of cherished values and underlying principles. These were very effective resources that I had relied upon in raising our sons, particularly through tough times. Also, these were the values and guidelines that had provided a consistent theme throughout my career while working with families and children to facilitate resilience.
The only problem was that these values and guidelines had never been clearly articulated by me, and I now felt a strong need to clarify and express them. I wanted to document them and share them with my boys, and help other parents as well. Thus the articulation of “Pops Kleiner’s 43 Rules of Thumb.” My best friend Gary Berkley,, and my son Matt suggested developing a website in the hope that I might reach additional parents and that their feedback might further help “Make a Difference” by contributing to moral clarity and strengthening family life.
