10/25/2026 • (L-R: Nate Kowalski, Cyrus Chestnut, Me) Cliff Bell's Detroit, MI-- My friend, Nate, is visiting from Fullerton, CA this weekend. He's come at least every other year since his oldest son made a college visit to U-M in 2018. We've known each other since 7th Grade at Forsythe Intermediate School (Ann Arbor) in 1981. Our relationship strengthened due to our shared passion for music. He's a jazz trumpeter with an undergraduate degree in Trumpet Performance from University of Michigan (U-M) School of Music Theater and Dance and a J.D. from U-M Law School. He's been practicing law in Los Angeles for over 25 years, is working less by design and practicing trumpet every day to re-earn his "chops." He found the renown jazz pianist was appearing with his trio at Cliff Bell's (est. 1930) in Detroit, so we spent the day downtown and had our Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Class of 1987 friend, Fred Mayer meet us there and enjoyed a fabulous, toe-tapping concert. We even took ourselves backstage, where we found all three of his trio, including Sean Dobbins, drummer, too. Sean is from Ann Arbor and has made firmly established himself in the jazz world, and recently secured a professorship in the music school of Indiana University. Great times.

THE MARKET's been tough lately, as uncertainty has increased, but it rewards patience. Despite all we've been through this year, the indices have given us great returns since Jan 1!