Changing Course: From Cold War Childhood to Retirement Adventure

What happens when life keeps changing your course?

Growing up in No Virginia during the Cold War, Randall Schmidt experienced a childhood that today feels almost unimaginable—a world of neighborhood adventures, milk delivered to the front door, endless summers in the woods, and the freedom to explore until the streetlights came on. Those early experiences shaped a lifetime of curiosity, resilience, and adventure.

As technology transformed the world, Randy found himself at the forefront of the computer revolution. His career took him from the pioneering days of electronic mail and international telecommunications to consulting on some of the nation's largest technology projects. Along the way came cross-country road trips, sailing adventures on the Chesapeake Bay and Intracoastal Waterway, travels across Europe, unexpected career turns, personal heartbreak, second chances, and enduring love.

Interwoven throughout are stories of family—parents shaped by World War II, siblings, friendships, marriage, fatherhood, and the discovery that some of life's greatest gifts arrive when we least expect them.

Warm, humorous, and deeply personal, Changing Course is more than one man's memoir. It is a journey through the second half of the twentieth century and into retirement, reminding us that the unexpected detours in life often lead to our most rewarding destinations.