The businessman gets his name on a door. The star gets his name in lights. They both get their names on a parking space.

I visited Minnie Pearl's home down in Nashville, and I liked it so much I asked the same man to help fix up my place.

People I knew in high school have gone in many directions, as I have gone in my particular direction. They now have different and absorbing interests of their own, just as I have mine.

I was smart or lucky or both. I saved my money. I was on TV for 10 years, and then I spent eight more years on the road. Working on the road is where you really can save money if you put your mind to it.

The nicest part of the prize, perhaps, is the effect on my friends and family. Each of them feels proud and happy to have the relationship with me that they do. In a way, it's as though they received an award too, and I like that very much.

Love comes in all different shapes and forms - from friendship and sisters and mums - and as I've got older, I've definitely learned that some of my happiest times have been when I've been on my own.

A shift toward access and service would deepen the big-box retailer's relationship to customers and win their loyalty. A service focus would bring more rewarding, frequent, and lasting contact with grateful customers.

To me, I have my friends who I've known my whole life, and I can count them on one hand. They're people I went to school with, my mum's friends' daughters. You know?