Ruth and I have our mail forwarded from Michigan to Florida each winter. Each year brings a new challenge. I fill out all the papers as instructed, cross my fingers, and hope that everything works out. I make it a point to meet with the post mistress each year to make sure that I do everything …
Category: Life Lessons
Ed 102
If you’re an avid reader you know that this whole blog thing began two years ago with my oldest friend, Ed. I wrote about Ed turning 100 years old. He turns again next Tuesday. He’ll be 102. No matter how long I live, it won’t be long enough to have another friend like Ed. The …
A Visit to Cleveland
The second time I visited The Music Box was two years later in the summer of 1967. The Fox, AKA Gary, (see posts below) and I took a road trip to surprise a girl that he had met the semester prior. I’m not sure how he and his lady friend met, but I suspect it …
The Music Box
The Music Box was a dance hall located at the eastern end of Houghton Lake in Prudenville Michigan. It was started by Lee and Shirley Kelly in 1946 shortly after Lee returned from World War II. They owned land near the intersection of Michigan highways M-18 and M-55. They realized that the local teens didn’t …
You Never Know
I have always believed that you never know what you might do or say that could change someone’s life forever. A kind word, or act, could mean a lifetime of positive change. A negative response could have equally negative results, but I prefer to look at the glass as half-full rather than empty. I’ve been …
The Dermatologist
I had a couple of dry skin spots on my face near my temple. They had been there for awhile. They weren’t responding to the assorted creams, lotions and salves that I tried so I decided to ask my doctor about them during my annual “wellness exam”. (For my young readers, “wellness exams” are a …
Walnut Street
Gary, Jim, Dan and I decided to live together our junior year. I didn’t know Dan very well but he was a high school friend of Gary’s and came with Gary’s reference. Jim was another resident of the sixth floor of Eldridge Hall. We were known better by our last names: Maher, Wilke, Walsh and …
Did You Get Any Lip?
“In the olden times”, as my granddaughter might call my college years, all of the dorms on Western’s campus were designated as being either male or female. Girls had to be in the dorm by 11:00 p.m. through the week and 1:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The guys had no restrictions. We came and …
Introducing Gary
Gary and Tim lived in the room next to Don and me in Eldridge Hall. We shared a wall. Don and my suitemates were Paul from Jackson and another guy from Gross Pointe. Gary, Tim, Don and I were freshmen. Paul was a transfer from Jackson Community College, and the guy from Gross Pointe …
Two Jacks
I was scheduled to attend the promotional land purchase program around 11:00 a.m. on Friday. I listened to the pitch with no intention of purchasing a piece of property but “the deal” was too much for me to resist. It was the “opportunity of a lifetime” and only cost $26.00 a month. The land speculators …