My mom and dad purchased the house at 500 N. Edgeworth in January of 1950 and made it our new home. 500 N. Edgeworth sounds cool. It sounds better than 430 N. Edgeworth and more distinguished than 500 S. Edgeworth. It also sounds way cooler that 500 N. Minerva. Who would want to live on …
Cursive vs. Printing
Ruth and I didn’t plan to have three children but we did. Heck, if you’ve read my previous story, “How About Me?”, you know that we didn’t plan to get married. But we did that too. We turned out to be pretty traditional – marriage , then children. When we got around to talking about …
The Birds, The Bees, and Earleen
I was a cub scout and then a boy scout for several years. In addition to all of the “be prepared” parts of scouting, scouts also had fund raising drives to raise money to offset the cost of all our activities. Paper drives were a great way to raise money while helping our neighbors …
Last Minute Changes
Everyone’s life is affected by last minute changes. I know many people who just don’t like change of any kind. Days, weeks, months, perhaps years are planned on constants. Tacos on Tuesday and the local fish fry on Friday are a way of life. Annual vacations, or family visits, are etched into calendars …
It’s Gonna Rain Again
I’ve enjoyed a career in education spanning over forty-five years. I’ve taught, served as a building principal, been a school superintendent and now do consulting work. Once, several years ago in my elementary school principal days, I received a phone call from a friend and new school principal. He needed my advice. He was the …
The Girl Nextdoor
There are many stories about “the girl next door”. I learned this summer that one of my friends married his. They lived next to each other in Jackson, Michigan in their early teens (he was 16 and she was 14), started dating and eventually married. I expect a lot of neighborhood relationships evolved in such …
The Fire Hydrant
We moved into our home in Royal Oak in 1950. This was just before, or just after, my sister Sharron being born. My memory is not totally clear on the time frame because I was still a child myself. I believe the move was planned because of her arrival. Our family was outgrowing our home …
How About Me? The Rest of the Story
On Tuesday morning we returned to Kalamazoo. We went to a jewelry store and purchased two gold wedding bands. Mine cost $40.00 and I expect Ruth’s was about the same. (Another example of memory moments that are stored deeply in our brains.) Ruth and I had a housing dilemma. Both of us had recently …
How About Me? Sharing the News.
On our way back to “The Tod” we stopped at a party store. We bought a package of Twinkies and a bottle of champagne. We made a toast to ourselves, ate our “wedding cake” and changed our clothes. Then we called Ruth’s parents. Ruth’s mom answered the phone. There was no small talk. I was …
How About Me? Commitment
We checked out in the morning, completed our drive to the airport, parked my car, and boarded our plane. Boring but truthful. We landed in Las Vegas, rented a car, and drove down the Las Vegas strip. The drive took us by big name casinos with what we expected to hold upscale, high-priced hotel …