I considered writing some thoughts about my early adult (formative) years since 2000 when I published the story about Luacres (our farm home.) I had several reasons to do this new piece. First, as time goes by and some of these stories get lost. If they are going to be recorded they better get done while one remembers clearly. Secondly, and perhaps the primary reason, is that there is a growing interest among the “forty-somethings” in our family who have an interest in events and experiences as they led up to their early childhood. “What was your dad like?” came up this summer as Amy and Shannon talked about their recollections of their grandparents. And there are 12 others in their generation that might be asking the same question. I didn’t have that advantage (to discuss those things with the older generation) when I was their age and life is richer if it is shared.
So where does one begin? I chose 1958 because that was my junior year in high school and I had just turned 16 and was beginning to feel like an adult. Also, it was 50 years ago (when I began this project) and there were stories I wanted to tell. It was then that I was truly beginning to experience life at that time and I want to share it.
I discussed the project with Aleene (such a good listener) and casually mentioned it to an old friend’s wife in 2008 that brought the subject up by asking me when I was going to write another book. I told her I was working on it and had a story about “when the cows got out.” Being a farm person whose family is still milking a sizable herd of cows in Eastern Pennsylvania, she just fell all over herself encouraging me to tell my tale. So 1958 it was, but as you will see, I move backward in time periodically to set the stage of the present.
The other consideration is that when I look back…especially to the years when I was in high school, college, and then the navy; there are side stories that beg to be told. What was life like in the 1950s? Why did I choose Penn State and what did I study? Why the navy and why four and a half years vs. the three that I signed up for? What did I do? And the big question: why did Aleene and I get married? How did it come about and how did we make long distance dating work?
Once I got rolling it was easy to just blather out the things that came to mind. But I have tried to do better than that by painting pictures of situations and describing characters that I encountered so that not just my family would want to hear some of the details, but others who might pick this work up to read. The account you are about to read is Tom-centric, but how else can I describe the world as seen through my eyes? If that bothers the reader, then, I apologize. Fifty years seems like a long time ago, but it is really just the blink of an eye, wouldn’t you agree?
