Categories: Family

Prism to the Time Past Can Be Comforting

<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>Looking Back Through the Prism of Time<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<h4 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Prism Looking Back from the Present<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The prism &&num;8211&semi; looking back at life through the prism of your twilight years can provide a comforting perspective on the experiences of your life as well as the experiences of those you have touched during your journey&period;  The prism consisting of the current state of society&semi; local&comma; state&comma; national and international mores&semi; politics&semi; and your experiences can be a confusing labyrinth of disjointed paths which&comma; even in your twilight years&comma; make you wonder how you arrived at your current position in life&period;  And the end has not yet been determined by man&period;  However&comma; if your journey has been guided by faith in the Lord and Savior&comma; Jesus Christ&comma; you know that He is always there and wins in the end&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The consideration of your journey through life&comma; as reflected in the described prism&comma; provides for the multiple facets of a prism which exhibit both a simple view of each facet as well as a complex&comma; consolidated view which changes according to one’s perspective and experiences&period;  I believe that many of those alive today&comma; those born in the 1930s&comma; feel that the world has been turned upside down – things that were wrong during the early years of their life are now right&comma; while those that were right are now wrong&period;  It seems that our nation is being led by sick&comma; mentally deficient politicians and others without a moral compass and without concern for the nation&period;  The truth seems far beyond their capability or desire to embrace&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong> Looking Back to the Generations of the 1930s<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Those of us who were born in the mid-to-late 1930s had much to contend with&comma; but it was without our knowledge&period;  The United States of America &lpar;USA&rpar; was coming out of the depression years&period;  Many families were hurting&comma; especially in the southern states&period;  The South was also still struggling from the effects of the American Civil War&period; Many neighborhoods in the South&comma; prior to World War II&comma; gave birth to children who&comma; because of a shared economic reality of surrounding poverty&comma; were cast into an environment of great uncertainty about their future&period;  They were born to families where the majority of parents had strong moral codes and work ethic – they frowned on premarital sex&comma; attended church&comma; were married&comma; stayed together&comma; and worked hard in cotton mills&comma; cotton fields&comma; and wherever else they could eke out a living for their families&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Many poor southern families were struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their heads&period;  Our entertainment consisted of sitting around the radio and listening to the Lone Ranger &lpar;Long Ranger to some&rpar; and Tonto&comma; The Shadow&comma; The Grand Ole Opry&comma; and other popular radio shows&period;  We also stayed out at night and played with other neighborhood kids and traded comic books&period;  Family members took any job they could get to contribute to survival of the families&period;  Child labor was practiced in some industries at the time&comma; allowing additional income for families&period;  My own father was employed&comma; at age eleven&comma; to contribute his meager cotton mill earnings to support of the family&comma; along with his mother and father&period; His education was terminated at 5<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">th<&sol;span><&sol;sup> or 6<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">th<&sol;span><&sol;sup> grade&period; Later in life&comma; after he and my mother were married&comma; they both picked cotton in the fields of others – along with many of their relatives and friends&period; I also picked&comma; with a &&num;8220&semi;pick&&num;8221&semi; sack made from a flour sack&period;  My father also dug ditches&comma; painted houses&comma; and performed other honest jobs to earn a living for his family&period; He took pride in earning his own way&period;  Due to hard work and perseverance&comma; he became a well-recognized craftsman and was able to retire in his 60s&period; He passed away in 2004 at the age of 91&period; My mother&comma; as of August 2015&comma; is 99 years old and in a nursing home&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">My 3 sisters &&num;8211&semi; all younger and with one passing away at age 2 in 1943&comma; most of my childhood friends&comma; family members&comma; relatives&comma; and I&comma; were born into this environment&period;  Our outlook was bleak&comma; but we were not aware of that reality&period;  As previously stated&comma; my father’s education was terminated at the 5<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">th<&sol;span><&sol;sup> or 6<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">th<&sol;span><&sol;sup> grade for employment&comma; and my mother&&num;8217&semi;s at the 9<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">th<&sol;span><&sol;sup> grade&period; However&comma; they insisted that my sisters and I stay in school&period; They always managed to provide for that outcome&period; They knew&comma; and I later observed&comma; how hard life was for someone without a basic formal education&period; Our parents were too busy trying to eke out a living to do forward-looking strategic planning for the future&period;  Their stock portfolios were a fantasy if they even knew what &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;stock” meant – unless you were talking about &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;livestock&period;”  The welfare support system did not exist&comma; and most adults would have been highly offended at an offer of assistance without work or other effort in return&period;  Many did share what they had with those who had less&period;  They shared because of the need&comma; not because the Government forced them to provide for others&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>Looking Back to the Second World War<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Those of us that were born during the above referenced period were too young for military service when the Second World War began&comma; but many saw their parents&comma; relatives&comma; and family friends go off to fight in the war&period; One of our family friends&comma; Luther James Isom&comma; was killed on and went down on the ship Arizona at Pearl Harbor&period;  The below photo is of the 1943 graduating class of West Huntsville High School&period;  Note that the class is all female &&num;8211&semi; no males&excl;  It is presumed that all males were in military service&period;  I started school in 1942-43&comma; being born in August of 1937&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;386" style&equals;"width&colon; 310px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-386" class&equals;"wp-image-386 size-medium" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;squeekx&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;West-Huntsville-High-School-Prior-to-Butler-Rename-1943-Graduating-Class-300x235&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Squeekx&period;Com Focus on the Prism of Time" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"235" &sol;><p id&equals;"caption-attachment-386" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">West Huntsville High School Prior to Rename to Butler &&num;8211&semi; Graduating Class of 1943<br &sol;>Click on image to view what was happening at that time&period;<&sol;p><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">During the war-time years we were very aware of the conflict&comma; although we were too young to know what was really going on&period; At night&comma; we sat around the radio with parents and listened to the news action reports &lpar;they probably weren’t very timely&rpar;&comma; responded to air-raid warnings by turning out all lights and pulling curtains&comma; and dealt with the absence of many items due to rationing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Many staples such as sugar&comma; lard&comma; gasoline&comma; vehicle tires&comma; rubber goods&comma; etc&period; were reserved for the war effort&period; Everyone experienced the rationing of goods and services&period; Food was grown in home gardens&comma; and scrap metal and cans were collected to meet wartime needs&period; I would traverse the back alleys and various other locations pulling my little red wagon picking up scrap metal and bottles &lpar;soft drinks and milk came in bottles at that time&rpar; to sell&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">When the atomic bombs were dropped&comma; very scary accounts of the destruction were heard&period; Fear became very real with the talk of what the enemies might do in return&period; The day the war ended&comma; I was returning from the grocery store&comma; through a scrap iron yard&period; Suddenly I heard gun shots and shot pellets falling around and hitting the scrap metal&period; People were celebrating the good news of the War’s end&period; I didn’t know what was happening&comma; so I ran the two blocks to my home&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong> First School Experience<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<h4 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>Grammar School<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">I still remember some of my first experiences upon entering the school environment&period; Some were funny&comma; others not so&excl; One of the first was sauntering into the girl’s restroom&period; I quickly learned my mistake&period; When I finally found the correct restroom&comma; I had to decipher the function of the various fixtures&period; Our home&comma; as did many of my era&comma; didn’t have indoor plumbing&comma; and we were not widely traveled&comma; so the fixture provisions were foreign to me&period; However&comma; I finally resolved the problem&period; Another inconvenience occurred when we had a recess period in the morning&period; I thought it was lunch time&comma; so I left and walked several blocks to my home for lunch&period; I then&comma; again&comma; learned how lacking my education was&comma; and ran the several blocks back to school in time to line up for the bell announcing the time to return to class&period; It seemed that we lined up for everything back then&comma; pretty much like in the Army in later years&period; I have been told that I was smaller than most of my classmates due to the timing of the school and my birthday&period; Apparently one of the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;cellmates” took the opportunity to introduce me to &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;bullying&excl;” One of the other cellmates&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Pappy” Neal&comma; who apparently loved fighting&comma; began to take up for me and put a damper on the bullying activity&period; I don’t know which he liked most&comma; the fighting or me – he was from a pretty rough neighborhood&period; I never knew what happened to him after that time&comma; but I will never forget him&period; Several of my later friends and classmates grew up in the same rough neighborhood&period; When my father found out about the bullying&comma; he handed me a pair of electrician’s pliers and told me to hit the bully the next time he came at me&period; Apparently&comma; the word got out as to why I had the pliers&comma; and the bullying stopped&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Along about the 5<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">th<&sol;span><&sol;sup> grade I got a morning paper route to begin earning my own spending money&period; Prior to that time&comma; I had been earning it by collecting the scrap metal and bottles&period; I only had sixteen customers and got permission to arrive at school late in order to keep the route&period; I later&comma; along about the 8<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">th<&sol;span><&sol;sup> grade&comma; graduated to a route of about 250 customers&comma; and delivered that route until graduation from high school&period; During this time&comma; I met some very good friends&comma; including one that was &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;best man” at my wedding in June of 1960&period; We have remained good friends&comma; and after my retirement in March of 2007&comma; I began meeting with him&comma; and about 15 other classmates&comma; each Monday morning for breakfast&period; And&comma; at the age of 77&comma; in 2015&comma; we still meet with a group of other classmates on a weekly basis for breakfast&period; The number meeting has decreased due to several deaths&period; Both of us have been blessed with wives &lpar;our own&rpar; for more than 55 years&comma; and children who have done honor to us in their behavior and pursuit of their own lives&period; Several others in our groups have experienced the same&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>High School and Beyond<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<h4 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>The World beyond Childhood<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">High school was filled with new adventure&period; More activities were available and offered&comma; and we had new freedoms to explore&comma; but our responsibility for our actions was also made evident&period; We pursued our studies under the discipline of very strict&comma; but fair&comma; school principal&comma; administration&comma; and teachers&period; I seemed to thrive in this type of environment even though it was a continuation of my home life under strict parents&period; Involvement in our school activities and associations can be viewed at Gallery1&comma; Gallery2&comma; Gallery3&comma; and Gallery4&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">During our high school years&comma; we also became directly exposed to some of the results of the Second World War – the influx of German children into our classes&period; These children were those of the German scientists that were brought to Huntsville at the end of the war&period; The scientists began work at the military complex&comma; and later at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration &lpar;NASA&rpar;&period; The mingling of two cultures in a small southern town&comma; but it went well it seems&period; One thing that was recognized very quickly was that the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;new” children were very smart&period; The socialization and study with the children&comma; while acknowledging the background of their adult parents during the war&comma; presented a dilemma&period; The parents&comma; such as Wernher von Braun&comma; who&comma; with his associates&comma; had been involved in the war efforts in Germany&comma; were viewed with suspicion regarding their Nazi associations and conduct&period; Those feelings of suspicion still exist today by many&comma; and I am included&period; Nazi war criminals are still being pursued and prosecuted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Graduation from High School was a big event&period;  Many did not make it to graduation&comma; for many reasons&period;  During the Second World War the male student population was decimated due to military service and other war efforts&period;  A large percentage of the female population also contributed to support of the war effort&period;  Graduation culminated with the Senior Prom&comma; with the girls wearing beautiful flowing gowns and the boys in their Sunday best&period;  The boys also had the thrill of providing and pinning on of corsages&period;  As I remember it&comma; the favorite choice seemed to be Camellias&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">After graduation festivities were over&comma; the cold&comma; wide world awaited the bewildered students – many with no idea of what to do next&period;  Some went directly to college&comma; while some had to pursue further education part-time or wait several years for the opportunities &lpar;usually working their way through&rpar;&period;  Some went directly into the workforce wherever they could without further education&period;  Some were able to get on-the-job training adequate for a career&period;  Military service&comma; police departments&comma; and local city employment seemed to be early favorites&period;  Some left their communities for employment elsewhere&period; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;er1W0mtvxG8" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">I had no money for college&comma; but a technical institute in Chicago&comma; DeVry Technical Institute<&sol;a>&comma; guaranteed me employment adequate to pay my way through school&period; So&comma; approximately 2 weeks after graduation&comma; I was in Chicago&comma; a whole new world when compared with the small town of approximately 15&comma;000 that I had grown up in&period; I was in Chicago for about 3 years&comma; completed school&comma; returned home&comma; found a job at Southern Associated Engineers&comma; Inc&period;&comma; and got married in June of 1960 to my wife&comma; Sue&comma; in Hartselle&comma; Alabama&period;  Our first child&comma; a daughter&comma; was born in July 1961&comma; and the second&comma; a son&comma; was born in July 1966&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>The Cold War<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">I became a member of the Alabama National Guard&comma; the 279th Signal Battalion&comma; while still in high school&comma; and was in the Illinois guard&comma; a field artillery battalion&comma; while in Chicago&period; I reverted to the Alabama guard upon return home&period; I was a member of the Alabama National Guard in 1961 when the Berlin wall was erected&period; On October 1&comma; 1961&comma; while on the way home from work&comma; I heard on the car radio that we&comma; my National Guard unit&comma; were to report for duty that night&period; We had just returned from summer training&comma; in August&comma; at Ft&period; Gordon&comma; GA&period;  On Oct 11&comma; 1961&comma; 10 days after mobilization&comma; we arrived at Fort Hood&comma; Texas &lpar;leaving family &&num;8211&semi; our daughter was just 2 months old at the time&comma; jobs&comma; and friends behind&rpar;&comma; and started preparations for deployment to Germany by Dec 15&period; We were assigned as III Corps communications unit for the 1<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">st<&sol;span><&sol;sup> and 2<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">nd<&sol;span><&sol;sup> Armored Divisions – my Specialty was cryptography&period; We were all volunteers with the Guard &lpar;state controlled&rpar;&comma; and the unit had been transferred from state control to regular Army&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">At that time&comma; after living through the Second World War &lpar;too young to participate&rpar; and knowing the History of the Germans and much of their behavior during the war&comma; I could not have cared less about what happened to them&comma; I felt that they deserved just about anything bad that occurred&period; However&comma; we and some 500&comma;000 more mobilized along with us&comma; were expected to stand up against Russia on behalf of the Germans where&comma; in my opinion&comma; there was a population guilty of many atrocities and war crimes due to their active participation in Hitler’s war machine&period; We had no choice in the campaign – it was decreed by politicians&comma; in our case&comma; John F&period; Kennedy and the Russian leader at that time&period; Years later an article appeared in the local newspaper that the whole event was a ruse to protect the Russian leader from critical events occurring in Russia regarding his leadership&period; We were pawns in a political game over which we had no control and no obvious personal gain or choice&period; We were duped&comma; and so was the American public&period; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;donmcelyea&period;com&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;07&sol;confederate-battle-flag-honorable&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">But we were blindly committed to potential battle under the United States of America Flag by politicians&period; Many returned home with financial and other problems<&sol;a>&period;  We never deployed to Germany or anywhere else&comma; although some advance units were deployed&comma; and we observed practice railcar loading and unloading of tanks and other armor on a daily basis as the anticipated deployment seemed imminent&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The Korean War had concluded in the 1950s&comma; and while in Chicago I had worked with a couple of US Korean War prisoners of war&period; They didn’t seem bitter&comma; and even had some humorous stories to tell&period; But now&comma; welcome to the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;cold war” which&comma; I believe&comma; had actually begun in the 1950s&comma; but we had now become a committed party to it&period; We also became exposed to the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;fallout bomb shelter” construction alarms with construction plans being offered and published by the Government&period; Then came the Cuban missile crisis&comma; Vietnam&comma; and various other USA-involved conflicts lasting up to the present time&period; Essentially the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Cold War” ended with the destruction of The Berlin Wall as demanded by Ronald Regan&period; During the time between leaving Chicago and my retirement in March 2007&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;donmcelyea&period;com&sol;about&sol;donald-l-mcelyea-resume&sol;"><u><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0066cc&semi;">with a break for further education in 1965<&sol;span><&sol;u><&sol;a>&comma; I worked for various <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;donmcelyea&period;com&sol;about&sol;donald-l-mcelyea-resume&sol;resume-detail&sol;"><u><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0066cc&semi;">contractors in the aerospace industry and for the US Department of Defense<&sol;span><&sol;u><&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Upon completion of my physics degree in August 1970&comma; during the economic downturn at that time across the USA&comma; I was unable to find a job&period; Engineers and related disciplines were a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;dime a dozen” at that time&period; I continued to look for permanent work&comma; worked at Sears part-time in the credit department&comma; and completed a degree in business administration in May 1971 – partially because of disillusionment with engineering prospects&period; In April of 1972 I accepted employment with General Electric &lpar;I had worked for the company about 3 months prior to the decision to return to school full-time&rpar;&period; In May of 1972 I accepted employment with Martin Marietta&comma; and in August 1972 I accepted employment with the Government at Redstone Arsenal&comma; AL&period; After being unable to find work for almost 2 years&comma; I was offered and accepted 3 different jobs with 3 different entities within about 4 months&period; Go figure&excl; I continued my education by going to night classes at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and received my master’s degree in June of 1984&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>Prism to My Life Partner and Companion<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This account&comma; to this point&comma; has been primarily about me&period; However&comma; that is only because I have been unable to determine how to integrate and intertwine the life of my life partner and companion during most of the period covered&period; The partner and companion is my wife of 55 years&comma; as of June 2015&comma; and also the mother of our son and daughter&period; My life has been made worthwhile because of them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">My wife’s life has paralleled my own in experience and environment&period; Her Mother and Father were in their 40s when she was born&period; She was an &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;only child&period;” Her Father died when she was 13&comma; and her mother never remarried&period; Following her father’s death&comma; her mother worked in a school lunchroom&comma; and she started working after school at a business in their small town&period; We met in 1956&comma; a few months after graduating different high schools&comma; and corresponded while I was in school in Chicago&period; I left Chicago in January of 1959 and returned to Huntsville&comma; AL&period; We married in June of 1960&period; Our daughter was born in July 1961&comma; and son in July 1966&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">After high school my wife worked in a bank and prior to our marriage she began work with the US Government at Redstone Arsenal&comma; AL&period; She worked there for more than 30 years but resigned in 1988 to care for her mother at our home&period; After her mother’s death at age 96 in 1991&comma; she attended college at the University of Alabama&comma; Huntsville&comma; and then Athens State University where she received a Degree in Business Administration&period; She then went to work for First Baptist Church&comma; Huntsville&comma; AL&comma; where she worked for 16 years until past her 72<sup><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;">nd<&sol;span><&sol;sup> birthday&period; During all this time she has been very active in our church through faithful participation in the choir and various other volunteer activities&period; She also volunteers for various activities at Huntsville Hospital&comma; including weekly duties at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital&period; In the early years she cared for 2 never-married sisters of her Father until both died&comma; and she kept the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;home front” going while I was in the military during the Berlin crisis&period; In later years she kept things going and in order while I attended college and maintained a rigorous travel schedule in my work&period; She was also the major caregiver for my mother until she died at age 99 on November 10&comma; 2015&period; She would have been 100 on February 8&comma; 2016&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>Old Friends and Their Memories and Fantasies<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<h4 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>A Prism of Old Friends&&num;8217&semi; Shared Childhood<&sol;strong><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">During the journey described above&comma; many people of various backgrounds and inclinations were encountered&period; They were from many states and worked for many different companies&period; They also came from other countries with different religions and racial and ethnic backgrounds – but they were acquaintances&comma; primarily&period; They were not lasting friendships beyond accomplishing our missions&period; Those that are true friendships are those from the old neighborhoods and shared childhood&period; Old friends shared and unshared memories&comma; I have found&comma; take on a special meaning and life of their own as we approach our twilight years&period;  If one is lucky enough to share their old age with friends from their youth&comma; they are extremely blessed&period;  This is especially true if those friends shared a deprived youth&comma; as described in the early parts of this article&comma; without realizing how deprived they were&period;  Primary activities of those friends revolved around church&comma; school activities &lpar;ball games&comma; band&comma; choir&comma; school clubs&comma; field trips&comma; picnics&rpar;&comma; neighborhood movies&comma; and after-school &lpar;or before school&rpar; and weekend work&period;  Many times&comma; these part-time employments helped support the families and provided for payment for senior-year trips to Washington&comma; D&period;C&period; and New York&period;  Other than those activities&comma; travel outside their small towns was not often or was non-existent&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong> Prism of The Journey to Maturity<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Over the years between High School and Retirement many paths were taken by the players&period;  However&comma; most seem to have retained an affinity for their roots&period;  Periodic High School reunions were attended at fairly conservative time periods – 5&comma; 10&comma; 15&comma; 20&comma; 25&comma; 30&comma; etc&period;&comma; years&period;  The attendance for some was somewhat sporadic and the reasons for attendance or non-attendance not readily apparent&period;  It was&comma; and still is&comma; a time for remembering shared experiences and updating on current events&period;  Some attendees appeared somewhat exhibitionist in their demeanor in wanting all to know how well they seemed to be doing&comma; while others were more conservative&period;  The truth may have been somewhat different from appearances&period;  Personality changes&comma; in some cases&comma; were very obvious in contrast to those of childhood&period;  However&comma; as years advanced&comma; additional&comma; softening&comma; attitudes seem to come to the forefront&period;  The realization that some have never attended a reunion and that some have never been heard from since graduation&comma; or cannot be located&comma; causes quiet&comma; thoughtful&comma; reflection&period;  <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;donmcelyea&period;com&sol;education&sol;"><u><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0066cc&semi;">Some have died and&comma; when possible&comma; childhood friends begin to start attending funerals for those who have died relatively young<&sol;span><&sol;u><&sol;a>&period;  Some have died in accidents&comma; some by suicide&comma; and some by various illnesses&period;  As ages climb toward the 60s and 70s there seems to be an increased interest in returning to childhood roots&period;  Many of those who have lived in other states or cities begin to move back to their old or nearby neighborhoods&period;  They begin to search out opportunities for socializing with those with whom they have shared childhood experiences and adventures&period;  During this time more sharing of disappointments&comma; failures&comma; and reflections of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;what might have been” takes place&period;  <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;c9bolAwUq00" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">You learn of divorces and multiple divorces<&sol;a>&comma; problems with children&comma; and career issues&period;  Much of this is expressed by the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;RLr&lowbar;C8QqPWg&amp&semi;feature&equals;related"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0066cc&semi;">Statler Brothers’ music &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Class of &OpenCurlyQuote;57”&comma;<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;TSoinlXdaMA"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0066cc&semi;">Marty Robbins in &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The City”<&sol;span><&sol;a>&comma; and the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;watch&quest;v&equals;6ExFWP5yE&lowbar;0" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Statler Brothers&&num;8217&semi; &&num;8220&semi;Maple Street Memories&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>Retirement and Beyond<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Before&comma; and as&comma; many of the life players enter their retirement years&comma; many are dealing with taking care of aging parents and their health issues and with health problems of their own&period;  Much of the socializing efforts include making the problems known and discussions about how to manage the issues&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Socializing efforts primarily revolve around &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;back in the day” experiences of childhood and school as well as day-to-day neighborhood experiences or adventures&period;  Many friendships were developed through shared sports&comma; neighborhood games of various types&comma; and work experiences&period;  Specific games and players and their characteristics are recounted over and over in exacting detail&period;  Work experiences and interactions with co-workers are described in much the same detail&period;  These experience details are expanded to encompass those which have occurred during the years between High School graduation and retirement&period;  It is obvious that all are proud of their accomplishments and the fact that they have navigated the pitfalls of life and have persevered&period;  During these discussions you become aware of many aspects of your old friends’ lives that you were not aware of while on your journeys – they even had brothers and sisters of which you were not aware&period;  They are now also discussing their extended families – their children&comma; grandchildren&comma; and even great grandchildren &lpar;you learn that some were even secretly married while in school&rpar;&period;  Religious activities have become more pronounced in the lives of many&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It is also during this time that another very sad aspect of living longer begins to show itself – fading memories&period;  You wonder&comma; is it Dementia&comma; Alzheimer’s disease&comma; or just the normal decline of memory due to aging&period;  You hear friends recount events of which you are supposedly a party to&comma; but you don’t remember it&period;  Whose memory is faulty&quest;  In some cases&comma; you are able to compare with aspects which you know to be true&comma; and you realize that it is not your memory that is at fault&period;  Someone asks you a question and you answer it&period;  A couple of minutes later they ask the same question &&num;8211&semi; they don&&num;8217&semi;t remember asking it before&period;  You make allowances and ignore the misinformation or need to repeat yourself&period;  They are lifelong friends&excl;  Twilight years are giving way to fantasy&period;  A lifelong journey is nearing the end&period;  No one knows how it will end&comma; but you do know that you could not have been in better company&period;  Who will be there when the last one passes&quest; He will&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><center><&sol;center><br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;bing&period;com&sol;videos&sol;search&quest;q&equals;patsy&plus;cline&plus;life&plus;is&plus;like&plus;a&plus;mountain&plus;railroad&plus;youtube&amp&semi;FORM&equals;VIRE1&num;view&equals;detail&amp&semi;mid&equals;0901BB779220E4264DBC0901BB779220E4264DBC"><strong><u><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0066cc&semi;">Patsy Cline&colon; Life is Like a Mountain Railroad<&sol;span><&sol;u><&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;squeekx&period;com&sol;squeekx-links-central&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Links Central<&sol;a><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<a class&equals;"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-48 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox" data-provider&equals;"facebook" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow" title&equals;"Share on Facebook" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;sharer&period;php&quest;u&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;squeekx&period;com&percnt;2F2015&percnt;2F07&percnt;2F13&percnt;2Fprism-to-the-time-past-can-be-comforting&percnt;2Famp&percnt;2F&&num;038&semi;t&equals;Prism&percnt;20to&percnt;20the&percnt;20Time&percnt;20Past&percnt;20Can&percnt;20Be&percnt;20Comforting&&num;038&semi;s&equals;100&&num;038&semi;p&&num;091&semi;url&&num;093&semi;&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;squeekx&period;com&percnt;2F2015&percnt;2F07&percnt;2F13&percnt;2Fprism-to-the-time-past-can-be-comforting&percnt;2Famp&percnt;2F&&num;038&semi;p&&num;091&semi;images&&num;093&semi;&&num;091&semi;0&&num;093&semi;&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;squeekx&period;com&percnt;2Fwp-content&percnt;2Fuploads&percnt;2F2015&percnt;2F07&percnt;2FWest-Huntsville-High-School-Prior-to-Butler-Rename-1943-Graduating-Class-300x235&period;jpg&&num;038&semi;p&&num;091&semi;title&&num;093&semi;&equals;Prism&percnt;20to&percnt;20the&percnt;20Time&percnt;20Past&percnt;20Can&percnt;20Be&percnt;20Comforting" style&equals;"font-size&colon; 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0px&semi;width&colon;48px&semi;height&colon;48px&semi;margin&colon;0&semi;margin-bottom&colon;5px&semi;margin-right&colon;5px"><img alt&equals;"reddit" title&equals;"Share on Reddit" class&equals;"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share" width&equals;"48" height&equals;"48" style&equals;"display&colon; inline&semi;width&colon;48px&semi;height&colon;48px&semi;margin&colon; 0&semi;padding&colon; 0&semi;border&colon; none&semi;box-shadow&colon; none" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;squeekx&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;plugins&sol;social-media-feather&sol;synved-social&sol;image&sol;social&sol;regular&sol;96x96&sol;reddit&period;png" &sol;><&sol;a><a class&equals;"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-48 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-pinterest nolightbox" data-provider&equals;"pinterest" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow" title&equals;"Pin it with Pinterest" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pinterest&period;com&sol;pin&sol;create&sol;button&sol;&quest;url&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;squeekx&period;com&percnt;2F2015&percnt;2F07&percnt;2F13&percnt;2Fprism-to-the-time-past-can-be-comforting&percnt;2Famp&percnt;2F&&num;038&semi;media&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;squeekx&period;com&percnt;2Fwp-content&percnt;2Fuploads&percnt;2F2015&percnt;2F07&percnt;2FWest-Huntsville-High-School-Prior-to-Butler-Rename-1943-Graduating-Class-300x235&period;jpg&&num;038&semi;description&equals;Prism&percnt;20to&percnt;20the&percnt;20Time&percnt;20Past&percnt;20Can&percnt;20Be&percnt;20Comforting" style&equals;"font-size&colon; 0px&semi;width&colon;48px&semi;height&colon;48px&semi;margin&colon;0&semi;margin-bottom&colon;5px&semi;margin-right&colon;5px"><img alt&equals;"pinterest" title&equals;"Pin it with Pinterest" class&equals;"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share" width&equals;"48" height&equals;"48" style&equals;"display&colon; inline&semi;width&colon;48px&semi;height&colon;48px&semi;margin&colon; 0&semi;padding&colon; 0&semi;border&colon; none&semi;box-shadow&colon; none" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;squeekx&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;plugins&sol;social-media-feather&sol;synved-social&sol;image&sol;social&sol;regular&sol;96x96&sol;pinterest&period;png" &sol;><&sol;a><a class&equals;"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-48 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-linkedin nolightbox" data-provider&equals;"linkedin" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow" title&equals;"Share on Linkedin" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;linkedin&period;com&sol;shareArticle&quest;mini&equals;true&&num;038&semi;url&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;squeekx&period;com&percnt;2F2015&percnt;2F07&percnt;2F13&percnt;2Fprism-to-the-time-past-can-be-comforting&percnt;2Famp&percnt;2F&&num;038&semi;title&equals;Prism&percnt;20to&percnt;20the&percnt;20Time&percnt;20Past&percnt;20Can&percnt;20Be&percnt;20Comforting" style&equals;"font-size&colon; 0px&semi;width&colon;48px&semi;height&colon;48px&semi;margin&colon;0&semi;margin-bottom&colon;5px&semi;margin-right&colon;5px"><img alt&equals;"linkedin" title&equals;"Share on Linkedin" class&equals;"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share" width&equals;"48" height&equals;"48" style&equals;"display&colon; inline&semi;width&colon;48px&semi;height&colon;48px&semi;margin&colon; 0&semi;padding&colon; 0&semi;border&colon; none&semi;box-shadow&colon; none" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;squeekx&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;plugins&sol;social-media-feather&sol;synved-social&sol;image&sol;social&sol;regular&sol;96x96&sol;linkedin&period;png" &sol;><&sol;a><a class&equals;"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-48 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox" data-provider&equals;"mail" rel&equals;"nofollow" title&equals;"Share by email" href&equals;"mailto&colon;&quest;subject&equals;Prism&percnt;20to&percnt;20the&percnt;20Time&percnt;20Past&percnt;20Can&percnt;20Be&percnt;20Comforting&&num;038&semi;body&equals;Hey&percnt;20check&percnt;20this&percnt;20out&colon;&percnt;20https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;squeekx&period;com&percnt;2F2015&percnt;2F07&percnt;2F13&percnt;2Fprism-to-the-time-past-can-be-comforting&percnt;2Famp&percnt;2F" style&equals;"font-size&colon; 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