But Then What Happened?

I sat down at the kitchen table in my tiny apartment and scratched out a budget on a piece of notebook paper and then I wadded it up and started over again on a fresh sheet. I repeated this process three or four times until I was somewhat satisfied with the finished product. I had never really created a budget before but I figured this exercise would be an important element in convincing Jeana's parents that I was worthy of their daughter's hand in marriage. The truth was that many of the numbers I used were highly speculative... maybe even purposely exaggerated. I figured I was in for an uphill battle. The fact that Jeana was only 18 and wouldn't even turn 19 until after our desired wedding date, added to my list of concerns. Sitting across the table from Jeana's parents in their home in Ontario, California was an excruciatingly painful experience. I was sweating bullets and my stomach was doing flip flops. This was a mighty big ask! As I suspected, Ray, Jeana's da...

1975 began with little fanfare and gave no hint about what a momentous year it would turn out to be. As with every January, five days in, I celebrated (or didn’t) another birthday. That year, I turned 16 years old, which for most, is one of those milepost birthdays because you are now old enough to obtain a driver’s license. Living in small town Iowa, that added opportunity for increased mobility was huge! Sometime in January 1975, I began the final semester of my sophomore year in high school. Little did I know that it would be my final semester in the Madrid, Iowa school system. I was playing on the JV basketball team and looking forward to the high school baseball season coming up that summer. I was a pitcher and a shortstop, and I wasn’t half bad. Baseball was always my favorite sport, and I was confident that I could significantly contribute to the 1975 version of the Madrid Tiger varsity baseball team. But then it happened. The series of events that pushed me over the edge and pu...