Blog 1: Backstory

Frank, Frankie, and Carol

This is it, my first blog.   There will be chronological elements to some of my blogs but others will be more fluid and organic much like the experiences in our lives that create memories.  I am missing some of the images I want to post, but don't want to wait until I have everything to start the blog.  So I begin. The title of my blog is a reminder for me to live in the present, and to reflect on the past in a way allows the present to flourish. That is not an easy task, with a combination of the future being pushed at us from a very young age and a lingering past full of missteps and regrets. The present, however, the here and now, is the only place we can truly live. As the blog evolves, I hope to bring some inspiration to people that might see their own life experiences in my journey. I  will begin with my backstory that takes us to a small township in Bedford, Ohio where my journey started. 

 

Mom told me when I first entered this world, the doctor almost dropped me in the delivery room. I have always wondered what "almost" meant. My parents moved from the cold winters of Ohio, and left all of my relatives there. Mom liked to repeat the story of telling dad one winter morning as he was shoveling snow, “ I am going to move to California with the kids whether you are coming or not.” Apparently, they worked things out, as they were married for almost 40 years until he passed away in 1975. I often wonder what life would have been like growing up, if we had stayed in Ohio.

I would never know as the four of us piled into our 1948 Chevrolet (not shown here) and headed across the states for the coast. Dad, mom, my brother, age 9 and me, age 3 were on a new adventure. We traveled in the summer, and it was hot in the car. We had no air conditioning back then. After crossing many states, terrains, and climates we finally reached the Southwest. When we couldn't find a restroom, my dad had no other choice but to make a pit stop for a 3 year old crying in the back seat. With my tiny bladder I ran to a nearby bush….of cactus. That remains one of those stories to have "stuck" with me over the years since mom found pleasure in retelling it to my teenage friends.

Mom,  Frankie, 1940 Chevy

Later that day around dusk, we stopped at a restaurant for dinner. When we attempted to use the restrooms outside, a swarm of big grasshoppers flew over us, around us and at us as we opened the door. Behind them was a purple glow filling the room from what mom thought was a bug light. Too tired to continue our journey we slept at a nearby hotel, all with one eye open.

We were typical kids, cranky and always wanting to know if we were there yet. This was no vacation though. We wouldn't be going back. In hindsight, I don't think my parents really had a clue where we would land. Next stop...arrival in California.