Great Expectations

My parents owned a small business and worked incredibly long hours. This was in the 50s when working women were still something of an oddity and most of the women on our block were stay-at-home moms. In our unconventional household, my older sister, Jackie, and I were expected to assume the...
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  2 Comments
1874 Views
2 Comments

First Love

You know how some people just love reminiscing about high school and never miss a reunion?  I'm not one of them.  In fact, I probably wouldn't attend a high school reunion if they held it in my living room.  It was three years of pure torture for me--an endurance event. It...
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  1692 Views
  3 Comments
1692 Views
3 Comments

Lucky Tiger

Lucky Tiger
Walk westerly a hundred steps or so from Winklers’ Drug Store in Caney Kansas around 1945 and you’d find yourself in front of one of the most consistently busy “stores” in town: Floyd Swayne’s Barber Shop.  This was a male kingdom.  If testosterone had color you could have seen it oozing...
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  1400 Views
  4 Comments
1400 Views
4 Comments

Mr. Christmas

Mr. Christmas
  Defining Moments       Since becoming a StoryKeeper I’ve found something. Every one of us has defining moments in our life, an event or experiences of such physical or emotional intensity that it has a profound impact on the nature and direction of our life.       Moments such as...
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  2029 Views
  3 Comments
2029 Views
3 Comments

So Goes Glory

A mile or so north of town Cheyenne Creek ran under a bridge on US Highway 75.  It was an old bridge with ornamental concrete balustrades fencing in the sides of the highway to keep cars from plunging into the water below.  On each end of the bridge there was a...
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  2070 Views
  2 Comments
2070 Views
2 Comments

Can While You Can

Can While You Can
One of Mother’s many household duties during the summer when vegetables and fruits were ripe was to can as many fruits and vegetables as she could. The only canning process available brought with it a tour in the very fires of hell. Vegetables tend to ripen in the hottest part of...
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  1452 Views
  2 Comments
1452 Views
2 Comments

My First Serious Love Relationship

My First Serious Love Relationship
I returned from my LDS Mission to The Netherlands in December, 1965 and continued my studies at Utah State University. Having really struggled with the freshman year of college before my mission, I was coming back near the level of probation. My mode of transportation was a bicycle and this posed...
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  1755 Views
  4 Comments
1755 Views
4 Comments

What I Owe the USO

What I Owe the USO
The “Korean Police Action,” as Truman called it, had been fought up and down that miserable peninsula for many bloody months and had come to a point where daily “success” was measured by how many North Korean and Chinese dead bodies had been created that day.  It looked as if it...
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  1561 Views
  6 Comments
1561 Views
6 Comments

Forever was not to be, but we surely had the time of our lives!

No date for me tonight.   A busy Friday night at the fraternities and here I sit.   In Smedes Parlor.   As the fellows arrive to fetch their dates, I get their names and page the girls that their date has arrived.   Each of us has this duty twice...
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  1533 Views
  8 Comments
1533 Views
8 Comments

First Love

This months' question pertaining to our first serious relationship is a little tricky and bittersweet. Looking back, most of my early relationships were filled with plenty of girl-drama, and were not very long and not what I'd call "serious" by my standards today, but at the time I certainly I thought they were! ...
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  1604 Views
  3 Comments
1604 Views
3 Comments

Our Compound In Viet Nam

Our Compound In Viet Nam
Our compound was at the bottom of a large hill . At the top of this hill was a Signal Corp Unit . Between us and the top of the hill was nothing but jungle . Our mess hall sat at the bottom of the hill . This was our Mess...
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  1150 Views
  3 Comments
1150 Views
3 Comments

My Adolescent Years - Double The Trouble and Double the Fun

My Adolescent Years - Double The Trouble and Double the Fun
My adolescent years are filled with wonderful memories of family and friends as well as the challenges of growing up and discovering who you are. Deanne and I became the best of friends all through life and most of my memories are with her. Although my mother would make all of...
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  1779 Views
  4 Comments
1779 Views
4 Comments

The Man That Went To Woodstock

Although I wasn’t in the thick of the battle zone in Viet Nam I still served my country and I went when my country said “GO”. Several years after I was back home my wife had a job for a large national retailer in their home office in downtown St Louis...
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  1158 Views
  4 Comments
1158 Views
4 Comments

My New Best Friend

I went to church one Sunday morning and our pastor told everyone that we were going to have guest coming . We go to a small congregation at a Non-Denominational Family Oriented Church so everyone is tight nit . When our guest arrived our pastor introduced them to everyone . There...
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  1162 Views
  2 Comments
1162 Views
2 Comments

My Viet Nam Experience

I guess I wouldn’t make a very good politician .With all of the “Pork Barrel Subsides “ and “ Foreign Aid “ I was an Engineer when I was in Viet Nam while others did the fighting . I know that the Infantry and the Calvary need their R & R...
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  1190 Views
  2 Comments
1190 Views
2 Comments

There Was No Generation Gap

At Mid-20th-Century radio stations broadcast only on what is now called “talk” or “AM” radio.  The static-free sound of FM radio was far in the future.  Our radios gave us news, entertainment and music.   And what music it was.  The “highbrow” music lover had only to avoid “The Grand Ol Opry”...
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  1878 Views
  4 Comments
1878 Views
4 Comments

A Special Heritage Birthday Gift

My son Ken celebrated his birthday on 24th July and, as well as the paella pan we gave him, I decided to put together a special heritage gift for him. Please take a look at my short video, as this is an idea you could try yourself.
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  2406 Views
  1 Comment
2406 Views
1 Comment

Forgiving Vietnam

I was so embarrassed when I returned home from my tour of duty in Vietnam that I did all I could do to avoid being recognized as a Marine. I had seen so much yet I could tell so little. I liken it to what happens when you come upon a...
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  2314 Views
  8 Comments
2314 Views
8 Comments

Saturday Night Was Lively

The American Legion Hall was upstairs in the building across the street from the theater.  Most of the time it was used by veterans for meetings, drinking, poker games, and whatever.  Every few weeks, on a Saturday night, the Legion brought in a Country/Western band and held a dance that was...
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  1220 Views
  2 Comments
1220 Views
2 Comments

At The Movies

A few steps down Fourth Street from the high school a wedge-shaped marquee hung over the sidewalk.  In neon letters and paint it identified the Gregg Theater.  Clean, soft carpeting, comfortable furniture in a sunken lobby, padded seats in the theater and a well-stocked popcorn and candy booth made The Gregg...
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  1397 Views
  3 Comments
1397 Views
3 Comments