Some Personal Thoughts

I wonder as I grow older if they still have romances that start as youthful infatuation, blossom and last for a lifetime. Do kids still grow up in small towns where everyone really knows everyone and there is a poor side of the tracks? Are there still kids that wander around barefoot because shoes were a once a year purchase? Heroes were made on the gridiron and in the gym and celebrations were held at the Tastee Freeze. If you lacked the money for college you went to work in the coal mine. Or you joined the military, maybe the Air Force, and started out as an airman. No stripes, bottom of the barrel and you worked your way up. Back in the day they offered what was known as the bootstrap program. It allowed for intelligent, hard working non coms a way to become a commissioned officer. Go from turning wrenches on aircraft to maybe actually flying one. So now you have a wide eyed kid from a small town learning how to fly. His adventures in the depression, which included hitch hiking through the dust bowl to sunny California from that small town in Illinois, had only fueled his sense of adventure and desire to explore. Now the military would provide the means to see the world-and take that pretty girl from the other side of the tracks with him. as his wife. Hard separations became the order of the day. Serving his country in times of war and putting himself in harm's way for a way of life he believed in were part of the course. That young man moved from prop planes to cutting edge fighter jets. Children came along and he raised a family. Somehow time was found time to earn a college degree and he advanced in rank. He parlayed that into becoming a command pilot and full Colonel. Eventually his time in the military came to an end and he transitioned to civilian life. He distinguished himself there, becoming a noted explorer, humanitarian and active member of the community. Yes, I wonder if there are still men and women cut from that same cloth. People who take hardship in stride and understand that it's part of the cost of success. I hope there are and you get to know some. You will be forever enriched and it will kindle your desire to better yourself. I did; and loved and admired such a person. He was my father and we shared many an adventure together. Happy Fathers Day Dad!