It was in the mid 1950's and our mother wanted her three children to receive a Catholic education. It was post World War II and the economy was thriving. The "Baby Boomer" era had arrived and there was plenty of construction of new homes.Our school was located in central Massachusetts and the nuns were of the order of The Sisters of Saint Joseph. However, several of the nuns were from a Canadian novitiate and talked with a slight French Canadian accent.Sister Gabriel was my...

This is a humorous true story about our 18 year old cat who died of a brain tumor. He was unusual inasmuch as he had learned to play dead and together he and I had a routine.First, however, the cat had an encounter with a lobster. On a summers day a number of years ago, my wife and I were going to have an old fashioned New England clambake. Just the two of us. We purchased a lobster and two quarts of steamers and the placed the bag in the foor space under the dash on my wife's side...

It was a time when we did not have to lock our doors, and as teenagers, we thought life was all about us. On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and we all watched the coverage and mourned his loss.We graduated in 1965 and in our recent 45th reunion reminisced about that fateful day and how it effected our memory this many years later.There are events in this world like the attack on Pearl Harbor, The Martin Luther King assassination, Bobby Kennedy,...

In 1961, we had a Rexall Pharmacy in our town. The aroma of the elixers and marble counter with four swivel chairs where teens congregated.The book rack where boys and girls flipped through the magazines of the early 1960's.The soda fountain where Mrs. B. added more fizzy water than Coke syrup - the result - when I attempted to impress Marilyn Snell - was to have it propel through my nose spraying the contents of my mouth onto the counter and Marilyn's dress.That wa...

Preston Cunningham has just been rescued from a group of North Vietnamese Army regulars in Cambodia where his helicopter made an emergency landing in forbidden territory - known as "over the line."Following an operation to repair his broken eye socket, teeth, ribs and third degree burns, he is under the care of Lieutenant Linda Villani who is assigned to Preston for the duration of his (30 day hospitalization).She nurses him back to health, but not before falling in love wi...

This is the true story of an experien ce I endured as a left handed person in basic training at Fort Dix New Jersey in March of 1966.On our second weekend of liberty - spent at McGuire AFB next door to Dix we had the opportunity to drink alcohol and have a good time.I was dressed in civilian clothes and of all things a red bandanna. Why the bandanna I do not know.Upon returning to the barracks it was my turn to wash the Uncle Sam issued white underwear and t-shirts....

Preston Cunningham is assigned to Vietnam in spite of his 4 year guaranteed tour in Germany. A cryptographer, Preston was assigned via remote status to The office of The Vice President - Hubert Humphrey at The White House.In Vietnam, true to the Army's attitude of "hurry-up and wait", he was ordered by his commanding officer to scrounge (beg - borrow - or steal) whatever necessary to make the war machine tick. Often trading helicopter parts for a skid of booze or choice steaks....

I always wanted to be a radio announcer and following discharge from the army in 1970 I fulfilled my dream of attending one of the most prestigious schools in the country: The Connecticut School of Broadcasting.I excelled in all phases of on air personality and when I graduated at the top of the class was fortunate to have been hired before classes finished.The school was founded by Dick Robinson an on air personality in a town where I was chosen to fill his position when h...

Doolie Weencer was the son of a banker in the small New England town of Prescott, Massachusetts.His father purchased the bank from an immigrant Polish farmer in 1925 at a cost of $61,000 but did not have sufficient funds to purchase the land beneath the bank for an additional $21,000.The farmer agreed to lease the land to Weencer for an annual sum of $890.00 for 30 years until renewall time in 1955.The banker was a bigot and his only purpose was to humiliate custome...

In 1982, The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial was nearing completion when Bob Chapin visited in search of comrades killed in Vietnam.He eventually located the names of his friends, but also found the name of his best friend in high school. Surprisingly, Arvie's name appeared in the depth of field in one of Bob's photographs.A call to Arvie's mother confirmed that he had been killed in a fiery helicopter crash in January of 1969. He was a helicopter pilor shot down by enemy fire. ...

In the summer of 1959, I met Dorothea Harfield. Her father and three brothers from the hills of North Carolina were working for a logging company on our property in Massachusetts, harvesting timber.She was not the prettiest girl, matronly and with a lazy eye was the subject of ridicule and downright prejudice in our small town. What she lacked in outer beauty she more than made up for with her inner qualities.The Harfield family lived on our property in a company provided t...

A young 20 year old recruit cannot escape the grueling 10-12 hour day of peeling potatoes in Vietnam while awaiting assignment in a processing center.Following two days of back breaking potato peeling he decides to fake sick call and as a result purchases metal sergeant pins for his collar.Noticed by the duty sergeant he is called forward only to learn they are on upside down. No penalty!For two consecutive days the duty sergeant indiscriminately sweeps his hand ove...