Birth to age 9

Life was given to me by a 19 y/o Mother and a 21 y/o Father who had been married 11 months in 1951. My siblings and I still have them and they are still together in 2007. I was raised with 2 sisters in rural southwest PA in Indiana county. Five miles away in one direction were my mother’s parents, two of her brothers and a sister. Another brother lived in California and a sister in Maryland. The two sisters both became nurses and one brother was a navy field corpsman with the Marines.

Five miles away in the other direction lived my Father’s parents, 3 married sisters, and a brother. One brother was in the Airforce 20 years and died just before retirement. Two other brothers and a sister lived within 20 miles. One sister married and moved to New York State. There were more cousins of all ages than I could count. Some of my Dad’s nieces were in high-school when I was born. As you can see, I grew up with a large extended family.

Despite the large size, I was the first son of the oldest child on my mother’s side and the first male with the family surname on my father’s. I had a special place in both families but it was more special with my mother’s family since her parents were in their thirties when I was born.

I learn to work - my greatest asset

Until I left for college, I spent just about every minute I could with my Grandpa and Grandma Jordan on “the farm”. I learned to work there even though my Dad and Mother set great examples of that ethic also. I learned to be responsible for my work and my mistakes from my Grandpa and my Uncle Larry. Larry was just 7 years older and like a doting big brother to me.

I started driving tractors at about age 8, and by age 12 worked with machinery preparing or tilling or cultivating alone like all the farm kids I knew. The only thing I did not like was broken machinery late on Friday or Saturday. It meant staying and fixing instead of going “into town” or seeing my girlfriend.

I joined the 4-H club at age 9. My Grandpa was a leader for 20 years. I grew gardens as projects for 6 years and then after saving my profits, raised steers. I made enough to pay for college from those projects plus work on the farm and in my parent’s restaurant. The only thing I remember spending money on was school clothes and 45 rpm records of the popular singers and groups of the 60’s including the Beatles.

I began my association with medicine as a consumer. A tonsillectomy in first grade, rheumatic fever and 5 months in bed in second grade, appendicitis and a colon problem in 4th grade. I looked like a refugee from WWII with legs so skinny they looked like strings with knots tied in them.

It was fortunate though. I spent hours with Grandma Jordan eating peanut-butter and home-made jelly sandwiches with so much jelly she had to pinch the edges of the day-old bread shut to keep it in. We played cards, watched The Price is Right, Art Linkletter and Queen for a Day. I was really poor in math, probably a function of undiagnosed dyslexia, and my Grandma, who probably had the same problem, taught me all her “math secrets”. I practiced them counting points and keeping score in our card games. I honed those skills in my parents restaurant making change from a cash box. They hadn’t bought a cash register yet.

Grades 7 - 12

The town I grew up in was like Rome, built on hills and full of old crumbling buildings. From 7th through 12th grade you went to one school building. After 6 years there you knew all the teachers and they knew you. The school was small - 99 in my class. Like all blue collar towns, Friday night football was king. When we were winning, about a thousand people turned out and for big games even more. I played and lettered two years as our middle-guard and an occasional line backer. In our league I was good with lots of tackles and had the time of my life. It was a sport no one expected me to do well in so I went all out with nothing to loose, no pressure. What fun it was and what a great memory of my buddies and I making a goal line stand to beat a major foe for only the second time in 15 years by the score of 14 - 13. There I was in the middle of the defense helping to make the stop. It makes me grin thinking about it now 40 years later.

I lettered in wrestling and was team captain 2 years. I was fanatical about wrestling but except for fun and two injured shoulders it netted me nothing.

It was a small high school so I had lots of leadership opportunity. Like all high schools or politics for that matter, people vote for who they know. Everyone knew me so I was president of the Future Teachers of America, Sports editor of the school newspaper, and had a big role in the senior class play. I worked a lot in HS and when I wasn’t working or chasing my girlfriend, I was lifting weights. My signature was my ability to do a stiff arm flag for as long as I wanted to hold it. In a college gymnastic club I could do a front lever and back lever on the rings. Never did the iron cross though. I can do a flag for about 10 seconds now.

I liked to write and still do. I’m not talented but back then I spoke English as a second language. The local eastern PA dialect was my first language - “What youins doin?” “Ya et yet?” You get the idea. I wrote like I spoke. Once I wrote a story for a literary magazine my HS was publishing. My girlfriend was the editor. I submitted it and she liked it but said I needed to clean it up. I told her if it wasn’t good enough to just throw it out. Now the idea was good but it was a first draft. For me first draft was the only draft. She cleaned it up for me, published it and I got kudo’s for it. A few years later my best friend was pressed for time and submitted it to a Jr. college English composition class. His teacher was so impressed with my/girlfriends/best-friend’s work, she submitted it to a national literary magazine. It got published! Our old HS English teacher, also a football coach, saw it and called my friend. BUSTED! The coach never told, my buddy promised to never do it again, and no one was the wiser. My friend knew he would never do it again - I was the only person he could do that with and I had only ever written one story!

Influences other than family - College is a bust

I had dated the HS principles daughter for 3 years. They were a fine family. She was an only child. Both parents were teachers. Her Dad had been a 90 day wonder in WWII - an OCS officer that commanded a small artillery battery in Europe. He went in D-day plus 6 and stayed the whole war. It taught him he could do what he had to and he did. She was her Dad’s girl and his influence came to me through her. It was a good influence as no one in my family had pulled themselves up in that way. His example caused me to pull myself up later on.

Even though grades were not my thing, I got into a small local university. College was an educational disaster with a cumulative GPA much less than 2.0. I was poorly prepared mentally and educationally. I did not know how to get it done and worse I did not want to. Back then if you didn’t do it in college, you got some other training. Basic training, US Army, Ft. Knox, KY in January and February. I have been in colder places but have never felt colder than I did there. I am glad I did it but never want to again.

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