There was a time before television when our parents would yell, “get outside and play”. The house was shelter. Play was outside. So we would meet our friends at the rink or the ball field and play. We would dream of being Gordy Howe scoring goals or Mickey Mantle hitting home runs. We swam in the river and walked to school.

We were living large on Sunday, after church, when we’d receive a quarter for the matinee that would buy you the ticket, a nickel bag of popcorn, and a nickel candy bar. One could step into the darkness of the theater, and become John Wayne fighting the bad guys in black hats, aboard a large steed, and eventually riding off into the sunset with the beauty who was now my new love.

Jobs as a kid were mowing lawns for $1.00, shoveling snow for $1.00, or the coveted job of delivering newspapers. Steady money. My mom would not allow me to deliver newspapers because if I was sick, she would be leaping over snow drifts delivering papers in 30 degrees below zero. She was right. I just wanted to make some money, in addition to my 50 cent per week allowance. My little town in northern Minnesota was next to the half-mile wide Rainy River that is the Ontario/Minnesota border. Fishing, swimming and boating were an everyday occurrence in summer. If you had the gas money—25 cents a gallon— you were now international. With a boat you could meet friends in the middle of the river or continue over to Canada. We never went through customs. We just went. There were no passports required. If you got caught, they told you, “go home”. It was a Tom Sawyer upbringing. There were no TVs and little or nothing on AM radio.

I craved to leave and go to the big town, one with more than a thousand people. I did, but now am back enjoying the little town. After 60 years, schools, the military, 35 countries, one saintly wife, children and grandchildren, I am in the last quartile of my life. The bones creak with protest and the muscles are sore. Can’t do what I used to do, but would not trade a moment for another. What a ride so far. I have been blessed.

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