My life has had several periods; at times they have seemed like eons. I’ve concluded my reflections on the first part: my eighteen years before going off to college. I’ve written both in a memoire style, in which I have remembered the past, and in a journal style, in which I have repeated entries I wrote more than six decades ago. One such entry was a summary as of “Sunday, June 8, 1952″ that presents a view of me from that long-ago time.
“Let’s start this summer off by talking about me, since no one else does. I am five feet eleven inches tall, weigh 210 or there about; have brown hair and blue eyes. I wear glasses for I am nearsighted. I have no marks or scars other than a two-inch welt on my leg from a dog-bite by Dorrie Wenzel’s dog. My I.Q. is well more than a hundred, but my athletic index is below average. For some reason my popularity index is quite low. I have no steady girl, although I like Martha Smith. I have no true enemies and only one rival, Scott Garrett. My one fault is I can’t remember names. Faces I know; names, I don’t. I have an acute inferiority complex brought on by a lack of athletic ability. However, Scott says an admitted inferiority complex indicates a subconscious superiority complex. My one great desire is for a car. My one hate is my father. My favorite hobby is stamp collecting. I also enjoy writing letters to foreign boys. My future holds the occupation of a teacher, biochemist, psychiatrist, or psychologist. My favorite colleges are Kent, Bowling Green, Harvard, Yale or Cornell.”
It’s quite remarkable, I think, how the concluding, predictive views turned out. I did go to Kent for my undergraduate work, earning two degrees: B.S. in Ed. and B.S. with a major in chemistry. Four years later, I completed my Ph.D. at Cornell with a major in biochemistry and minors in organic chemistry and endocrinology. Much of my pleasure has come from teaching adult education in religion and bible studies. I did not earn any degree in psychology, but I’ve applied insights from this discipline throughout my entire life.
My weight at the time I graduated from Cornell reached about 235 pounds; it’s now about 160. My spine has compressed to about 5’9″. Recent cataract surgery has dramatically modified my nearsightedness. I never could do much athletically, but enjoyed walking, until recently when my mobility rapidly changed to a much slower pace. My interest in correspondence with foreign students led to a great (and fulfilled) interest in foreign travel to Europe. My US mint stamp collection begins in the 1920s and continues to the current year. Martha Smith unhappily married and divorced Don Castle. I fell in love and married Karen Swank more than sixty years ago! I still cannot remember names.
In reviewing my journey before Kent, I’m pleased to discover that it may have been more pleasant than I once recalled it to have been. I’ve concluded, thus far, that probably every teenager had less than an ideal, picturesque life. Mine was no different from theirs, but I may have reflected more than many about how it was going at the time. I strongly doubt any of my friends kept a diary, or some sort of record, for as many years as I have. As a result, I know where I’ve been; I’m still interested in where I might be going.
This, for now, completes the second section of the “bronze years,” which continue to include the remaining segments of my formal education, under the tabs “Kent State University” and “Cornell University.” It is then that my life truly began with my meeting, falling in love with, and marrying Karen. This life has continued with an expansion with three children and their spouses, as well as with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I have enjoyed rereading old diary entries and writing newer reflections on those early years. I hope whoever may be reading these lines has found them to be entertaining, if not enlightening.