THE BEST IS YET TO BE

My Dad was forced to sell our house, something I never understood. This was during the days of depression but I later realized banks were accepting merely the interest on mortgage loans and it may have been my father's stubbornness that wouldn't allow him to accept anything that even resembled charity. But we moved into a "flat" that had three bedrooms. My brother, Burt and I shared a bed---yes I said a bed , in one of the rooms and I would now attend a new school. It was Bennett High School and I was 12 years old. Don't ask why I was so young. I don't remember all the details, but I do recall I skipped a grade, and here I am walking down Fillmore Avenue to Main and on to school. It was about one and a half miles and not one school bus came by. I wonder why?? Because there were no school buses in those days. My freshman and sophomore years passed rather uneventfully. I did play in the band and was active in some of the school plays. But it was in my 3rd year that I began to blossom. I began to get aggressive about getting into various activities that placed me on stage at all the school auditoriums. I began singing in all the stage events. It turned out I was selected to be a cheerleader. I think that was because it became evident that I had the biggest mouth in the school and a megaphone was superfluous. I came to realize this was fun and made up my mind to only take 2 subjects the next two years ----yes that meant I would be in school for 5 years before I would graduate. But, so what? I would still only be 17. It was still during the depression. There were no jobs available and there was no money for a continuing education. So I reasoned, I might as well stay in school. I took two basic subjects each of those remaining two years, was active in every stage event ---sports, plays, musicals and so on. I was on stage and loved it. Down deep there was a ham lurking somewhere. My best buddy, Moon, was similarly active and we made a great couple. I am still in touch with Moon and we reminisce about those long ago years. He flew 30 Missions over Europe in a B17, which doesn't mean much to most of my readers but it was a BIG deal. Well, that is the story of how I went to High School for 5 years and they were the best years of my life at that time. Our motto, "The Best is yet to Be" still resonates with me and when I look back at all that followed I realize the Best was a continuing source of happiness with marriage, children, grandchildren and now great grand children. Certainly things did continue to get better and in spite of a setback here or there, life was great and I am at peace wondering if the best is still yet to be.