ending up here

I was not born in Pennsylvania; both of my parents were. Had life not 'twisted' the way it did; I would not be here.

My father was a West Point grad and took his commission in the US Air Force. He was an electrical engineer by degree and had an MBA. We spent years moving around the country from one of his assignments to another. Looking back on it, it was a great ride. That chapter ended when dad died five days after he retired from his twenty years service in the Air Force.

We were traveling 'back East' from California. After moving from place-to-place periodically we were finally going to have a 'home.' I was 15 years old and was somewhat disappointed to be heading into the rising sun. I was born in Idaho. We had lived all over the US. I somehow felt connected to some 'western spirit.' I liked California.

Dad hoped to get a job somewhere around DC or for IBM near Poughkeepsie, NY. We had lived in the DC burbs on the Virginia side of the Potomac and we liked it there. Poughkeepsie was close to West Point and he really liked that area of New York state. The plan was to go to my maternal grandparents' house until we settled in either of those two places.

The plan was interupted in Columbia, Missouri. We were half-way across the country. A cross-country trip we had taken by different routes more than once. Part of our family heritage was 'road-trips.' This one was different.

We left the Sierra foothills of northern California on the first of May. It was just mom, dad, and me. My sister was in college back in PA where my parents were legal residents. Our immediate destination was Carson City, Nevada. Their state capitol. My mom really liked it there. It was just over the Sierras; a couple hour drive. It's a very small town but there was one big casino/hotel she liked, the state capital, the court, the dry side of the mountains and a broad desert expanse. It was nice there. We spent one full day there. After that last western interlude the real road-trip began.

We drove east after checking out in Carson City and that first night found us in Green River, Wyoming. It was here that dad first felt discomfort. He was so uncomfortable that he tried sleeping on the floor as he said his back was bothering him. We awoke the next morning and pressed onward on out east-bound trip.

We drove another ten or twelve hours that day and ended up in Grand Island, Nebraska. We had a quiet night there despite dad's continued 'discomfort.'

The following morning we got up and drove to Omaha. We stopped briefly there as we had lived there before; and I had a friend from California that was there at the time. We stopped for a brief visit with him and pressed on. We had a planned stop near St. Louis, MO, as dad's mom and brother were there. We headed south from Omaha, into Kansas and then Missouri.

As we crossed Missouri the sun began to set. Dad and mom discussed whether-or-not to stop for the night as we were 'close,' but not really. They finally decided to stop for the night and take the brief drive into St. Louis in the morning. We pulled off the freeway and into a Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge.

We checked into the hotel.

Mom and I went to dinner while dad took a bath; hoping to feel better.

Mom and I went back to the room after eating. She asked me to go get the laundry bag from the car. When I returned to the hallway, mom was standing there; her hands in 'awe' over her mouth. She saw me approaching and said, 'Your father's dead; I need to call for help.'

She ran down the hallway. I said, 'Wait, call from here!'
She was gone.

I walked into the room.
I walked into the bathroom.

He was there and he was dead.

Soon thereafter the EMT's arrived; but it was too late.

Dad was dead. Our family life had changed forever. In a blink.
Five days after he retired from the Air Force. UGH

That's how I ended up in Pennsylvania.