Years ago while on leave from the Air Force, I recall sitting on the porch with my 92-year-old grandfather, Jesse Justus. He was born in 1898 and was telling me about seeing the first radio, TV, airplane, rocket, jet plane, first man on the moon, and many other “firsts.” Papa was one of the wisest people I ever knew and working beside him in barn and field, I learned much as I grew up. He said he had lived beyond his time. Today, I’m beginning to feel somewhat that way.
Papa was a remarkable man who learned much while being satisfied to live the simple life of a farmer. When new and better methods of farming and use of fertilizers, seeds and improved seeds came out, he readily adopted them. He was the first farmer in the valley to terrace his hillside pastures and kept away erosion of stream banks by fencing the fields and allowing shrubs, bushes and grapevines to grow along the banks. Trout fishing was great!
Most of the folks I grew up with and learned from were honest and hardworking and of strong Christian faith. In WW II, Americans from farm, village and city rose up to fill military ranks and work in defense plants. Older folks, and young people such as I, worked in gardens and fields. I was proud to learn to plow with two horse teams before leaving home for college.
From this background, after attending college I joined the Air Force and remained on active duty for over 20 years; serving in Korea, Philippines and Vietnam. In the USA I served in several locations across the nation and came to love our marvelous country. I was fortunate to have a wife, Florine, who followed me post to post and waited out one-year periods alone while I served in Korea and Vietnam. Amy, our daughter, was born in the Army Hospital near Denver, Colorado.
I carry within mind and heart my experiences, plus traits and beliefs and outlooks of folks of the Greatest Generation! I feel life is worth living and feel humble and thankful to God. An unfortunate situation arises now as I grow older in that fewer friends and people of my generation remain. Sadness is part of life and change is certain. Internally, I live with some of the old and some of the new.
More often now my thoughts go back to the past, where going from farm to college and on to many years in the Air Force, I made and left friends behind along the way. I’m fortunate in retirement to live in one place the longest period of my life. I tend more to also live life one day at a time. With growing age, problems and sorrows, I still find joy in living.
