Joyce and I were talking today while we listened to music. One thing that came up in conversation was how two people can cross paths many times but never meet until much later or not ever. Joyce and I lived just a half mile apart and we went to the same places, amusement parks, roller rinks, movie theaters, hamburger joints and drive-in movies and yet we never met or even saw each other for years. I am happy we did and perhaps we met at just the right time. Earlier or later things may never have worked out the way it did. Joyce and I even had some of the same friends but didn't meet through them.
At Litton circuits in Springfield my last supervisor was Dave Edwards. We were chatting one afternoon when I found out he and I were raised in the same neighborhood, just three blocks away. He walked past my home every day going to school. He and his family went to the church just around the corner from my home, yet we never saw each other or met until 40 years later. Dave went to the same high school with one of my early girlfriends.
This picture is Joyce's dad and mother in 1943.
I met Joyce's mother the first time I showed up at her door for our first date; I don't remember meeting her father until right before I went into the navy and we never spoke but a few times before I left for boot camp. The whole time I was in the navy I was gone so we never had a chance to sit and talk. He passed away four years into my navy time. I know a lot about him now through his navy records, a book about the sinking of his ship in World War Two and family stories. He was a great man and I am sorry I never got to know him when he was alive. This link is Chapter One about Joyce's dad. This link is Chapter Two, my final chapter of his life.
I know that my life would have been enriched by getting to know him better. He was not much of a talker, but he would have had a lot to say and I think I would have been able to get all of his stories just by having the time to sit and talk with him on a regular basis. There's a lesson here; talk to people and listen to them because you never know how many opportunities you will have to do that. You learn more by listening to people that you will by asking questions.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
At Litton circuits in Springfield my last supervisor was Dave Edwards. We were chatting one afternoon when I found out he and I were raised in the same neighborhood, just three blocks away. He walked past my home every day going to school. He and his family went to the church just around the corner from my home, yet we never saw each other or met until 40 years later. Dave went to the same high school with one of my early girlfriends.
This picture is Joyce's dad and mother in 1943.
I met Joyce's mother the first time I showed up at her door for our first date; I don't remember meeting her father until right before I went into the navy and we never spoke but a few times before I left for boot camp. The whole time I was in the navy I was gone so we never had a chance to sit and talk. He passed away four years into my navy time. I know a lot about him now through his navy records, a book about the sinking of his ship in World War Two and family stories. He was a great man and I am sorry I never got to know him when he was alive. This link is Chapter One about Joyce's dad. This link is Chapter Two, my final chapter of his life.
I know that my life would have been enriched by getting to know him better. He was not much of a talker, but he would have had a lot to say and I think I would have been able to get all of his stories just by having the time to sit and talk with him on a regular basis. There's a lesson here; talk to people and listen to them because you never know how many opportunities you will have to do that. You learn more by listening to people that you will by asking questions.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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