 Two days before I turned 41, Mt. St. Helens, which had erupted first on May 18, blew again, pushing ash 10 miles into the sky. Other than that the summer passed without incident and the children returned to school. When my six-month evaluation came in November, I was pronounced an "outstanding employee." The year ended with two significant deaths - my Uncle Albert on December 15 and John Lennon on December 8. Never having known my uncle that well, I'm sure I felt the shock of Lennon's death the most.Life was about to turn a big corner for Josh in his first year at junior high school. He had hit 13, the age of puberty and girls. I don't remember the exact details, but there were some incidents that began to happen of the "I wouldn't want one to date my daughter" variety. In the sports arena, race had not been an issue. His grades at school began to slip a little and there was one particular situation that brought me to the school in rage, where he had been allowed to sit in a photography class and flunk it because he didn't have a camera. Again, I don't remember the exact details but take some of the blame myself for having let that happen and not caught it sooner. Next page |