Comments:
"What a long, strange trip it's been - Jerry Garcia"
In March of '75 I enlisted in the Marine Corps and went to boot camp at Parris Island, SC. Next, I was off to sunny Southern CA for Infantry Training School and then back to East Coast for Sea Duty Indoctrination in Portsmouth, VA. I was assigned to the Marine Detachment aboard the USS Saratoga, homeported in Jacksonville, FL. After a year of being a "Spit and Polish" Marine, I was off to Camp Lejeune, NC and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines at Camp Geiger. During this enlistment, I spent 12 months in the Mediterranean on two separate deployments and 2 months in the Caribbean.
In 1979 after hanging up the combat boots, I landed in Lancaster, PA. During my high school years, I moved back and forth between Mom in OH and Dad in PA quite a few times. My Dad was there and so was an "old flame", so I figured it was as good a place as any. Needless to say, I went through a life changing event and decided to go back in the Marine Corps to sort it all out.
Starting in 1980, I spent 18 months going through many of the finest schools the Navy had to offer in Aviation Electronics in Millington (Memphis), TN and then wound up in Southern CA once again at El Toro Air Station with the Green Knights of VMA(AW) 121. Not much traveling this time, only 1 six month deployment to the Far East.
In 1984 I was released from active duty with a medical discharge, as a result of a back problem. My only option if I wanted to stay in would be to have a fusion performed on three vertebrae in my lower back. At the time, I didn't feel the possible benefit was worth the risk and after 25 years, I don't regret the decision.
So we were off to Littleton, CO where I worked for Martin Marietta for 9 years. I worked on several projects doing software development and systems engineering while with them. Colorado was an absolutely great place to live and the only place I considered home for a long time afterwards. We lost a major contract in '93, was laid off and decided to go back to Lancaster, PA. Dad was still there and I wanted to spend time with him.
I accepted a position as a Project Manager with a computer consulting firm in Lancaster in '93 and worked for them for several years. I later accepted a position as a Systems/Network Engineer with another consulting firm near Harrisburg, PA and moved to the area in '97. In '02 the economic downturn hit many of the consulting firms in Central PA and I found myself laid off again at the end of the year.
After being in the IT field for about 20 years, I decided I needed a change, so I'm sitting in the backyard in the spring of '03 and decided that I wanted to do landscaping. This decision brought about another one of those life changing events, but again, a decision with no regrets.
I went to work as a landscaper at a local resort and started a part time landscape maintenance business. After 6 years at the resort, I decided to leave and make a go of it on my own. I've been at it for a little over a year now and can honestly say that I love what I'm doing.
So, I guess that brings us to now, 35 years later. Wow, has it really been that long? I am thankful for the things I have seen, the things that I have done, the people that I have met. I am deeply saddened by the loss of 14 of our classmates over the years and to all that read this, I wish a long and happy life to you.
