Years of My Life

A Journey from 1944 to … Now

1977-78 School Year

A year that saw some things transformed—

Both Joyce and I now Ph.D.’s—

We’d hardly done it in a breeze.

And then that spring—it really stormed:

My teachers’ union went on strike—

And I was there with picket sign—

Arrested on the picket line!—

There wasn’t all that much to like.

And then my grandma Osborn died—

Missouri—where I quickly flew

And did the things I had to do—

And at her service broke and cried.

I took another job that spring—

Lake Forest College—we would move

North of Chicago—could I prove

Myself up there? But here’s the thing:

I found so quickly—this was wrong.

I much preferred the middle school.

So feeling somewhat like a fool,

We moved right back—we weren’t gone long.