Wonderfully Ordinary: My Personal Memoir

 Charleston was a small town. Growing up there, I thought it was the best. I had no intentions of ever leaving. It seemed like everyone knew my dad. Actually, everyone did know my dad. The Myerscough's had moved to town when my dad was 10 or 11. I think my grandfather, Grandpa Merle...and Grandma Loraine, were pretty active. They were involved at the Moose, the Elks, the VFW, they were members of the country club, active at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, they were bowlers, and did a lot to get involved in their community. Having 5 kids probably helped with that, too.   By the time my dad was old enough, he worked. He tells story about his paper route. He won awards and trips for being such an outstanding paper boy. Yes, I guess that was a real thing. In High School he worked at a local Pizza restaurant. I guess you could say he liked it. In high school Papa, was a pretty great football player, but it came at a cost...his knees. He went on to receive a scholarship t...

My mom (Carol Schaumburg) grew up in a small town up in North/Eastern Illinois...Buckingham. In my memory, Buckingham was probably a whole 4 blocks of houses. There was an old school building there, it had closed down long before I was born. There was a little post office, I remember walking to with my grandma to collect mail from her PO Box, and there was a "sportsman" club that probably had a shooting range or something of the sorts, a pool and a small playground.  Buckingham, was a quick little drive from Herscher, where my mom graduated from High School in 1972. It's where my grandma would eventually live, after my grandfather passed away in 1990, and where some of my family still lives today. Fun Fact: When I met Ellen (Burtschi) in 2006 and we became roomates, she came out of her room wearing a Herscher Tigers Softball sweatshirt. That was her first teaching job. I couldn't believe...strange coincidence. But anyway, back to Buckingham.  I LOVED my grandparents h...