or, Back to the future: 49 years 8 months ago
Child of the Day: Amani
Amani on left with his buddy Nestory and below at Tupendane Orphanage during a semester break from Green Valley School in 2015
sponsored by Ryan and Laura Bushek
Age: 15
Day: T-1 (launch date is May 23)
Location: Capitola California
Today’s Mileage: 0
Total Mileage: 0
Today’s Ascent: 0 feet
Today’s Time on the Bike: 0 hours
Total Time on the Bike: 0 hours
As the humid air enjoyed the last gasp of light on an August night in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, the fireflies hung on the slight breeze and began their evening task of creating memories for this 18-year-old. Craig, Bill, Fred, Dave, and Steve lay pensively on the sloping lawn where snowballs in winters passed had been mischievously thrown at cars. A willow tree was beginning to drop its leaves, revealing the perch of solitude I’d enjoyed since the Third Grade. The gentle sound of a small creek with the smell of the damp crepe myrtle I was supposed to clean hid the comforting sound of a frog playing with salamanders.
“Sea Weed” (algae), yellowing because of the low August water level, smelled damp and somewhat moldy, scenting the air. We lay quietly contemplating the change, and crickets thick in August were beginning their evening sounds. Though a half hour from darkness, with a reddish sky highlighting our youthful, almost adult faces, we weren’t preparing to assault our normal haunts dragging illegally purchased 6-packs of Iron City beer as we had all summer and, in fact, much of the last couple years. We were, in fact, ruminating about our futures in some form.
Yes, change was in the air. As every passing car on Cochran road whisked by without paying homage to that beautiful, Monticello-inspired home I had lived in for 10 years and where the late summer dew would fall on the green myrtle beds lighted by mushroom lamps my dad had installed years ago, creating a regal path to the proud, bright red front door, we contemplated our future, knowing that life as we knew it would be different…..very soon.
Nixon had resigned from the Presidency, and Gerald Ford was three weeks away from pardoning him. He left disgraced, and our leaving would be scary, sure, but also exciting. In a few short months, our unknown futures would open up wide, and like the house landing on the wicked witch, they would reveal a technicolor future of unimaginable beauty and wonder.
Mom and Dad had divorced earlier that year, Mom had already had a garage sale, and she and my two younger siblings were preparing to move across town. She to a new husband, and us to a new life with a new stepbrother and sister.
Memories of graduation, a July 4th party, Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” as a soundtrack for the summer, and lifeguarding at Mount Lebanon’s public pool took a back seat as we chewed on blades of grass and contemplated our very unknown future. I was leaving in the morning for college at DePauw University. I was scared and excited.
I was scared because of the unknown and the realization that nothing would be quite the same the next time I saw my buddies. I was also excited because I knew I was embarking on an adventure bigger than any I had tried before.
We couldn’t really know how the adventure would shape our lives. I couldn’t have known the lifelong friends I would make, the fun I would have, or how this opportunity would shape the rest of my life, but a faint realization that “this was a big one” rested on our sweaty foreheads as we tried not to talk about it.
The Pittsburgh Pirates would win the East but lose to the Dodgers in mid-September. The televised Watergate Hearings had wrapped up but had captivated the country for the previous 6 months as the melodrama of political change played out. Anything but confronting our upcoming separation from our comfort zone seemed urgently necessary to break the melancholy.
As I recall, we all shed a tear, me probably more than the others, ‘cuz, well, I’m just that way I guess. The moment seemed worthy.
Today, I boarded a train with my bike to Seattle. I have 37 pounds of baggage in a duffel, almost like I did that August evening in 1974. I think I have some idea what lies ahead. I will meet up with 45 others and begin a 10-week journey from church to church, covering 4000 miles, traveling across the United States, whereupon I will meet my beautiful wife after a long summer of separation.
Like my Mom, I suppose, she has carefully marked all of my gear and, in some ways, made certain I have done my homework, supporting me from a short distance. It’s been easy to avoid thinking of this aspect, but as with my Mom on that August night, I know I’ll miss her terribly and 10 weeks gone is something I’ve never done before. I know whatever happens, life will never be exactly the same. Except for our love.
The feeling is electric, and this night, I’m up at 4 AM, unable to sleep, almost tingling with opportunity, wonder, and anticipation. I hope I will see those fireflies under the moon in a few short months, hear the crickets, and be in her loving arms once again. Thank you to all my friends: the support that I feel is not unlike that of Craig, Bill, Fred, Dave, and Steve. And we’re still friends today. They will attend our 50th High School reunion and celebrate some of those times.
God’s Speed. Damn the torpedoes. Just keep pedaling, Dorey. This will be fun.
My beautiful wife, Anne seeing me off on my adventure
Meet our ETF Featured child, Amani. Here is a picture from 2015. He is now 15, one of our best students, and frequently the “spokesman” for his class of 26 kids we have attending Scolastica Secondary School.
He is one of our original children as well, sponsored by Ryan and Laura Bushek (our oldest son and daughter-in-law). Amani has so many friends, and he is fun and funny. A quiet young man, he is a great observer, polite and a bit shy.
In Tanzania, it is said the quiet ones are always the strongest. His life has not been easy, and he is a boy’s boy playing basketball and racing around. Now, tall, slender and handsome he has a wonderful future ahead of him. We can’t wait to see what he will do!
