Month: April 2020

THE YEAR 1986:  BIG EVENTS/MAIN HEADLINES

It was January 1986 I was 28 years old.  June would be turning the big three-oh in February, Crystal was only 6 and Christopher 4 yrs old.  Some of the big events that would make headline news that year were: the US Space Shuttle, Challenger would explode right after takeoff killing the entire crew including a school teacher named Christa McCaullife.  The US for the first time ever would celebrate the birthday of the slain civil rites activist Dr.Martin Luther King calling it MLK Day.  Gasoline was at a whopping price of .89 cents a gallon, sparking outrage as it inched closer to the unimaginable price of $1.00 per gallon.  Later on that year to my heartbreak, Billy Buckner would let the World Series slip through his legs as the Mets went onto beat my Red Sox in 7 games.  There was another event that happened just as the year began that would never be in the national headlines or even the local paper – but the event altered the course of not only my life but that of my wife and children – it was the day I found Jesus.  It was in 1986 that my story was about to become God’s story and so was the beginning of a greater story.  As I look back,  that day was the culmination of some life moments that I experienced as God pursued me throughout my life.  Let me explain.

 

GROWING UP WITHOUT GOD      

Though I grew up in a loving family and have many fond memories of my childhood (explained in previous chapters) we were never very religious.   I was told I was baptized into a Methodist church at the age of 2, but I  have very little memory of our family attending church on a regular basis.  I remember being jealous of my friends in Niantic who would go to CCD classes on Saturdays as their Catholic obligation and wished I was with them.  Probably not because I wanted to learn about God but to be with my friends.  I do remember not long before my father passed away, he started to take us to this little Community Church in Niantic on a regular basis.  I even remember attending Sunday School classes.  All that ended after his death.  I often have wondered if he had a “finding Jesus” moment before his death, I will never know the answer until I get to heaven.   When we moved to Randolph, NJ we didn’t attend church but my mom became friends again with a childhood friend, Pauline Taraska.  She had a son my age, Joe who I talked about in the Randolph chapter.   Pauline had become a “born-again” Christian and her son Joe invited me to a Friday night program he attended at Bethlehem Church in Randolph called Boys Brigade.  It was similar to a boy scout program, we would play games, learn survival skills, went on outdoor outings, the only difference is we would also learn about Jesus.  I enjoyed going for all the fun stuff and would even listen to the bible stories.  There was a young ranger named Todd Moffat who was a bit over-zealous for the Lord and seemed to target me every Friday night trying to get me to “accept Jesus” into my life.  Finally one night I gave in to his badgering and said the “sinners prayer” with him in the stairwell of the church.  I really didn’t mean it as when I got outside and saw Joe, we both started to laugh.  Around the 10th or  11^th grade, I stopped going and got into the normal teen life of girls and partying (described in the previous chapter).  Though I placed God on the back burner, the beginning foundation would be laid, God wasn’t done with me.

THE NAVY AND OKINAWA JAPAN

When I arrived in Okinawa Japan in 1976, I was an 18-year-old Sailor.   I was away from home halfway around the world, living in a foreign culture, with no friends.  These three elements created my first real experience with homesickness.  I was placed on a work party waiting for my clearance to begin work and was befriended by a guy who happened to be a “born-again” Christian.  He invited me to his house for dinner with him and his wife and even picked me up on a couple of Sundays to take me to church with them.  Soon after that, he introduced me to two young missionaries he knew.  They were both young single guys possible in their 20’s or early 30’s, had long hair and rode around the island on motorcycles, basically, I thought they were pretty cool.  At first, I spent a lot of time with them, riding around the back of their motorcycles, attending a Bible study at their homes.  During this time I could feel myself being drawn to the message.  I remember one night one of them drove me on the back of his motorcycle to the top of a road.  The road was one of the main roads in a town with lots of bars and clubs lining the road.  Many young service people spent time on this road having fun drinking.  At the other end of the road at the top of the hill, there was a bar that had these yellow and red lights on the outside that gave the illumination of fire coming off the building. The name of the bar was called “The Pit”.  He points to the building and said,  “All who venture down this road and live this lifestyle (bars and clubs) eventually end up in the “pit of hell” and he pointed to the club called “The Pit”.  I wish I could say that was when I turned my life over to Jesus, but I didn’t.  Soon after that, I started to make other friends, stopped hanging out with them, and went back to the normal life of a guy my age of drinking and partying.  I again placed God in the back burner because I wasn’t ready to change my life,  but he wasn’t done with me yet.

THE DREAM

The Bible has multiple stories of God speaking to people through dreams: Jacob, Joseph, King Solomon, and two men simply referred to as a baker and a butler, were just some that are mentioned.  Now I’m not placing myself in any of their categories but I mention that to make a point.  God communicates with people in various ways: through visions, signs and wonders, angels, and dreams.  I believe it was how he finally got my attention after 15 years of trying.  One night in January 1986 I went to sleep and had a dream.  The dream was about me riding in my pickup truck down my street toward my house.  In my dream, I then heard a news report over the radio that all the “good”  people in the world have suddenly disappeared.  In the next scene of my dream, I was running into my house trying to find my family.  In the back bedroom both my children (Crystal and Christopher) were sitting on the floor crying that “Mommy had disappeared”.  The next part is strange but all of a sudden I was being lifted into the air and I remember screaming “No Lord” leave me alone I need to be with my children”.  The next scene I remember, I loaded my kids in my truck and started to drive.  There was a group of people sitting in the back of my truck, telling me to hurry as if we had to get somewhere.  This part of the dream I’ve never understood but I then pulled into a gas station with people standing there with a sign that said “free gas”.  When I pulled in they started to attack us for some reason, but I fought them off and drove away.  Then, in the next scene, we drove to the foot of this mountain and we all started to run up the hill trying to get away from something.  As I was running up the hill I turned around and saw that the entire earth was on fire.  I then woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.  I got up for work and that dream was bothering me, I wasn’t sure what it meant but I just knew it had some meaning.  When I arrived at work that day I couldn’t get it out of my mind.  I then told this co-worker at my work about the dream. I’ll never forget her face.  She looked at me with a surprised/scared look and said: “Steve Rapsas told me that the Bible mentions something like that happening one day (people disappearing)”.  Steve was a “born-again” Christian.  I liked him but never really talked to him about the Bible as I was not really interested (been there, heard it, not interested).   I called Steve into my office to tell him about the dream, he looked at me in a strange way and said ‘it sort of sounds like you dreamt about the rapture”.  Now I had no idea what he meant so he went on to tell me that the Bible talks about Jesus coming back and taking all the Christians out of the world (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).  The next day he gives me a Bible and a Bible pamphlet called “The 4 Spiritual Laws” to read.  The track basically says that we are all sinners and are separated from God.  It pictures a man standing on a cliff with another cliff on the other side that represented where God was, with a gap in between both cliffs.   It showed how all our attempts to get to God through our own efforts (being good, going to church, being religious) is not enough to bridge the gap or get to the other side.  Then one page shows a cross laying across the gap to God.  That cross represented the death of Jesus on the cross and how it provided the way to get to God(on the other side).  I thought about that track for a whole week.  That next weekend June and I went down to South Jersey to visit my two Navy friends Al Nagle and Tom Hinkleman.  One night we all went out to a bar, it was one week before the Superbowl (Chicago vs Patriots).  As we were sitting there drinking and listening to the music, I remember looking up and looked around the bar at all the people drinking, laughing, and dancing.  Then suddenly it was as if God said to my mind “you don’t belong here anymore, I have something different for you”.  I remember sort of sobering up and pushed my beer away and didn’t take another drink the rest of the night.  That next week I kept thinking about the dream,  what Steve said, the message in the Bible pamphlet, and what happened in the bar.   I started thinking about the other two times I heard the same message about Jesus dying on the cross for me for my sins – at Boys Brigades and in Okinawa Japan from those missionaries.  I thought to my self – “this is the third time I have heard this message, I rejected it twice if I reject it again will it be “3 strikes and I’m out?”, “Will God give me another chance or will he give up on me if I reject him a third time?”.  I went into my bedroom, got down on my knees, and prayed to accept Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness for my sins and asked him to come into my life.  I knew at that moment I was changed, I felt a peace come over me.   God’s plan for me had come to fruition – my life and my family’s lives were about to change.

WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE

I started reading the Bible, hanging out with Steve at lunch to learn more, and trying to share with June what I was learning.  She thought I was nuts, told me she already believed in God, and to leave her alone, which I did.  I figured I needed to start going to church but didn’t know whereas June and I rarely went to church. Since June was Catholic I went to St. Margaret’s where we had Crystal and Christopher christened (though we never attended).  After a few times of going, I just felt like it was not a place for me and started looking in the yellow pages for a church.  I found one located in Morristown up in the Jockey Hollow area.  I went to the church by myself one morning and walked into a lively music and people clapping and singing, which I enjoyed.  I then started to hear people talk in a strange language, the Bible calls it “tongues”, and thought “I will never get June to walk into this place”, and left.  I then remembered I had heard that my old high school friend Dave Akromas (who I went into the Navy with) had become “born-again.  Even though we had not talked in years I found his number from his parents and called him. He told me that our friend Scott McGill had also become a Christian, remember he rode with Dave and me on the train to Newark when we left for the Navy.  Dave told me about a small church right near my house where he was baptized, called “Washington Valley Chapel”.  I had lived in Morristown at that point for 6 years but had never been on that road.  I visited that church by myself (June told me she would go to church when I found one I liked).  I remember walking in, everyone being friendly, the place had a family feel and I liked the service.  I walked out of there thinking, “I think I have found a church home for me and my family.  For the next 15 years, Washington Valley Chapel would be our church home, the center of our social life, the place we would not only grow in our Christian faith but would give us many special friends and memories.

GOD NOT DONE WITH ME

Well, God was not through with me.  Within a couple of years, I was beginning to feel the urge to go into ministry.  At first, I just ignored it but the urge would not go away.  Any time I mentioned it to June she just shut down the conversation.  She was just getting settled into our new life of going to church weekly, getting more involved at church, and now this – it was too much for her to think about.  I wasn’t even sure how to pursue such a calling?  Wouldn’t I have to attend seminary? How much would that cost? Where would I serve? We are beginning to love Morristown and in 1986 we even purchased my grandparent’s home from my mother, so now I had a mortgage to pay.   At that time we had another child – Robert who was born in 1992.  So between having to pay a mortgage and raise a family of 3 children, pursuing ministry seemed almost impossible.  So to make sure this urge was not just from me but was from God, I started to write down things that would have to start to come true. I would love to serve at my current church WVC but we already had 4 Pastors serving at a small church.   Suddenly each Pastor began to leave, one was Pastor Scott Dee who was the Youth Pastor.  The church needed someone to take over and I volunteered and loved working with kids.  Next, I couldn’t quit my job and go to seminary so how would I train for ministry and get ordained.  Suddenly Pastor Charlie Harrah talked about a new program the CMA was offering, one that would train laypeople in the church who are called to ministry, right at the church they are already serving in, without having to quit their jobs and attend seminary.    I couldn’t believe my ears, I could pursue ministry without having to attend seminary.   Lastly, June needed to be on board, I needed her blessing.  Well, she finally felt that if this was God’s will then I should pursue it.  I then enrolled in a program that would take me almost 8 years to complete, all while never having to leave Morristown.  I served as the Youth Pastor for WVC while still working in the computer field at ADP.  A couple of years into the program I felt the urge to walk away from my job at ADP and concentrate more on ministry.  At first, they asked me to stay part-time which I did, then finally when that position was over, I left a good-paying job I had held for 13 years, to pursue ministry.  To help pay the bills I did any job I could to make money, from delivering flowers for a florist, painting houses, cleaning gutters, and doing part-time landscaping.  At one point a father of a friend of Crystal asked me to write online training programs for a few companies he was consulting with, that job lasted one year.  As soon as that ended, ADP called me back to work part-time to help with the Y2K conversion – that job lasted almost 3 years.  I even started my own vending machine business, thinking I was going to make lots of money, which I didn’t, but I tried.  Finally, I got my Real Estate Appraiser’s license and have been doing that work ever since.   So all that just to say, God always provided a way for us to stay financially afloat.  I even remember someone once dropped off a bag of money on our steps with $500.00 in it.  It was not always easy, there were times when I wasn’t sure how we were going to keep going, but God always came through and provided.  Then finally in 2001, I became an ordained minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance.  Even during the ministry years, when one ministry ended there was another opportunity waiting, and we never had to sell our house and move.  After WVC ended, I was asked to take on a dying church in South Brunswick.  So for 3 years me, June, and Robert would commute almost 50 minutes to serve at Calvary Gospel.  When I felt God calling me away from that church, I left with no real future prospects.  I even told June I may be done in ministry as I don’t know where to go from here, that was in 2004.  Within 2 weeks I found out from some old friends of ours who were at WVC with us, the Mecalls, that they were involved in a prayer group comprised of people who had just left a church and were hoping to plant a new church somewhere.   I began to attend the prayer group and there I met Pastor Pete Amerman.  They soon saw me as a potential leader and asked me to join with Pastor Pete and begin a new church with them.  I mentioned to them that Morristown would be a great place, but where?  It was then that a friend of Pete’s who was a manager for Clearview Theaters told us we could open a church right in Morristown at one of his theaters.  So on Easter weekend in 2006, we started a new church called “The Well Christian Ministry”.  The church was in existence for 5 years when the theaters informed us they were closing and we had to find a new place.  Both Pete and I felt this may be the end and informed our people that we may be closing the church for good.  We then received a call from the CMA district office when they informed us that a church in Parsippany had just lost their Pastor, was down to about 20 people, and would possibly have to close.  They asked us if we would consider merging with them and start yet again another new church.  So in 2011, we started a new church in Parsippany called “Living Waters Church”, with Pete as the Lead and I as the Associate Pastor.  In 2016, Pete had to step down from the lead position and the church asked me to become their new Lead Pastor.  I would then serve as the Lead Pastor for the next 4 years.   In 2019, I felt the need to step down as the Lead Pastor of LWC and was ready to move on from the ministry.  I was asked to stay around and help with the transition to the next Pastor.   So at the writing of this book in mid 2020,  I am currently serving on a transitional team of 4 Pastors leading the church into the next phase.  I am anticipating moving on to the next phase of my spiritual journey at the end of August 2020.  A journey that began in 1996 as the Youth Pastor of WVC, a journey that has taken many turns, trusting God all the way and He has never failed us.  I am ready to trust him for the next phase where ever it takes us.  Only God knows what is next – stay tuned. 

CONCLUSION

All this to say, in life, you never know where God is going to lead you. Proverbs 16:9 says “In his heart, a man plans his course, but it is the lord that determines his steps”.  In my heart, my life was pretty much planned out.  I had a wonderful family, a nice job and everything was going along just fine.    But in 1986, God intervened and changed the direction of my life.  In that time he has walked with me and my family, never leaving us or forsaking us as he promises his people in Deuteronomy 31:6.  Has it always been easy? No, safe? No. Then again, that is life itself, filled with ups and downs, failures and successes, good and bad.  You can try to go it alone, without him, or choose to have him guide you.  In the early part of my life, I kept running from God and he kept pursuing me – finally, I surrender gave him control of my life and have never looked back.  I’m glad he didn’t give up on me and has been with me and always will be.  There is a song by Tenth Avenue North that I placed on my books web site called “CONTROL”,  you can also find it on youtube – I hope you take time to listen to it as it reflects my life story -giving up control of my own life and handing it over to the one who knows me best.  I hope you do the same.  God Bless – Dad, Pop-pop

 

 

Well, our time home came to an end and it was off to another new adventure – next stop Edzell Scotland. I left for Scotland on January 1, 1978 (New Years Day). It was a snowy day and I had to report to McGuire Air Force Base in NJ that evening to board a military flight. My step-father Steve drove me along with my Mother and June, it snowed the entire ride down. Since the snow was very heavy, they pretty much dropped me off, came in quick to help me get settled and then left. My Mom has often said over the years that she remembers turning around as they left and saw the back of my head as I was sitting by myself and broke out crying. I had just gotten home from being gone 1 1/2 years (except the week I came home to get married) and now she had to endure another two years of me being away (though I would come home once for my step-sister’s wedding and they would end up visiting us twice in Scotland), so the thought of that length of time not seeing me was emotional to her. I had to wait a few hours before my flight left and the plane was fairly empty, but that changed at our first stop. The plane flew into Groton-New London Airport, the plane sat out on the tarmac and nobody could get off the plane. All of a sudden I see a line of Sailors walking across the tarmac in the heavy snow, there must have been at least 50 who were boarding the plane to fly over to Holy Loch Sub Base, in Holy Loch Scotland. I don’t remember much of the flight, I think I slept most the way, but I remember leaving Groton sometime in the middle of the night and arrived at Prestwick Airport in Scotland the next morning (Scotland is 5-6 hour flight plus they are ahead in the time zone 6 hours). I was met there by my sponsor CTT3 John McCotter.  John helped me get my luggage and from there we would take a 3-hour drive up north to the base called RAF Edzell. I don’t remember the entire ride but I still remember as we drove being at awe of the countryside all around us. I couldn’t get over all the rolling hills, many covered in snow, the stone homes located on many farms we passed, and the pure beauty of the landscape of Scotland.  It was just like the pictures in the books I looked at in preparation for our trip to Scotland.  Scotland was much different from the tropical island I had just spent the last 18 months on.  Looking around during that long ride, I knew then that this tour was going to be totally different from my last.  I was getting the feeling that the next 2 years were going to be very memorable, and of course, our life in Scotland proved to be just that.

RAF EDZELL 

We arrived at a small Navy base called RAF Edzell.  Edzell was a former Royal Air Force base located one mile from a small town called Edzell and was used by the British in WWII.  The US Navy reopened RAF Edzell in 1960, forming part of the Navy’s global High-Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) network.  There were 16 other such sites around the world, with Scotland and Okinawa being part of them.  The base was small and had airplane hangars that were converted into a Commissary (food store), theater, small bowling alley, and various offices.  Located on the southern section of the base across the airfields stood a massive circular antenna called the AN/FRD-10 Circularly Disposed Antenna Array (CDAA)  which was used to track various military targets around the world (Russia being our main target during the Cold War years which we were in).  In the middle of that giant antenna array (nicknamed the “Elephant Cage”) sat a 4 story Communications building (2 stories being underground) with no windows.  The base was located out in the middle of nowhere which often confused the locals.  Since we were located miles from the coast, they often wondered what the Navy was doing out in the middle of nowhere.  The popular story that circulated around the area was that we had a secret underground sub-base that was connected to the ocean through a large tunnel.  They suspected that these subs were used for our spying missions.  I would spend the next 2 years at this base, working and doing my part in the Navy’s mission of “bugging the world” to keep us safe.

LIFE IN SCOTLAND

Since Scotland is in the Northern Hemisphere the weather was mostly cold and damp.  The average temperature during the summer months was in the low 70’s.  Edzell is in the northeast part of Scotland close to the North Sea which made that area colder.  There were many wet days but you got used to it after a while.  The latitude of Edzell was parallel with the middle of Canada and the Southern part of Alaska.  Since we were so far north of the equator, we had shorter days in the winter and longer days in the summer.  So when I arrived in Scotland in January it was cold and the days were short.  The sun would rise between 8:00-9:00 am and set around 3:00 pm.  So on days when you had a day shift (7:00 am – 3:00 pm) being in a building with no windows, we would not see the sun that day.  The summers were just the opposite, the days very long.  The sun would fully rise by around 5:00 am and not set until around 10:00 pm.  There were times during the longest days of the year in summer when the sun would never fully go down until around midnight and begin to come up just a few hours later.  It was during those days the sky would always stay in a twilight mode never getting fully dark.

 

SEARCHING FOR A HOME

My sponsor John McCotter was a nice guy.  Not only did he write me before I arrived in Scotland, but then he met me at the airport which was about 3 hours away from Edzell.  Once I checked into the base he and his wife invited me to stay with them until I found my own place.  They lived in the base housing called “Edzell Woods” which was right next to the base.  I stayed in their spare bedroom for about 3 weeks.  The one thing I remember when I first got there as I was checking into base,  a Lieutenant yelled at me to get a hair cut as my hair had gottten a little long while home on leave.  The base barbershop was closed for the weekend so John drove me to Montrose to get a haircut that cost me 65 pence (.95 cents).   I was assigned to Division 32 – section 4 and started working shift work the same as in Okinawa.  Since I had no car, like many guys who lived on base, we would have to walk to the “Elephant Cage” which was about a 10-minute walk across an open field.  The wind would whip across the field, it was a brutal 10-minute walk in the winter.  I quickly settled into my new assignment which was back to intercepting Russian communications.  I liked all the people I worked with, was excited to start to experience life in Scotland but the first thing that needed to be done was to find an apartment so June could come over and join me.  June had expressed to me before I left and now in a couple of letters, I started to receive, that she was anxious to come over as soon as possible.  I knew her birthday was coming up at the beginning of February just a few weeks away and I asked if she wanted to come after that so she could celebrate with her parents but she missed me and wanted to come over hopefully and celebrate with me.  So every chance I had I went out looking for apartments.  At first, before I got a car John and his wife would drive me to homes that were for rent.  All the homes they showed me were out in the middle of nowhere.  Many military people liked to live in these small cottages on these farm estates around the area.    Since the area around Edzell was a very low-density area, these farm estates provided a lot of privacy and gave people the real Scottish experience.  Many of the cottages were provided electricity by these electrical generators and were mainly heated by only fireplaces.  It provided real Scottish style living and may have been appealing to many, and for a short time would have been cool to try, but I knew June would be miserable.  After going out a few times with my sponsor and his wife, I could tell they were getting anxious for me to find a place, as John’s wife Linda was pregnant and due to delivery shortly.  One time, they took me out to a cottage that was located right next to an old castle.  We drove up and the place was sort of spooky looking, plus out in the boonies.  Linda appeared to think this would be the perfect place for us.  When I told her I didn’t think so, I could tell she was frustrated, after that wasn’t as friendly toward me as much.  I just couldn’t see June sitting out in one of those cottages all alone especially when I worked mid-shifts – heck I would have been scared.  After I got my own car (1970, Austin – paid 250 pounds – about $400), I started heading out on my own.  Driving in Scotland was a challenge as you drove on the left side of the road.  The steering wheel was on the right side of the car, you had to shift with your left hand.  I picked it up quickly and so did June once she arrived.   I finally found a place in a town called Brechin, located about 5 miles from the base.  The house was a duplex located in a nice Scottish development, walking distance to the center of town and a nice big park.  There were also other houses in the development that were owned by our base, so there were other military families living in the development.  I knew June would love it there plus it was far enough from base that you could still experience Scottish living, so I rented it.  The development was built next to a huge farm that would provide a nice country site.   I was able to get a bunch of free furniture from the base that was left behind by other military families who had rotated out of Scotland.   With the place all furnished, June booked her flight and arrived in Scotland at the end of January only 3 1/2 weeks after I had arrived.  I remember picking her up at the airport I was very excited for her to see Scotland and experience it with me.  As we were walking to our car, a young man working at the airport who helped us carry her luggage, asked June if this was her first time in Scotland.  When we said yes, he said to her “Welcome to Scotland Lassie”.  It was a totally different beginning from the Benji ditch experience in Okinawa.  I knew right then we were in for a great two years together.

 

LIVING IN BRECHIN

We quickly settled into our new home in Brechin.   A couple of months later the Navy offered us free housing in the same development right around the corner.  We accepted and moved to a similar house on 2 Watson Watt Place where we lived for the remainder of our tour with rent and utilities all free, Navy life was great.  That first winter we had a lot of snow so most of our time was spent in our neighborhood and visits to the town of Brechin.  Once the weather broke we started to drive around the countrysides seeing the sights.  We would often go to the small town of Edzell which was only about a mile long, but a quaint little town.  It was there we would go shopping for ourselves and for gifts to send home to family for birthdays and Christmas.   Mostly wool sweaters and blankets small trinkets to remind us of Scotland.  Many we still have to this day.  We began to make some good friends, one couple who lived right behind us was John Ickes and his wife.  John was a career Navy man and loved Scottish life.  He would wear a kilt and learned to play the bagpipes.  He introduced me to a local Scottish bagpipe playing friend Jim Petrie.  Jim asked if I wanted to learn to play so he set up some times when he would come over with just the mouthpiece of the pipes to teach me the fundamentals.  All I had to pay him was a can of beer.  I had to make sure the beer was room temperature, not cold like “us yanks” drank it.  So I would keep the beer I gave him in the cupboard, not the fridge.  He said a true Scotsman would drink that way to get the full flavor of the beer.  He claimed Yanks really didn’t like the true taste of beer so we would cool it to kill the taste.  I didn’t last long at my new bag-pipe instrument but had fun trying.  One time, he and John invited June and me to a Scottish parade.  He and John would be marching in the parade wearing kilts and playing the pipes.  We got on the bus with lots of people and headed for Sterling to begin the march.  Everyone on the bus was invited to march in the parade.  The group we walked with was called the Scottish Nationalist Party.  We ended up finding out it was a political group that campaigned for Scottish independence within the European Union.   We didn’t know this nor did we care, whatever they were marching for we were having a great time being part of this parade.  I was given a flag of Scotland that I waved during the march.  It felt like our Memorial Day parades back home in the states.  We marched through the streets of Sterling and ended up at a park where we had a huge picnic near the statue of Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland from 1306-1329, who helped win Scotland’s independence from England.  We all ended up going to a huge pub drinking and singing songs.  The band playing knew that a bunch of Americans were in the group so they broke out and started singing John Denver’s song “Country Road, Take Me Home”.  It was one of the most memorable days we had in Scotland.  It was not the last parade I marched in.  I was asked to be part of a small squad of military people from our base to march in a local parade in Dundee.  June and the other wives came to watch, to this day I don’t remember the occasion but I was proud to be chosen to represent our base.  June and I also joined the Brechin Ski Club with some other Navy couples who lived in our neighborhood.  Our time with the club didn’t last long as we went on a weekend trip up to the northern section of Scotland and it ended as quickly as it started.  On our first run down the mountain after waiting in a long lift line, I fell and twisted my knee.  I couldn’t stand on it so the ski patrol had to bring me down on a stretcher.  I had been skiing since 8th grade and this was the first time I ever hurt myself.  I couldn’t’ ski the rest of the weekend and had to pretty much stay in our room the entire trip.  That was our last ski trip as I wasn’t too thrilled with the conditions of Scottish skiing.

 

A NEW ADDITION TO OUR FAMILY

In May of 1978 June and I bought a purebred Black Labrador Retriever we named “Saber Lochober Griffith”.  Saber was born in March 1978 by a breeder down the road from our base.  All the dogs he bred were for hunting purposes and all had excellent pedigrees.  Saber’s pedigree was from a line of Field Trial Champions that could be traced back to the Queen of England’s kennel.  We were given a document to show his pedigree line.  Field Trials are competitions for hunting dogs and were popular in Scotland.  So Saber was bred to hunt.  I was told about this breeder from a friend I met named Bob Dees.  He and his wife Hyrumi (she was Okinawa) lived in our neighborhood and we became friends.  He told me in the fall I should come out hunting with him and another local guy named Ian and by then Saber should be big enough to come.  After purchasing some books on dog training, I then spent most of the summer training Saber for hunting.  I taught him to follow hand directions and respond to whistle commands.  I first brought him to a field behind our house, but after a few times of him rolling in cow dung because he loved the smell, I switched to a park, June would come to watch.   From the first time we took him out, you could see the natural hunting instincts.  Two memorable hunts with Saber stand out in my memory.  A few of us went down to the Montrose Basin to hunt ducks and geese.  A guy I met named Al Nagle was with us.  Al is a New Jersey guy who also owned a Labrador and grew up hunting ducks and geese back home in South Jersey.  He loved Saber because he reminded Al of his Lab back home named “Buck”.   Well, it was getting dark and we were about to turn in when we heard some geese coming our way.  At this point, because it was dark, we only had the light of the moon and the lights from the nearby town of Montrose to see them flying overhead.  We could only see their underbellies as they flew over us.  We shot, then suddenly we heard a splash off in the distance.  Saber takes off in the water which was low tide at that time.   I could hear him splashing away but could not see him, so nervously I called for him.  I could still hear him splashing in the distance and was getting nervous that he was in trouble.  All of a sudden Saber appears, with a large goose in his mouth.  Saber was not full-grown at that time, and the goose was big, so Saber was dragging it through the water.  We all gathered around him, congratulated him for his valiant efforts.   The goose was still alive but stunned, so we had to kill it.  Right then and there we all knew Saber was going to be a champion hunter.  Another time, on a rabbit hunt we were on, a rabbit came running out of the brush right in front of us.  Saber took off after it so fast I couldn’t shot or would have shot him.  Saber chases it into a hole, sticks his head in, and pulls it out.  He shook the rabbit in the air breaking its neck and brings it back to me.  I enjoyed many other hunts with him not only in Scotland but once we got home, down South Jersey at Al Nagles’ place.  June often said that Saber became her close companion during some long days when I was working.  He helped her get through a lot of nights she was alone when I worked shift work.

ROD N GUN CLUB

With me getting into hunting I joined the Rod n Gun club which then became our main social club.  They needed someone to run the club, so the President of the club Al Chezniak asked if June would want the job.  With that June started spending a lot of time there and always brought Saber with her.  June would tend the bar during some of our parties we had at the club where we would cook the game we killed and often spend hours drinking and shooting darts.  She also sold any hunting equipment the guys needed.  June actually sold me my first shotgun, which I still have today. When I look back she was our “Brandy” (from the popular 60’s song by “The Looking Glass”) and I’m glad she was able to be part of the club.  We sometimes went on some organized group hunts.  Two that were very memorable was a time our group was invited to hunt wood pigeons on an estate owned by a Duke and Duchess.  It was a grand estate so big that one of his hired hands drove us around in small groups to hunt in different sections of his property.  For lunch, they invited us back to their home which was like a mini-castle.  They joined us for lunch that was served by their staff.  Another time we went on a hunting trip us in the highlands of Scotland for rabbit and grouse hunting.  It was a memorable day because of the beauty that surrounded us as I often found myself standing in awe of the Scottish landscape.

VISITORS FROM HOME

Another great thing about Scotland was that our family was able to visit us.  Since Okinawa was so far our families did not have the luxury to visit.  Our first visitors were my Mom, Step-father Steve, and brother Scott.  They flew into London and drove almost 10 hours up to our home.  We had a great time with them, taking them around sightseeing to different castles and into the highlands of Scotland.  One time on a trip we stopped at a beautiful river in the highlands and  Scott, Saber, and I went wadding into it.  I was glad Scott was able to experience Scotland.  Since I was 10 years older than him, growing up I didn’t spend much time with him (which I regretted).  Scott was only 7 when I left for the Navy and my departure was hard on him.  So when he came over I could feel us bonding and sort of making up for lost time.  I asked if he would want to spend the rest of the summer with us and he got all excited.  My Mom regrettably said no as she would be nervous about him flying back by himself.  Luckily they came back again the following year.  I think for a long time my Mom wished she had said yes.

The next visitors were June’s sister Debbie and a good friend of ours from home, Sam Gerber.  Debbie flew into Prestwick Airport in Scotland then took a train to Montrose.  June and I were waiting for her train in Montrose when it came in and then left, no Debbie.  We were worried (we couldn’t communicate with her, no cell phones back then) and went to the ticket office to see what happened.  They were able to contact someone who informed us Debbie was actually at the next stop a few miles away.  Apparently, as the train was getting to our station, Debbie tried to open the door to get off but she couldn’t find the handle, which was on the outside the door.  The train pulled away and she panicked as she could see us waiting for her.  She told us a young Scottish girl calmed her down and helped her get off at the next stop.  We got a good laugh and have teased Debbie ever since about the incident.   Sam came a few days later.  He arrived early in the morning when we were still asleep.  He had to throw small pebbles at the glass door where Saber was sleeping to try to get him to bark to wake us up, which he did.  We had a great week with them sightseeing and taking them into town to the pubs.  We took them to Glamis Castle which was known as the most haunted castle in Britain.  We also took them along with some other friends we met: Randy Atkinson, Hank Hugerford and his girlfriend Charloo to Edinburg the capital of Scotland.  We visited Edinburgh Castle and went to Dalhousie Castle for a genuine Scottish style banquet.  They served us, Meade, a drink which is a Scottish honey-wine.  I never drank it again as I did not find it enjoyable, but the banquet was great.  My sister Joanne also came for a visit on the 2nd summer.  We took her to St. Andrews which is famous for the golf course that is used for the British Open.  St. Andrews is also near the sea and we had a great time with her.  I will always have great memories of when our family members came to see us in Scotland. 

In the first half of our tour in Scotland, we were seeing and enjoying things we never could have imagined.  We even went on a trip with a group of people from my work, up to Inverness which is the town located near the infamous Loch Ness.  I had read my whole life about the mysterious Loch Ness monster.  On the trip, we had a chance to visit Loch Ness and met an interesting guy who actually spent most of his adult life living there and searching for the monster.  He claimed he had spotted the monster several times throughout the years and had multiple pictures of some sort of dark figure in the water.  He lived in a small trailer that had pictures all over the walls.  He had even written books about the monster.  I came away convinced that something was in that Loch (Scottish word for “ Lake”).  What was it?  It is left to our imagination.   On that trip, we also were able to see one of the big estates owned by the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page.  It was once owned by the famed Occultist Alistair Crowley whose claim to fame was the founder of the Satanic Church.  There were stories of him performing fiendish experiments on dead bodies he dug up from the cemetery across the street from the house, which supposedly gave inspirations to some of Led Zeppelin’s songs.

LIFE ABOUT TO CHANGE

With our first year heading into another fall/winter, June and I were talking some about the following year.  Since we had seen a lot of Scotland that year maybe next year we should plan some trips to England. That fall was highlighted by the Navy Day Ball.  This was a celebration each year of the birthday of the Navy and it had a feel much like a wedding.  Everybody dressed up, the service people had to be in uniform, and some guys even wore kilts.   June and I went, it was the first one we ever attended, we even made a weekend stay out of it.   As fall turned to winter we were starting to get ready for our first Thanksgiving and Christmas in Scotland.  It was about that time June started to feel sick.  She would wake up nauseous and would puke at the smell of food.  We got concerned and she went to the base doctor’s office.  Deep down we were both nervous that we would receive some bad news.  Instead, she comes walking out and she says “I’m pregnant”.  We were thrilled, both crying, I think out of excitement and relief that the news was good and not bad as we were expecting.  Wow, a baby, parents, we were not expecting or even planning on a child but looking back we are so glad that we had a child born in a place as special as Scotland.  June had a rough pregnancy at first but it didn’t stop us from enjoying our first Christmas in Scotland.  That winter we even took a 3 day trip to Denmark.  We went on a small cruise ship that sailed out of New Castle England, June did great the entire trip.   As winter turned to spring we were getting anxious about the baby’s arrival.   June really wanted her parents to fly over so she could enjoy the great event with them.  Unfortunately, they declined as they had never been on a plane before and were nervous to fly that far.  My parents and Scott then decided that they would come over a second time and tried to plan the trip after the birth of our baby.   My Mom wanted to be there to help June.  Our baby was due at the beginning of July so they planned their trip for the last 2 weeks of July.  The beginning of July came, no baby, middle of July, no baby.  I decided that one day June and I were going to go hiking up in the highlands.   I had heard from someone that sometimes higher levels help to bring about labor.  June agreed and we hiked up on a large hill nearby.  I don’t know how high the hill was but at the top were some wild mountain goats wandering around.  I think it was within the next week that June went into labor.   June’s doctor was from Montrose so June was supposed to give birth at a local Maternity Home in Montrose that was manned by midwives, not doctors.  June’s labor went long, so during it, I went out to the car and slept.  Her labor went through the night and finally, they said she had to be transferred to Dundee hospital which was about ½ hour away.  I went home to let my parents know, then I asked my friend Bob Dees whose wife had given birth there for directions as I had no idea how to get there.  He hopped into his car and said “follow me”.   So my parent, Scott and I jumped in my car and headed up to Dundee driving probably 80 miles an hour trying to keep up with Bob.  When we got there, June was still in labor and I headed into the labor room to be with her.  Finally after 30 hours of labor, on July 30^th, 1979 our first child came into the world “Crystal Ann Griffith”.  I remember the first thing I did was make sure she had all her extremities, I counted all her fingers and toes. I then noticed her lips, they were big like mine.  We were thrilled, it was an exciting moment in our life,  I was glad my Mom, Steve and Scott were able to be part of our exciting moment.  June was in the hospital for a few days and then was transferred back to the Maternity home in Montrose where she and Crystal had to stay for another week.  June told me the trip back to the maternity home was an experience she will never forget.  My Mom was able to go with her and they sat in the back of this old rickety truck they called an ambulance.  On the way back to the hospital the driver stopped to pick up a hitchhiker.  Here June had a brand new baby, the trip was making June sick so she was throwing up in a bucket and the driver picks up a stranger.  That was life in Scotland back in the ’70s.  After staying in the hospital for almost 10 days June and Crystal were finally able to come home.  The bad thing was by the time they came home, my parents trip was coming to an end.  They came over thinking they would get there after Crystal’s birth but instead were leaving the next day.  That was a hard day for my Mom, leaving us knowing she would not see her granddaughter again for another 4 months, she told us she cried the entire ride home.

SCOTLAND COMES TO AN END

Well, our time in Scotland was coming to an end.  There was both excitement and sadness mixed together.  In October I received the sad news that my grandfather (Pop-pop) had passed away.  Just that April I received the news my grandmother passed away (Mom-mom).  I was expecting that news as she had been sick for many years, but Pop-pop’s death came as a surprise and was a big blow.  I tried to get an early out on a hardship case as I wanted to come home for the funeral and to console my mom but was not allowed.  So in the 4 years since I left for the Navy, three of my grandparents passed away (my other grandfather passed when I was young). We were anxious to get home and start our new life as parents back in the states.  June, Crystal and Saber all left together on November 28, 1979.  Saber cost me more to send home than June and Crystal combined.  I had to have a special cage made up, plus shots and he had to pass a physical exam in order to leave Scotland and enter the US.  June told me that when she arrived at JFK they brought Saber out to her and she passed through the gates carrying Crystal with Saber pulling her through as he apparently had to pee.  She remembers yelling out to our family waiting for her, “Help someone take the dog”.  My step-father Steve grabbed his chain and took him outside.  They had to pick them up in two cars since so many came to the airport (Her parents and sister, my mom, Steve, and Scott).  Steve couldn’t fit the crate in his car so it was left at the airport, which I was disappointed as it cost a lot to build, but I understood.  June said when she and her parents were pulling onto Sandra Lane where they lived and where we would be living for a few months, our friend Sam Gerber, along with his sister Karen and parents had a big sign on their front yard “Welcome Home June” with sparklers around it, she will never forget that.

I moved back onto the base for the last two weeks.  The night before I left my friends all took me out for a going-away celebration.  I ended up having too much to drink and passed out on the floor of my friend’s room.  I woke up the next morning all hungover and had to ride in a small shuttle with some other people who were also leaving.  I remember they stopped for lunch but I stayed on the bus.  I slept the entire flight home.  I flew into Philadelphia Airport on a Friday.  No one could meet me as I had to go to the Philadelphia Navy Base to process out, so my arrival home was much different than June and Crystal’s, no fanfare.   I arrived in the middle of the night and remember checking in and the duty officer on watch said: “it’s late, get right to your bunk as it’s dangerous around here late at night”.  That night I slept with one eye open as I was in a large room (felt like boot camp again) and many other guys who were checking out, many were throwing up from being out that night.  As soon as the sun came up, I grabbed all my stuff, jumped on a train to Newark, then another one from Newark to Morristown Train station where it all began 4 years earlier.  No one knew I was coming home that day so I surprised my mother who was at her Ceramics shop on Speedwell Avenue.  She screamed when she saw me and broke out crying.  She told me I could have my grandparent’s car that was still sitting in their driveway on Lake Road since my grandfather’s passing. I drove up to June’s parent’s house where June was waiting with Crystal and her parents. I was able to spend the weekend home but had to return to Philly to continue processing out.  Then 3 days later, I left Philadelphia and the Navy and headed home to begin our new life home again in New Jersey.

FINAL REFLECTIONS    

As I think back, my four years in the Navy went by so fast.  At the time of writing this book, it’s been almost 45 years since I left home as a skinny 17 year old ready to see the world.  I experienced so much and would do it again in a heartbeat.  I was blessed to see so much, experience so much, things I would never had seen or experience apart from the Navy.  I am also blessed that I was able to share it with June.  As I look back her being there made those experiences even better.   I often wondered throughout the years what other experiences we would have had if I stayed in, as I was tempted many times, especially when I first got out.  I struggled to readjust to civilian life as in the military you never had to worry about much as they took care of you in many ways.  Plus, the job I did while in the service as a Cryptologic Technician working for the Navy Security Group Association, was some of the most rewarding and exciting work I have ever done, apart from ministry.  I could not have picked a better job as it provided me with a much different Navy life experience than most.  In 4 years I was never on a ship as many expect when they join.  I lived more like a civilian most of the time, living off base with my wife in the local community, especially while we were in Scotland.  Throughout the years when I look back on my Navy experiences, Scotland was by far our greatest experience.  Scotland will always have a special place in both mine and June’s hearts. The memories from there are some of the fondest of my life.   I have read comments online via Facebook from various Navy people who were also stationed there.  Many of whom agree it was one of the best duty stations that the Navy offered for those of us in our field.  Scottish historian Trevor Royle wrote in his book “Facing the Bear, Scotland and the Cold War”, “Raf Edzell was perhaps one of the most important bases the USA had in Scotland due to its secret mission.  An assignment to Edzell was highly prized and limited to those Cryptologic Technicians who graduated with the highest marks from the CT school in Pensacola, FL.”   So I feel honored and lucky that in my short time in the Navy that I was able to be stationed there and experience life in Scotland.   Though the base has since closed down (1997) and current pictures of it show a place that is in ruins, my hope is to one day go back.  I hope one day to bring my whole family so they can experience some of what we experienced those two very special years.  I especially want Crystal to see her birth country and experience what I feel as this chapter is titled “One of the greatest places in the world”.

Huhuhugfdbnji

As I said earlier, we had intentions to remodel the Gazette. As it turned out, the project was going to be very expensive. We decided to start looking at manufactured homes. We even took a trip down to Oregon and California to check out the factories where they were built.  In the meantime, we applied to the Kendrick city council to rezone the lot.  Eventually we found a home dealer closer to home, Clearwater Homes in Orofino Idaho, with a house we liked.  We put together a plan, took it to the bank, and applied for a construction loan.  In late 2016, while our house was being built, I moved everything we had stored in the Gazette to the “White Room”.  Then we hired a contractor to tear down the Gazette. He also cleared and surveyed the lot.  In February 2017, we applied for a building permit and waited for our house to be delivered.  While we were waiting, Clearwater put in the foundation.

They placed the house on the foundation late April or early May 2017.  At that point, the finish work slowed down and on some days no one showed up to work on our house.  There was either another house to deliver or finish.  Mike cornered the contractor one day and told him he wasn’t happy that they were taking so long and wanted someone to be working on the house everyday until completed.  In June of 2017 we took possession.  Leasing a Bobcat and having five loads of gravel delivered, I finished the yard.  I spent a couple of fun filled days on the Bobcat, spreading the gravel all around the house.  We had a fence put up in the front and part way down the side.  It was looking pretty good when we decorated for the fourth of July 2017.  After moving our furniture and belongings from the apartment into the house, I moved everything from the “white room” into the apartment.  We rented out the back half of the apartment to Jake.

Life goes on.  I lost almost all of 2019, due to being in pain from May through December.  It turned out I had a couple of herniated discs.  It didn’t stop us completely.  In June, we drove to Lacey and picked up our great granddaughter, Jadyn, and drove down to Newcastle, where we picked up our granddaughter, Grace.  Then we continued down to Carpinteria.  That was really a special time with the girls.  In August we drove back to Carpinteria for Jack and Paige’s wedding.  What a beautiful wedding on the beach and a fun party afterward.  It would have been more fun if my back was better.

After returning to Kendrick, I finally got in to see the doctor in September.  They tried Physical Therapy but it didn’t really work.  Finally the doctor put me on Prednisone.  Oh what a relief it was.  Eventually they did an MRI and that’s when they found the two herniated discs.  I was sent to a Pain Control doctor who gave me a steroid shot in my back.  While this was all happening, I was having problems with my hearing aids.  My ear doctor sent me to see an ENT doctor who had an MRI done on my head.  There wasn’t anything physical affecting my ear but he saw an anomaly in the roof of my mouth.  It was a hole in the bone in to my sinus.  He took some specimens from the area and sent them to the lab.  They showed I had low-grade cancer.  I was referred to an ENT surgeon in Spokane and was scheduled for surgery in January.  Along came COVID-19 and surgery has been postponed until May.

And now we’re here.  Joyce and I have self-isolated in March and continue on.  We’ve gotten out a couple of times to the grocery store, but that’s about all.  I’ve been doing some baking, just what we need, and watching TV.  I’m turning eighty this year.  The kids had planned on celebrating over in Sequim.  At this time I suspect it will be canceled.  There will be other times to celebrate.  I traded the Forester and Buick in on a 2019 Subaru Outback in October.  Plans were to do some traveling.  We just have to delay for a while.  I’ve been thinking about Pop and the frustration he felt with everyone telling him what to do.  It’s frustrating to have a body growing old and not being able to do the things you did when you were younger.  And that’s not so long ago.  The mind doesn’t keep up with the body.  I figure I’ve got maybe ten years before I involuntarily have to give up driving.  We’ll see.    April 2020