Reflections of An Uncommon Common Man

  In 1964 I got the mumps. I have only been very sick about three times in my life with such things as the mumps, tick fever, and a bad case of the flu. Tick fever was probably the sickest I have ever been but the mumps was a close second. I was affected on both jaws and I could barely lift my head or get out of bed. My jaws felt like they weighed a ton and when I stood up I felt like I was going to pass out. The adults told me that I needed to stay in a dark room and I should rest because mumps could go down on me. I didn't know what that meant but I took it easy anyway. What they meant was that I could end up sterile if the mumps went down on me. Apparently I was fortunate in that department because I fathered five children. That is if you count the one we lost just before Jon. Life wasn't happy for me after the death of my parents until I met my future wife Debbie in February 1966. It was all a kind of a blur for me in many ways because my life was pretty aimless. At...