Saturday afternoon, Nancy and I took a road trip to Carlisle, PA - a really nice small town in central PA where I went to college; and then, after an all-expense paid vacation in the military in the late 1960's and recovery from that, went to law school; and then where I first hung my shingle as a young lawyer. Nancy wanted to see and understand some of my youthful haunts.
"Old East", had been built in the 1700's. It was pretty much in bad original condition when I stayed there as a student, but has now been entirely rebuilt inside into modern space.
"Old West" a classroom building of the same vintage, now an admin building for the college. I graduated on those steps and enlisted the next day.
The law school. When I was there, it was just this old building in more or less original condition, with wooden floors, no a/c, etc. Now, the old building is totally different inside and just part of a complex.
Nancy outside the original courthouse on the town square, built in the early 1800's, where I was first admitted to the Bar long ago. Like the other buildings, it was still in original condition back in those days - wooden floors, high ceilings, etc. It is now completely modernized inside and serves as an annex to a big new courthouse across the street. There were 34 members of the County Bar when I was admitted; now there are a couple thousand members.
Carlisle was the northernmost town taken by the Confederate Army during the Civil War - the south's high-water mark. The courthouse, if you look closely, still bears the marks of the shelling that proceeded the attack on the town. This is a closer view of one of the columns you see on the pic above - a cannon ball strike in the stone from July 1, 1863.
Nancy got to see where we lived during those years, the site of the hospital where my kids were born (now torn down and a housing development), etc. We even had dinner at a bar that I used to frequent when in college - still there and still the same, amazingly.
Outside of town, a narrow, switchback road leads up the face of the Blue Mountains. Some here may know that I enjoy driving my two-seaters on winding mountain roads with some enthusiasm. Well, I did back then, too. This road was one of my favorite places to really push my cars back in those days. Of course, this day we just cruised sedately up to the top of the mountain, because a pickup is no sports car.
I've had many girlfriends, but there have only been three women I really cared about during my long life. One was my girlfriend during most of college - shown here in my car that ran that mountain road many times. We often stood at the top looking out over the valley. She was a good person, but we broke up because of the war - she supported the draft resisters and I wanted to go fight.
My late college girl friend, who became my wife for 49 years until she died. She, too, was a superb wife and mother before illness destroyed mind and eventually her body. We are shown on top of the mountain with the valley behind shortly before I left for overseas service. We got married on my last three-day pass.
And, finally, Nancy, my wonderful late in life partner, shown here at the very same spot on this past Saturday.
Nostalgic. I've been a very lucky guy most of my life - coming from less than nothing.
Greg
--
Check out my photos at:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/137747053@N07/4M38jj
Well done.
