March 22, 2010

An Introduction

While I will begin an extended road trip in a couple of weeks and hope to record my travel experiences in this blog, I know that extended time behind the wheel will produce thoughts that range across a variety of topics -- life, politics, marriage, sex, philosophy, religion, friendship, and more. I hope to share these thoughts in addition to a travelogue.

I think of myself as a true Heintz 57 variety with only limited knowledge of my heritage (something I hope to correct in part while on the upcoming trip) -- a grandmother who was a foundling; a grandfather who died long before I was born and of whom no one speaks... even today; another grandmother whose family came over from Bohemia for reasons unknown; and another grandfather whose family, as the story goes, is distantly related to William Penn. My parents are products of the foothills of the Ozarks, the Bible Belt, and the Great Depression. My father dropped out of school in the eighth grade, lied about his age to get into the Civilian Conservation Corps and from there went into the Army. He served in Africa, Italy, and the Phillipines during World War II. Upon return he tried his hand at a variety of jobs settling on becoming a boilermaker. He became a field foreman for a large corporation out of St. Louis which resulted in my family being uprooted regularly as his job took him from state to state. My mother graduated at the top of her high school class and attended two years of college to become a medical technologist, an occupation she practiced intermittently between moves. When my parents eloped, my mother was three months pregnant with me. All of these details play a significant role in who I am and what I think.

As the title indicates, I am a sixty year old, American woman. Each of these descriptive details, added to the ones above, are important. They influence my thinking, my opinions, my beliefs. Childhood in the 50's, teen years in the 60's, a teaching career and a marriage in the 70's, a parent in the 80's, career change in the 90's, and retirement this past year from an elementary principalship -- I've evolved through these decades. What I think reflects the age in which I was raised, lived, and learned as well as my gender. It reflects the uniqueness of me and my existence. Keep that in mind.