The Watershed Years Volume 2

By Mark O. Decker

My Family
6-6-1990


There is exulted exhilaration,
Such as the U.S. Olympic hockey team,
Winning the 1980 gold medal; or,
Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters in 1986.
Then, there’s the higher plane of existence;
Molly;
Mark;
Susan;
Kelly;
Where our family resides.
Our marriage is there, too; and,
So, too, our friends.
Life lived, and experienced,
In a sustained state of near perfection;
In its essence.
Life is a gift, to every humble soul;
A blessing, beyond words;
Beyond emotions;
More mysterious than heaven, earth and the oceans.
Each blessing,
One of life’s sustaining potions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Aug 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781483440170

Mark O. Decker

The years 1973–1975 are included in Volume 2. These years were full of wide-ranging emotion, and these were very busy times. Mark married the love of his life, Molly McEwan, was working in the White House for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, and was still reeling from the tragedy of the Kent State University shootings, where the Ohio National Guard shot thirteen students—four of them were killed. Mark was a junior at Kent State when the shootings took place, and one of the four students killed, Sandy Scheuer, was a friend. He lost his father, Miles Burris “Bud” Decker, in January 1975, to cancer, at the early age of sixty-three. His dad included Mark in many of his activities, such as hunting, fishing, golfing, and wildcatting (oil well drilling). Vietnam was raging and an open wound that created enormous disagreement, personal and family friction between parents of the “greatest generation” who fought and won World War II and children who were college-age being sent to Vietnam. The Watergate debacle was an experience every day for all Americans, especially those who lived in Washington, DC, and most especially for those who worked in the White House for President Nixon. Mark also started law school while working full-time during this period, graduating in 1977 with a JD from George Mason University School of Law. Molly and Mark were there together as Watergate all unfolded. That was quite an experience for two young people in love. Molly spent several years working in the Senate during this period. First for the presidential campaign staff of Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) and then for Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) and then for the chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business. Mark noted, “It was a different Washington then. Much more collegial, much less adversarial. A happy town, and both the White House and Congress were respected much more than today.”

Book preview

THE WATERSHED

YEARS

VOLUME 2

MARK O. DECKER

Copyright © 2019 Mark O. Decker.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

The authors frequent use of the the word man" is intended to refer to both men and women/male and female.

It is not intended to connote gender preference. He admits he is a remnant from the days long since passed when use of that form of reference was not offensive or politically incorrect - or, incorrect in general."

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4069-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4086-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4017-0 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 08/06/2019

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

Destiny

2-16-1987

I must live closer to the edge;

Has it become too easy, or

Am I perched, on high,

To allow myself to view the vista,

With eagle eyes, at the sight?

To behold the plight

Of who I am, and where I go.

Where I am headed is no mystery;

It is quite salutary.

There is, there, a story;

I must die without ever hearing it told, but

I will know, as I am nearing

My final gasp;

The signs will be clear;

The signs are near.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

Quatrain of Thought

2-16-1987

Winter’s cold, grows colder;

I am moved by the melancholy meaning

In George Winston’s, December.

This is life, as I know it, as he plays it;

Filled with deep meaning and beauty.

Growth, unrelenting life, undeniable death.

He lived;

He was a great man;

He is gone, but, Father, you are here;

You fill that vacuum, as I see you,

Through my bride and children, and

Our long, happy life, in love together.

Now, I am moved, again, to write;

I have found, again, privacy, in this public life.

February blows cold, like December, I am told;

Like days of bold,

Knights, too, grow old.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

Again, the Miscarriage

2-16-1987

Father, thoughts of you, are gushing;

For some reason, today, they are rushing

Through my most vulnerable spot, my heart.

They started last week,

When we lost our littlest spark;

He, or she, was not allowed the right to start.

For the life of me, I don’t know why;

For the life of me, I will not, can not, ask.

All the more blessed, those two that took;

They are, somehow, more special from this knowledge.

I hope, no pray, that this unrequited loss,

Was not a cost, due and owing,

From some misguided, and miscalculated sowing,

Of my life’s wild oats.

I am humbled, again, by it all,

As my thoughts flow through this quill;

The Sky Boss always lets

The chips fall where they will.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

The Association Executive

2-16-1987

Dams burst, and waters rush,

With pounding force;

He, or she, has got to set the course;

There is no tomorrow,

Unless today is put to bed;

Gingerly, carefully,

So as not to lead astray

Those who have previously led the parade.

The torrent of water rushes closer;

The smart exec has built lifeboats,

In advance;

Placed strategically along the river’s banks;

Nothing, left to chance; and

In a strange, alluring way,

Has pissed his pants,

At the mere glance,

Of what raw failure can look like.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

Less Guarantees

2-24-1987

The system makes too many guarantees;

Too many bureaucrats, is not the problem.

Our parents could dream, the American dream,

Because they took great risks;

Survived great peril;

They flirted with terrible hazard,

In life, in liberty, and in the pursuit of their happiness.

They achieved more, with less expectation;

With less assurance, or guarantee.

We have become a naive society

That can just as easily arrest, and jail, a parking violator

And yet, we release a dangerous, known criminal;

Just as easily let a hideous, ugly polluter go scot free,

Yet confiscate an industry’s very livelihood

Through stupid, expensive over-regulation.

So, what is the problem;

It’s a lack of accountability, coupled with

Too many personal guarantees,

With correspondingly less risk and reward.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

New York

2-26-1987

New York, in a cab,

At 8:35 pm,

On the way to LaGuardia

To catch a Pan-Am prop jet

Back to DCA, National Airport.

I can get lost in New York;

New York is the Brooklyn Bridge;

Wall Street, four fingers of bourbon at Merrill Lynch.

Everything about New York

Reeks of excess;

Cab driver - Blibrice, Wesley J.

Cab no. 56-30;

I’m in the cage in the back seat;

No talk, no fear.

I know I’m good,

As a person and at my work;

You can’t buy me, I’m not for sale;

I come for free.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

Emotional Rollercoaster

3-12-1987

Deep hurt, profound laughter;

Big smile, clear path

Cut through the forest,

To walk on;

To build, next to;

To find, the future;

To return to, as home.

Twenty years is not long, to roam;

To be on a trek;

Heck, many people never even try;

Others do, but fail;

Some, change in a bad way;

Not me!

I’ve come, I’m here, to stay.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

Life’s Greatest Gift

3-16-1987

Heart felt pangs, of satisfaction,

For our life’s success, to date;

To some, it might appear meteorically;

To us, a long, but patient odyssey.

The bottom line is, to suck up the gut;

Reach without regret, or fear,

For the brass ring at the top;

Accept each forward step with aplomb;

Our life, together, is so satisfying.

I am a nose-to-the-grindstone,

Plodding, competing, aggressive, male.

You, the classy lady with charm,

Grace, taste, and manners; and

Blood in your veins that boils,

Like Black Watch foils.

We are a pair, and now a quartet;

To be given a long, and happy life together,

Is truly life’s greatest gift.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

True Poetry

3-16-1987

My children are my true poetry;

Look at them;

Alert, wise, warm and handsome;

Dashing about,

With such grace, energy and vigor.

These are treasures exceeding Midas,

By millions, billions, trillions.

These children, and you, my love,

Make living life worthwhile.

Marry me, said he;

I will, said she.

The rest, warts and all,

Is pure happiness and bliss.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

The Tragedy

4-24-1987

Lord, blessed the man, as I am,

That has a good woman, children, and love.

Poor, poor family I read about;

Death cloaked their lives;

Saddest, by far, the survivors;

They can know, no peace;

Haunted, like Edgar Allen Poe.

Lord, blessed the man, as I am;

Our life, filled with Passover rights;

Life, a sacred ritual that we, too,

In a warm, fulfilling way,

Will return to You one day,

As dust to dust dictates.

Much richer, because of it, while here.

back%20cover%20copy.jpg

Love Sonnet

5-18-1987

As much as twice the time, or more,

Than when I was, two years before

I met you;

I was twenty-two.

Twenty-two, to thirty-eight, to fifty-three,

To……..….who knows.

I know only that

You have brought joys

I could only dream about.

You satisfied my soul’s savage hunger

For love and life;