I Survived: The Life Lessons and Autobiography of Thomas Trawick Jr.

By Thomas Trawick Jr.

Thomas Trawick Jr. went from being a city boy to a country boy when his family moved out of Philadelphia to Washington County, Pennsylvania.

It was like moving to a new world: One day, he stood on the porch, and to his surprise, saw two hens and about ten chicks coming from under the house. He grabbed a broom and went out to the yard to chase them around.

A series of illnesses left him behind in school, and so he dropped out, which was a mistake. His father, however, taught him the art of making white lightning liquor deep in the woods, which became his job for the next four years.

After Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Roosevelt requested that all men twenty-one years of age join the army. When 1943 came around, he was inducted into the U.S. military.

With a strong working knowledge of construction equipment, he began working for Pennsylvania. He worked for the state thirty-five years before retiring and starting his own construction company.

Join the author as he shares his accomplishments, regrets, and his will to survive no matter what.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781532066122

Thomas Trawick Jr.

Thomas Trawick Jr. has lived to be ninety-three years old by the love, grace, and mercy of God.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 Thomas Trawick Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

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.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-6613-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-6612-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019901112

iUniverse rev. date: 01/29/2019

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Let Me Introduce Myself

The Loss of Doc and Sam Trawick

New Home

Sleeping Arrangements

Chapter 2

Farm Life

Family Awareness

My Mother’s Death

My New Mother

Chapter 3

School Begins

Malaria Fever

Chapter 4

Looking for Work

Just Trying to Get to Macon

Leaving for Good

Chapter 5

Life in South Carolina

Possible New Job

Military Life

Chapter 6

Work after the Military

My Lifestyle Choices

Chapter 7

My Three Bad Habits

Smoking

Drinking

Gambling

Cars, Cars, Cars!

Chapter 8

Lifestyle Changes

Political Involvement

Chapter 9

Another Lifestyle Change

Save the Farm

Chapter 10

My Health Problems

Gallbladder

Heart Problems (Part 1)

Heart Problems (Part 2)

Kidneys

Chapter 11

Success Story

Programs

Life Thoughts and Wisdoms

My Encouragement and Heroes

Acknowledgments

Author’s Notes

CHAPTER 1

Let Me Introduce Myself

To understand me and who I am, you have to meet my family first. First is my father, Tom Trawick Sr., born in 1891. He passed ninety years later, in 1980. According to my birth certificate, I was born September 24, 1924, in the Pennsylvania Hospital, which at that time was on the corner of Eighth and Spruce Streets, where it still stands proudly in the southwestern corner of Philadelphia. At that time my father, Tom Trawick Sr., was living in Philadelphia with his family. There were five boys and three girls, along with our mother, who suffered from illness frequently. My grandfather, Old Man Doc Trawick, lived in Washington County in Georgia and asked my father to come live with him and assist him on the farm.

The farm was huge, spanning three hundred acres of Washington County and then crossing the county line into Baldwin