Another Baby Boomer Strolls Down Amnesia Lane!

By W.E. Bill Garrison

This is about one man's review of his early adult life experiences which he wishes to share with his sons and future generations. He wishes to point out how his military experiences shaped his understanding of life and the spiritual influences of his journey that he considers to be full of blessings resulting in events that caused him much gratitude for such a blessed journey. He hopes that this outlook on life will explain the thread of perspective which can be identified in his ancestry and the future journeys of his descendants.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781642147995

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Another Baby Boomer Strolls Down Amnesia Lane!

W.E. Bill Garrison

Copyright © 2018 W.E. Bill Garrison

All rights reserved

First Edition

Page Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64214-798-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64214-799-5 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

That first summer in Athens in 1970 was a wonderful time. I was still connected to the folks at Detachment 7, in Araxos, but was also meeting new people in my new life at Athens.

I found my first apartment in Glyfada, one block from the main square. There was a Greek Orthodox church where Bob Curts and his Greek girlfriend, Teresa, would get married. It was the first Greek wedding I ever witnessed.

Bob was the clerk for Detachment 7’s base commander at Araxos, and the Security Office was next door, which was where I first met Bob the day I processed at Araxos in July of 1969.

When I was assigned as the clerk in the Security Office for Lieutenant Russell, Bob helped me learn the job and watched my back. We began to watch out for each other. He separated from the air force when he left Araxos, but he did not return to the United States. He moved to Athens and shared a place with Teresa. He was there when I was reassigned to Athens.

He helped me locate the apartment in Glyfada, which was not far from Teresa’s friends. That was how I met Rolleetsa, whom I almost married in July of 1971.

On my days off, I would take the bus into the center of Athens and explore. I tried different restaurants, I went through the museums, the Plaka, and the park next to Constitution Square.

I remember distinctly all the bright-colored flowers, large and fragrant, displayed for sale at every street corner. I would walk past them on my way to the park, and eventually, I would find a bench to sit and just watch the people pass. There were always a few squirrels scampering about and sparrows that would come to my area and act like they were trying to tell me something. They became very entertaining. It was the middle of the day, and the shady park bench I chose was a great place to receive an epiphany of some kind. One did come to me. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the little bird that seemed so preoccupied with me, but I do remember concluding something for me. It was another sparrow, years later, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland that visited me one day with another moment of decision.

It was such a peaceful experience. There was so much beauty surrounding me at the time. I knew I had a world full of blessings that had been dumped on me. This was my minute to stand back and take a look at where I had landed and what I needed to do about it.

It was all so special, and it was all so incredible. Here I was, halfway around the world from what I had known of life. Yes, this was a new chapter in my life. The previous year I experienced in Araxos had such an effect on me that I knew would never leave my soul. My experiences in Araxos had left a very deep and intricate burn into my life that I could see how it would be with me forever. It has, in so many ways. If ever one year could be a year that has had more of an impact than any other time in my life, it would have to be my year at Araxos.

So, while sitting on that bench in the center of Athens, I came to the fact that this experience was so special it needed to be shared. I needed to share all of this beauty and excitement with another person. It needed to be a very special person that I knew would appreciate it all as much as I did. It didn’t take long to see who would be at the top of that list. She was back home in Ardmore. That was an entire lifetime away.

It was in July of that year that she, Sherrie Lou, had sent me a birthday card that had the image of a treasure chest on the front, and inside was the message that said I was among her treasures. One year later, on the last day of summer, we married, and continued our connection that had begun when we met in the ninth grade.

Later that summer, Bob and Teresa married at the church in the Glyfada center. Bob spent the night before the wedding with me in my apartment. We didn’t have to go far to get to the church. He had already introduced me to Rolleetsa, and we had already started dating. She was a student from the island of Rhodes; and even after Bob and Teresa left the country, Rholulla (also her name) and I dated.

I remember that wedding very well. It was beautiful, and it was a new experience for me. There were no seats in the church, so everyone stood around the priest and the couple. They were standing in the middle of the round church.

After Bob and Teresa left for the United States, another apartment became available, and I took it. The apartment had been rented by Sergeant Bernie Baumgardner, who trained me as a desk sergeant; and when he was reassigned to the States, I rented his apartment. He actually went to Andrews AFB, which was where I followed when I eventually left Greece in 1973. Bernie was still at Andrews when I arrived, and we worked together off base in a second job at the Tri-State Detective Agency.

Bernies’ apartment in Kalamaki was where I lived when I took leave, returned to the States with Hector for his wedding, and married Sherrie Lou before Hector’s wedding.

What happened to Rolleetsa from Rhodes? Well, between February of 1971 and June of that year, we dated and broke up before our planned wedding on the Fourth of July.

Thanks to Hector and Bertha’s wedding, Sherrie Lou and I married; and she was the person I shared those many blessings that had been dumped upon me, so the short list that began while that little sparrow tried to entertain me as I sat on that park bench in the center of Athens came to an end.

January 2016 To my sons Steve and Jon:

With some second thoughts, I know I have missed some points that should have been included. For instance, the importance of how people we meet at one place connect with us at other locations to fit into the intricate web of connections and friendships we all make as we complete our journey. Also, that there might be a concept dealing with what some would consider somewhat of a divine direction, or the possibility that things do happen for a purpose. The purpose may not always be something we recognize or understand until we look at them later.

I remember Robert Dellavalli, who had been stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York, with me was later assigned to Athens while I was there. While I was gone in September of 1971 for Hector’s wedding, Robert Dellavalli returned to the States on a hardship discharge. There was also Technical Sergeant Fields, who was in both Rome and Araxos. Besides Bernie Baumgardner (Athens and Andrews), there was another fellow, Joe Palmer, whom we called Joe P in Athens. Sherrie Lou and Bertha used to like having him join us at the club, and Hector used to bring him home for supper a lot. He was single and was considered a good-looking blond hunk of a guy. He visited us in Maryland several times before Jonathan was born. We would often kid about how Jonathan had blond hair like Palmer.

My point is that people we meet in one situation are sometimes people that we may meet again in another situation, and they can become important to us.

Now, before I begin to ramble on in different directions, I want to say that I hope what has come together in these pages will be of some interest or give some light on the background that belongs to your heritage.

The purpose of the following comes from a multitude of needs. It’s not a complete biography, and it’s only part of a recollection. It’s my part of things, the way I remember them. You may have heard many of these things from your mother. Most of those, I would think, are pretty much the same.

The journey that your mother and I shared is really remarkable, and although these pages are filled with some very special memories to me, it seemed important to me that the memories be shared with you. I know that you both know how much our family has been filled with love and how that love continues to flow through each of you and your families. I just have a strong need to do this.

You have to know that the beauty of our experiences did culminate through the two of you. Your mother and I have had the best of life because we had the privilege of having you in our lives. When I say that my life has been a wonderful trip, it means that the trip has been wonderful because of your mother and both of you. It has truly been a wonderful ride.

We Met

School year 1963–64

We met in ninth grade.

Her locker was above my locker.

I first remember that smile. Then it was her eyes.

She was in the chorus. I was in the band.

We never had a class together, but our lockers were together. Because of the over 250 students in our class, we were assigned lockers in alphabetical order. Some might describe them as half lockers. Her locker was directly above the one assigned to me.

I was squatted down getting things out of my locker, and I did not notice that she had opened her locker; and when I tried to stand up, I hit the bottom of her locker door with the top of my head. It’s been a long time ago, but I’m sure I fell flat on my rear end, and I now visualize how the books must have fallen in several directions around my immediate area. Yes, I was known to be very clumsy.

I even fell upward going from the second floor to the third floor in the high school building during our sophomore year. It was actually karma getting me because I had always laughed when hearing the story about my mother falling up the stairs in that same building when she was in high school. It just seemed silly and very awkward. How could anyone fall up the stairs?

After my experience with the stairs in Ardmore High School back in 1965, I never laughed again when I heard my mothers’ story. It was very silly and awkward. It was not exactly a Jerry Lewis moment I guess, but it must have been very close to that for anyone observing the incident.

We Dated

I don’t exactly remember now how long it was after the clumsy period, but I do remember our first date. We met at the skating rink in Ardmore. It was actually the National Guard Armory just a block from the house where my dad once lived when he was a kid. The building was used by the guards one weekend each month. On Friday and Saturday nights, it was a skating rink where kids of all ages spent hours skating on wooden floors going one direction for half of the time and then going the opposite direction the rest of the night. There was the regular skate around, couples skating to slow music with the lights low, and a short race. If I remember correctly, they would give the winner a free pass to skate. I don’t remember ever winning a free pass, but it was fun. The objective for me was to not fall!

I had been told that my parents met while working at the movie theater when they were in high school and they had dates skating. It was a different skating rink and before they used the armory.

The National Guard has built new facilities, and now the skating rink where we dated has been turned into a big museum. I have pictures of my dad going through the museum about a year before he passed away in 1999 when I took him to Ardmore.

I was among the youngest in our class, so I was