John Stafford:  

It's kind of cool touching back to our collective past. All of you who knew me would have a different perspective as to who I was, according to what stage of development our lives touched. and it is really interesting to see how everyone fared. Grade school for us was different than it is for our children. We had a strong sense of community, many of our parents, like mine, having moved from the Irish 10th ward to the Waverly area. There were the O'Hares the Collisons the Gentrys the Barretts the Riordons The McGeadys the O'Neills and on and on. Of course there were people of other ancestry, but I seem to remember the Irish as being predominant. I made the choice to rebel in school early on, even though it was difficult for one who surely meant well and could have done better. It was just that I felt very alenated, beginning with my own family, and decided not to even attempt to assimilate or succed. I don't really dwell too much on the choices I have made, but remain resolutely optimistic about my future choices and outcomes. So I was continually challenging authority figures, making my life much harder than...Expand for more