Michael O'Dell:
CLASS OF 1961
North Branch High SchoolClass of 1961
North branch, MI
Cass City High SchoolClass of 1961
Cass city, MI
Caseville High SchoolClass of 1961
Caseville, MI
Michael's Story
Story??
Story for the class of 2000? Their story is only fifteen years, however, the class of 1961
has a few more years to account for. Trying to condense that many years in a few short paragraphs is an exercise in futility. But, condense we must, all the hard earned knowledge
we have acquired over these many years, does not lend it self to brevity. I think we all have had life changing or life affirmative experiences and want to share that with the world. But again, not all of life's experiences can be condensed, so we mostly state the obvious in our lives, such as married, divorced, widowed, number of children and grandchildren and now, because of our age we proudly list great grandchildren. Most of us our age did not have the privilege of knowing Great Grandparents, or even grand parents.
I became a grand parent while still in my thirties and unsure how I would receive this addition to my life. Love at first site is how I describe it.
We went from dealing with a rebellious teenager to loving a new being in the world and knowing it was part of us. That child changed our lives, it gave us a different perspective
and meaning of our world. Starting a family at an early age, we were still growing up
too. It took a granddaughter to realize our parenting skills had been somewhat lacking and to atone for our mistakes, we lavished our attention on this little person who could do no wrong. Spoiled? You bet! Grandchildren are our reward for raising ourselves and children at the same time. My wife was fond a saying that our kids turned out good, despite us.
So now after five grandchildren and five greats and another in the oven, I feel that I can give expert, well earned parenting advice. Of course, no one is listening.
In 1961, I could not imagine how my life would turn out and looking back on it I am amazed that I am still here and wonder why I deserve it. My wife passed away Thanksgiving weekend in 2007 and we were planning our retirement years starting in January 2008. Traveling was a passion we both shared and planned to do it extensively.
There are many ups and downs in our lives, but none so devastating as losing ones life's mate, but life goes on despite our sorrow.
I started traveling a few months later on a motorcycle with my dog as my companion. The reactions of people when they see me and the dog, in goggles, was something I never expected. No matter where or what kind of day
someone is having, the site of the dog brings the biggest smiles you can imagine. Cameras come out and everyone wants a picture. "You have just made my day" is the statement I hear most often. Knowing that we bring miles of smiles, I started a web page called
"Smile-doggonit.com" that covered our travels in words and pictures.
Sadly, my dog and best friend Bernadette died of old age in 2012 and I let the web page expire after bringing hundreds or ma...Expand for more
ybe thousands of smiles across this country. I began looking for another friend about six months later and found an eight month old female puppy up for adoption. Within five minutes we had bonded and have been inseparable since. She too rides on the motorcycle with me and we are still making smiles thru 49 states and 60,000 miles. That is where we are at today.
The day after school got out, completing the ninth grade in North Branch, we moved to Caseville.
I started school in Cass City and at nine years old moved to North Branch, six years later I changed schools again. We spent a year and two summers in Caseville and I completed the tenth grade there and then it was back to Cass City for the 11th and 12th grade. Changing schools at 9 yrs old was hard. Trying to fit in somewhere, was emotionally challenging, but the years I spent at N.B. were very important years, shaping my life for years to come.
The school in Caseville only went to the ninth grade and Sophomore thru Senior years were completed in Elkton, Pigeon High School.
Caseville had grown from 800 to 1200 citizens and they thought it was time to make the school go thru the 12th grade, so me and
11 others were the sum of the 10th grade. I had a very memorable year in Caseville and then we moved to Cass City for my last two years of high school.
My idleness, the summer after graduation, got the attention of my father and he gave me a very impassioned speech on the virtues of work. I immediately saw the error of my ways and decided that the Army was my salvation. They were going to pay me $73.00 a month
with room and board. How could I resist? When talking to the recruiter, he informed me that I could get an additional $75.00 a month
if I would jump out of an airplane! No brainer here, they are actually going to pay me for having fun? Life just doesn't get any better than this!
Well the Army is very structured, and I was entirely open to chaos. In a few short months, this rebellious teenager was turned into a man. They not only taught me structure but also how to kill and to keep from being killed, thankfully I did not have to kill anyone, because the Viet Nam war was only taking volunteers at this point. I declined an offer to volunteer, with a promise of a higher rank and more pay.
I was assigned to Ft. Bragg N.C. where I met my life's mate, she, a Georgia girl full of life and mischief as was myself. We later said that
had we not found each other, neither of us would have amounted to much. Together we raised two children, bought and sold houses, changed jobs, made friends, and contributed to society.
In 1980, with Michigan's economy in the dump and our children out of school and on their own, we decided to move to the sunny south. We bought a piece of land and I built a house. The next thirty years slid by and here I am.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
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