Michael O'Brien:
CLASS OF 1965
Proviso East High SchoolClass of 1965
Maywood, IL
Morgan Park High SchoolClass of 1965
Chicago, IL
Michael's Story
Will be leaving Gold status this fall (2015) and so will not be able to read email or do much on this website. A little searching on the internet will find me though. Search in Louisiana, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, ostomy.org under chapters, etc.. Got back in Gold to see if a 50th reunion was in the works and now it's near the end of June and nothing. Looks like we'll be the first class in recent PE history to not have a 50th. Sad!
A short prelude to my life after Proviso for the young and the old who haven't figured it out yet.
I played football at Morgan Park HS in Chicago during my short attendance there. I made the first team and was named defensive captain for the next season. I was also being scouted by Notre Dame in my junior year. We moved and my senior year was at Proviso where during the pre-season scrimmage game, I had my leg broken by one of my teammates piling on after the whistle and was out for the season.
While at Morgan Park, I was coached by the best coach I ever had in any sport, Mr. Joe Stepanick. Coach Stepanick knew football and related it to life in a manner which you could understand and not only play the game by, but live your life by.
One thing he told me was something that I have never forgotten to this day. If something bad happens to you, you must not let your emotions take over. If someone blindsides you and knocks you down, you can't try to inflict some of the same on him on the next play because if you do, you will be taking yourself out of the play at hand and very likely allow something worse to happen. You can't just lay down and cry about it, you have to get back up and go on no matter how bad it hurts. It is a historical event that you can learn from only for the future. You can't change it, what was done was done or what ...Expand for more
was said was said.
You can't keep looking in the rearview mirror for guidance as it only gives you a distorted and reversed view and you will probably miss the next thing coming right at you head on and at full speed.
In 2008 I succumbed to looking in the rearview mirror back to 1965 and almost got run over by life in the opposite lane. I stared into that mirror and only saw what others wanted me to see. Three weeks later I finally came back to reality and remembered why I had just gotten up after being clipped from behind, dusted myself off and gone on. The reasoning was sound for the situation and circumstances, and if I hadn't heeded it, the chance of getting clipped again were very likely. Was it the right decision? Unless you believe in some sort of magic time machine we'll never know. Decisions were made by the clipper and the clipee and nothing can be done about it. The following was sent to me around this time and it is sooo true: "There comes a time in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, and who always will. So don't worry about the people from your past, because there is a reason they didn't make it to your future."
Words are like super glue, they stick and are impossible to take back. My broken leg healed.
Anyway, spent 3.5 years in the Air force at England AFB in Alexandria, Louisiana. Met my wife Shirley in 1968 and in 1969 and went to work for the Texas & Pacific Railroad, now the Union Pacific, in Addis, Louisiana as a switchman. In 1971 I swapped over to locomotive engineer service. Was active in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers at the local and State level in the legislative area. We have 3 kids and currently 6 Grandkids. Retired in 2001 and never looked back. We own 50 acres with a private 20 acre lake and are active RV'ers.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos
