Chapter One

A Telling of Life Experiences

This is a telling of my life experiences. Except in essentials, it is not intended to be about parents, siblings, loves, wives, and children. It is a review of my life experiences, which have been much varied but of little interest to anyone but myself. At age seventy-five, my memory is fading in a strangely uneven manner. Writing this narrative has stimulated my recollections, bringing back events and reconnecting dots in places that had become hazy. It's really mostly for myself. The narrative may tend to weary my readers, few as they may be, in places where it becomes extended, recalling to a degree the technology and the problems that I faced in those times. I say it again: it's really mostly for myself. These are the things that I remember.

Early Years and the Church

My early years were marked by strong ties to the Catholic Church. There were doubts about my faith from my earliest remembrance. In the beginning, I believed the beliefs I was taught were based on a connection with the real universe. God, heaven, and hell existed, I thought; hence, they must share my existence in the same universe that I live in. These and other concepts I found difficult to accept.

As my mind grew and learned and I gave more thought to it, I could not sustain my faith beliefs. At age sixteen, I began to knowingly fall away from the Church. It's not easy to overcome deep-set beliefs, habits, and taboos. It took about five years to complete the break. I bear no ill will toward the Church. I have great respect for the good it does, even knowing it