LIfe Along a Country Road

In 1950 after graduating from the little white one-room school located up the road from their sandy 120-acre farm, Gene had ambitions to enter a seminary and study courses leading to the priesthood. The institution was just opening that year and was located 150 miles away on the bank of the Mississippi River. After eight years during which he completed his high school and college years, he was sent to St. Francis seminary clear across the state of Wisconsin on the western bank of Lake Michigan. There he took classes in theology for two years. He asked for and obtained a two-year leave and never went back. Shortly thereafter, met Bernice at a wedding reception and they were married in 1964. They are grateful for their four children and seven grandchildren. Gene found teaching in a Catholic school in Milwaukee enjoyable and enrolled at Marquette University for his certificate. Because of the low salary at parochial schools, he was forced to seek summer employment. This he kept up throughout his 16 years of teaching even after he transferred to public schools. Summer employment became time for him to indulge in what had been his father's interest in the plant growing business. This interest led Gene to start his own greenhouse operation. He and Bernice developed this into a thriving nursery growing and selling perennials and vegetables. Gene never forgot his earlier seminary training and became involved in most committees at the parish the family he belonged to for over 50 years. Semi-retired, he joined the Red Cross after going to help clean up after a tornado in Central Wisconsin. From coast to coast, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, he was always ready and willing to go. Working his way up from technician to officer he did a lot of coordinating along the way and got the call to coordinate when the Trade Towers were hit. He had and continues to have a lot of stories to tell, something he loves to do. He and Bernice have enjoyed the birds and other wildlife on their 13-acre property. They also enjoy driving the backroads in the beautiful countryside of the Northern Kettle Moraine. After surviving two strokes and a massive heart attack, Gene took the advice about slowing down and simplifying. At 83, he took up writing again, as he began living in the world of memories. This is Gene's third work of collected stories devoted to Bernice and all those who have been victims of the Covid-19 virus.