CHAPTER 173 CALM BEFORE THE STORM 1996
I am going to leap about in some of the years , going back to events in 1996 before my life was thrown in chaos. Oddly, this proved to be a fairly quiet year for us.
I had become the Manager of the Little League Team, The Phillies. The Phillies had won everything in the prior season. We would repeat again by winning the season championship, but not the playoffs in 1996.
Darryl had moved out of Little League into The Junior League because of his age.
He was now playing for the Wilmington Trust Team. They didn’t use nicknames anymore in the Junior League, just the name of their sooner. Blaze Maitland had also moved to the Junior League and was again Darryl’ couch. Darryl was no longer the first baseman. He now played left field. Although his new team didn’t make the playoffs, Darryl was elected to the All-Star Team.
They played the All-Star Game in the Daniel S Frawley Stadium. This was the home of a Minor League Team called the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The team was in the farm system for the Kansas City Royals. Darryl moved from left field to center field for this game. The stadium was so large you could barely see him out there. He did manage a hit and got on base when his team batted.
In June 1996 Laurel Graduated from high school. Her school. Mount Pleasant was being renovated her senior year, so she had to attend the Claymont High School. The Seniors weren’t thrilled about this. They called the school Claymount that year while going there.
My parents did come down to see the outdoor graduation on the school’ football field.
That summer Laurel also
participated in her last Horse S
how at Gateway Stables. This ended her horseback caree because now having to find a job took up too much of her time.
She still went sometimes with a friend and rented a horse.
Everybody is growing up. It appears life was changing all of a sudden
We used our above ground pool a lot over the that summer. The kids enjoyed it and I was hoping the heat and sunlight of the dog days would dry up my psoriasis. It didn’t.
Lois and I found ourselves alone one hot day and we went for a last swim. We have a privacy hedge completely around the back yard. It was there when we moved in and we kept it. So once we were out there we stripped from our swimsuits and made naked love in the pool. Why not? We were only in our early fifties and in fair shape.
At the end of summer I took the pool down and rejoined the community swim club for the next year. With summers end, we had decided the backyard pool needed to come down and there would be no more skinny-dipping.
On August 8 we took another family trip, going up to French
Creek Park in Pennsylvania and visiting the Hopewell Furnace exhibit. This little village had been restored.
It was originally an iron smelting site from 1771 to
1883. You can visit today and see the buildings from those times, explore them and spend a day. In season the village is populated with volunteers who wear period dress and explain how things were once done. In the photo, Lois, Laurel and I are inside the old grist mill probably looking down on the mill stream and the giant grinding stone.
Laurel found a job at the Delaware Human Association. She also bought herself a car. She needed one to get there. I signed for her as backup since she was not of legal age, but the car was in her name and she paid for it. I did not have enough money to gift her with a car for graduating. I did the same with each kid when they wanted a car. I felt it taught them responsibility.
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