I left as a 13 year old without direction. Sure, I had recently picked up chores for the household due to dad's condition. However it was only the beginning. The outcome of that 5 weeks of reflection in foreign countries left me much more cerebral than a "typical" 13 year old.
The following years left me highly observant of human nature and activity. Even through high school, my silent, distant observation had me observing when a girl liked a guy and she was off the market. The only trick I lacked was the ability to apply that knowledge to me.
That introspective deductive reasoning also helped discipline me all the way through eleventh grade. Twelfth grade was a departure, as socializing finally started catching up. The next four years... clear through tri-c, were probably my hormones catching up. BW was again more serious, mostly due to the family connections to BW.
Then came marriage, the Mitchell connection and the downward spiral.
But 1969's events were the shaping of my life.
