Dad was born in the Bronx and grew up in Danbury, CT. He was an only child living in the woods right across from Lake Candlewood. He told me that in the winter the lake would freeze and he would jump across the melted area by the shoreline to get out on the ice. The only pet that dad ever talked about to me was his pet crow named Jet, he used to follow him everywhere! Dad told me he started as a line man for AT&T, climbing telephone poles. I know he eventually worked his way up to become the President of his local union in St. Louis, Missouri. He was an active member of the Toastmasters which taught him how master the art of speaking in public. Again, he worked his way up to become President, this time of the Belleville Toastmasters Club. He got his college degree by studying nights and weekends at Southern Illinois University. There were no online classes back then so he had to drive to school. He was promoted into a management position in the Belleville office where he traveled a lot during his job. He was employed by the Long Lines division of AT&T and worked with the military at Scott Air Force Base and with NORAD deep under the mountains of Colorado. His division’s duty was to keep military and government communications alive in the event of World War Three. With mom we spent our summers at the Officers Club pool at Scott AFB and about once a month we had a fancy dinner at the officer’s club where we drank Shirley Temples. In 1969 Dad was transferred to AT&T’s Washington DC office on L St, not far from the White House. He carpooled to work
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