Table of Contents
Foreward ................................................................. 3
Preface..................................................................... 5
Introduction............................................................ 9
Prologue................................................................ 10
Part I .................................................................... 11
My Birth ............................................................... 12
Married................................................................. 14
Not Married.......................................................... 19
Uncle John............................................................ 23
Who am I? ............................................................ 27
Third-grade Breakdown......................................... 29
Ellenboro .............................................................. 31
Fourth Grade ........................................................ 37
Peeping Holes and Glass Doors............................. 38
Fifth Grade............................................................ 41
Hope out of Pain................................................... 43
Bartender and Orange Juice .................................. 47
Clothesline............................................................ 48
Mrs. Frances Bailey ............................................... 51
Ice Cream.............................................................. 56
Eighth Grade......................................................... 58
Weekends.............................................................. 61
Back to Sroufe....................................................... 63
Leaving ................................................................. 66
(Not the) Final Chapter......................................... 74
Thanksgiving Visit................................................. 77
Back to Virginia Beach .......................................... 79
Lessons in Love..................................................... 84
Music.................................................................... 90
High School Teachers............................................ 92
Graduating into the Real World ............................ 96
Some Things Change,
and Some Things Stay the Same............................ 99
Maureen Melia .................................................... 103
U.S. Air Force..................................................... 105
My Mother Finally Leaves John........................... 108
Becoming a Father............................................... 110
My Father’s Passing.............................................. 118
Ralph Jr............................................................... 123
Moving Forward with My Mother....................... 126
John’s Death........................................................ 129
Photos................................................................. 130
Part II.................................................................. 149
Teaching.............................................................. 150
Radford University .............................................. 158
Meadows of Dan Elementary .............................. 160
Woolwine Elementary ......................................... 163
Division Superintendent ..................................... 165
Takeaways ........................................................... 174
Retrospect ........................................................... 177
