Category Archives: Matters of Faith

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day18

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, impediments, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 8, 2026– Hana wished for only one thing: A chew toy, something that means a lot to a teething infant. We were at a Korean restaurant, enjoying things like Suntubu (Spiced tofu soup), Tonkasu (Pork cutlet) and Naengmyun (Cold buckwheat noodles, in soy sauce). Hana is not ready to eat any of this. Her meal waited at home, so she sat, just waiting with varying degrees of patience. I promised her that next time, with her parents rushing about and getting ready, I would make sure to bring her favourite teething ring of the week.

She had not had an easy afternoon. When I finally got her to nap on my shoulder, and had brought her into the master bedroom, to put her in the crib, the Robo Disc was in there, cleaning the carpet. I brought her back out to the recliner for ten minutes. The cleaner announced that it was done, so back in the bedroom we went, and I put her in the crib. Ten minutes later, the yard crew showed up, four hours late, and started their lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Hana’s Mommy and Daddy arrived back from their errands, about that time, and she was only too glad to get out of the crib, the Master Bedroom being bordered by the back and west yards.

HANA’S NOTE- I don’t know who felt worse, me being woken up by people speaking words I only hear when Papa says his last prayer, or Papa himself, trying to make sure I got my afternoon nap.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1991- Nothing reminds a person how much they love someone like finding their loved one in unexpected distress. Of a March afternoon, as I arrived home earlier than planned, I found Penny with her ear cut, babbling and on her knees, in the bathroom. Aram, not yet three years old, was in the empty bath tub, bawling his eyes out. I took him out first, dried and clothed him and set him on a sleeping mat. Then, I tended to Penny, bandaging her ear, and picking her up off the floor and carrying her into the bedroom, then dressing her, Just at that moment, almost like a TV movie, her Korean language tutor came to the front door. I had Penny seated and let the tutor in. She called an ambulance and then told the apartment complex manager what had happened. Between the three of us, we got Penny in a chair and I took Aram in my arms and comforted him.

Long story short, the ER doctor found that Penny had an allergic reaction to Ibuprofen. He stitched the ear up and by the time he was done, she was again lucid and able to walk. The three of us went to a noodle shop and had a bite to eat, then caught a bus to the University complex. The next morning, my back went out and I had to slowly walk down to the bus stop and go downtown to a chiropractor. This is what happens when one has to lift another adult, who is deadweight, from the floor. Penny never again took Ibuprofen, to say the least.

The rest of the year saw my classes go smoothly, and our Baha’i activities, with some ups and downs, reach dozens of students and young workers. We went back to the U.S. for a few weeks in June and July, enjoying the beach in Massachusetts and fireworks in Livingston, NJ. Aram liked playing with his somewhat older cousins.

In October, though, we started getting pleas from Penny’s parents to return to the United States, when our visas were up for renewal. They were heartsick at not having their only grandson closer to them. After praying long and hard, we decided we would return- in the new year.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 17

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 7, 2026- Hana has now taken to crawling on me and “wrestling”, while I am lying down on the play pen mat. Her main focus is still very much practicing standing up with my support. She also likes to take two or three steps, while I am helping her stand. The girl is not about wasting time.

The pest control guy came today, and sprayed all areas where it will not affect Hana. He also recommended putting a capful of bleach in each sink drain. This will, he said, destroy any pheromones which the insects leave for those who come after them. Yes, cockroaches are social insects. I have seen them travel in pairs. Now, hopefully, they will travel somewhere else.

I have a car seat for the KIA now, so my next visit to the chiropractor will be with Hana along. The office is family friendly, so having her in the stroller will not interfere with the adjustment, which takes five minutes, tops. I will also be able to take her to the library. She has a special affinity for books, and loves to study the pictures-and the print, for several minutes at a time.

HANA’S NOTE- When I see Papa lying down on the mat, that is a cue for me to crawl over to him and grab his nose and ears. He laughs when I do that.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1990 We were pretty much in a solid routine at Jeju. I would take Aram to student plays, but I’d have to take him out, because he would laugh or call out, once he heard an echo. Nonetheless, our family was well-liked by many people on the island. Aram loved being held by pretty women and was already playing with other toddlers in our compound. We went to the Korean mainland regularly, particularly for Baha’i gatherings. We also went hiking, up Halla-san and on Songsanilchubong, with Aram in a carrier on my back. The Korean slang for a man doing what was seen as women’s work is ujima. I was called that several times, but didn’t care. My boy was my treasure.

Classes were proceeding quite nicely. I also served as editor of The Islander, an English-language student newspaper. The staff wrote several well-researched articles, which I usually proofread in my office. Penny had a strict rule that no one was to intrude on our family time. This irritated some aggressive parents of students, who wanted private tutoring for their children. Again, I marched to my own drummer. I worked well with my colleagues, but on my terms. (i.e., I didn’t drink alcohol, to which the professors were accustomed, having had several Baha’is on staff, before me.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 16

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 6, 2026- Enormous cockroaches have shown up, around the neighbourhood, as the outside water dries up during August. We get “our share”-one here, another there, yet another in the dishwasher. If any of these pests comes anywhere near Hana, I will show it no mercy. These are “sewer” roaches, mind you, and our household’s standard of hygiene is second to none. Still, we adults can get exercised about any pests that threaten our girl’s health. Thankfully, the pest control technician is coming here tomorrow.

She “explored” a small area of the dining room. this afternoon, being able to climb up a small border between that room and the sunken family room, where her playpen and the recliner sit. I allow her limited crawling area, on carpet that has recently been cleaned. This way, she knows how to get around to different parts of the house, at eye level, should she ever need to do so, before learning to walk.

Yunhee was home during the morning, as she had a business call to be made from home. Hana kept a close eye on her, while she was in her office. I took her in the stroller, for part of that time, so as to give her mother more privacy.

HANA’S NOTE- I love being in the stroller. Today, I sang a little song that I made up, while we were out on our walk.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1989- This was big year for people in eastern Europr regaining their freedom. We were at a Baha’i Institute, in Busan, when the freedom wave came to Romania. Being partially of German descent, I felt relief when the Berlin Wall came down. Each time another segment of the Iron Curtain fell was another day of joy.

We brought Aram to Massachusetts and Maine, as well as New Jersey,during our summer visit to the U.S. He was warmly welcomed by all family and friends.When we spent a week at Green Acre Baha’i School, in Maine, his one curly hair, coming up from the middle of his head, earned him the sobriquet, “Sweepea”, after the orphan from Popeye. We celebrated his first birthday, with a party in my mother’s backyard. There, he got to meet most of his cousins. We joined a photography session, on the day of Penny’s cousin’s wedding, in Bedminster, then visited other friends in the area, while the wedding itself was in progress.

Penny had left her position at Jeju National University, to take care of Aram. She received a year’s salary as maternity leave, so that helped. I bonded more fully with the first group of students that had entered the program last year and continued making strong connections with those who entered each subsequent year.

The Eighties were bittersweet, but on balance, they set me in the right direction-something I had been seeking since 1969. The Nineties would see this straight path accelerate.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 12

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 2, 2026- After yesterday’s frenetic activity, I stayed close to home all day today. Hana was fairly quiet, as well, just being glad to be with her parents, sitting in the playpen and talking softly to her Mom, then taking an hour’s nap on her Daddy’s shoulder.

We did go to a couple of stores, buying some small household items and a few more groceries for the week’s meal planning. Both of Hana’s parents worked very hard today, to get all of her meals ready and preparing lunches that they can take with them, without a lot of last-minute preparation. They even baked chocolate chip cookies together, this afternoon, once we got back.

Papa did back-up work, but my day was not all that hard. Being an extra pair of hands, when Hana needed to be changed,and when she was done being bathed, holding out the towel and wrapping her in it, was enough. I cleaned up a fair number of items that were in boxes, and have enough space to set aside paintings that are lying about the common room, outside my bedroom.

HANA’S NOTE- I want to grab anything I see, these days. Today, I figured out how to unlatch the clasp on my bouncy chair. Daddy caught me, though, and refastened it.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1985- My parents visited Penny and me, and we took them around Arizona-to Grand Canyon, Sedona, Prescott, Flagstaff, Montezuma Castle, the Hopi villages and Phoenix. We enjoyed a day or so in Tuba City as well. It would be the last time I saw Dad, so I’m glad they seemed to enjoy themselves. Penny’s parents also came out for a visit, in September. They were faithful, in making a yearly visit, while we were in Tuba City.

This was a year for gardening, as we had no out of state trips planned. We grew squash, tomatoes, peppers, melons and corn. It was a healing exercise for both of us. I also focused on Baha’i teaching activities, while Penny was in Flagstaff, working on her second Master’s Degree. When she felt lonely, I left the Baha’i activities and stayed with her at the University. Re-setting priorities was something on which I did not always excel. Things worked out, though,and we had a fairly good Fall and Winter.

Our life together was, however, about to head in a different direction, in the year to come.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 11

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 1, 2026- Hana starts her active day with exercises: Stretches, push-ups, cross-body reaches and even a plank or two. She does this on her own, with our expressions of approval and pride following the session’s end. Another thing she likes to do on her own is wiping the play mat with a cloth. This is her way of cleaning her play space.

She has had a good day with her parents, joining them on a food shopping trip, being carried in a sling by her Daddy. Hana takes well to stores and restaurants now. A few months ago, she was more sensitive to crowds and noise. Now, she takes a lot in stride.

My granddaughter notices everything that I bring into the house, wanting to know what’s in the bag or box that I’m carrying. Today, I brought bagels from Saved by the Bagel, after I got a haircut nearby. She looks longingly at such items, but realizes they are still something not suited for a person with only four front teeth. I tell her that her day will come.

HANA’S NOTE- I want to keep my space clean, so I wipe the mat, just like Mommy and Papa do.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1984 We lost a neighbour and a contemporary-Gordon Tong, at only 38, in the heat of the monsoons of August. I made three trips back and forth, from Tuba City to the Native American Baha’i Institute, where the Baha’i friends gathered for Gordon’s services. I had to get Penny, another Anglo friend and three Navajo elders.The funeral and burial were punctuated by the intense rain, almost fortuitously. I have rarely experienced such a dramatic send-off.

The year saw us on the road-and in the air, quite often. We drove up to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, spending ten days offering the Baha’i message to Lakota people, in Wanblee and Pine Ridge town, as well as various ethnic groups in Martin, a town in between Pine Ridge and Rosebud. On our second anniversary, Penny and I visited Wall, a tourist town northwest of Pine Ridge and drove around Badlands National Park. We pitched a tent in Badlands, only to get good and soaked that night. We were too tired to worry and were no worse for the wear, the next day.

We flew to Guyana, in July, spending three weeks in the small South American country, again teaching the Baha’i message to Black,South Asian and Wayana First Nations people. Penny was in her glory, teaching groups of small children and young ladies. I went around with a couple of local men, in each of the villages we stayed. As we passed a “parlour” (bar), near noon one day, a voice yelled out: “Hey, white man”, from inside the parlour. A one finger salute accompanied the “greeting”. My friend wanted to leave the area, but something told me to go inside. A table of four young men was the source of the message. When we approached, their demeanur changed, and they bade us sit. We chatted with the men for nearly an hour-not pushing the Baha’i message directly, but establishing a decidedly more congenial atmosphere than had initially greeted us. Similar experiences followed, in each of the next two villages.

When Penny and I returned to the U.S., we stayed a few days with a family near Houston, then drove north, visiting friends in Oklahoma, then going up to Macy, Nebraska, on the Omaha Reservation, where another sizable Indigenous Baha’i community was having a gathering. We went to one dignitary’s house, and it turned out that he was a cousin of one of my co-workers back in Tuba City.

1984 was not as harrowing as the novel of the same name. The challenges we did face only made us stronger as a couple.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 10

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 31, 2026- We couldn’t go for our walk today, because two of us over the age of 30 forgot to take the stroller out of the trunk, when we got back from the doctor’s, on Wednesday. Hana occupied herself nicely, using me as a support in pulling herself up to a standing position, several times today. This is something she want to do on her own and she will get it accomplished. I would say that, at this rate, she will be standing, pretty easily, by the middle of August.

Her speech is also rapid fire and sounds fairly specific, though much of it is babbling, still. “Mama”, “Oma”, “Apa”, “Daddy”, “Dada”, “Mommy” and “Papa” are all spoken with regularity. “I want”, “I don’t want”, “Yeah” and “”I love” also are clearly pronounced.

HANA’S NOTE- I really, really, really want to walk. I like standing up. I can see so much more.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1983 My paternal grandmother was someone I thought would live forever. A month shy of her 84th birthday, Nana was choking on something,at a Senior Center lunch. A well-meaning gentleman intervened, and performed a Heimlich procedure on her. It didn’t have the desired effect and she had to be hospitalized. She died shortly thereafter. Nana lived to see 49 grandchildren and at least a dozen great-grandchildren. One of those grandchildren preceded her in death. The rest of us honoured her memory.

Penny and I settled into Tuba City, and into our work. We were regulars at a coffee house that was put on each week, at the Episcopal Church. We had people over for dinner, at least once a week and taught those who were interested, about the Baha’i Faith. One comment, from a video store operator, who was a member of Four Square Gospel, still sticks in my memory: “All religions follow the same God?” That is indeed our story, and we’re sticking to it.

We also traveled around the Southwest: Pipe Spring, Colorado City and Lake Havasu City (for Christmas), in Arizona; on our First Anniversary-Durango to Silverton, Colorado (on the Narrow Gauge Railroad); Chama,Rio Grande Gorge, Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico and several Baha’i-sponsored events, from Phoenix and Casa Grande to Jemez Springs and Crystal, New Mexico. In the Fall, my brother, Glenn, married his sweetheart, Barbie. So we made the trip back to Massachusetts, at the height of foliage season. It was sweet.

We did very well, as a couple, during this first year of wedlock.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 9

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Travel

July 30, 2026- As if to underscore her determination, Hana made a point of standing full on her feet, while holding onto her mother, this morning. She practiced standing, with my support, several times this afternoon. I let her stand up, while holding onto the border of the play pen. She is a few inches shy of being able to see over the top, but was able to hold onto it for about 8 seconds. She is leading this. I am providing encouragement and support. I’ve told her that only she knows her limits, and there is no rush. Most kids seem to wait until nine months, before standing with support. Hana will do things on her own timetable.

She napped a fair amount today, largely because she is constantly moving during the day and, depending on the extent to which her top incisors are still bothering her, sometimes tosses and turns a lot at night. She likes to play with company, so I am in the pen a lot. It is usually a cycle of wake up and wash/dress; morning feeding; parents saying goodbye, before going to work; her listening to my prayers (sometimes with her head bowed); us going out for a walk (she in the stroller); medication; story time; nap; lunch; story time; play time; nap, afternoon feeding; play time; welcome back, Mom & Dad; dinner; bath and sleep.

HANA’S NOTE- I want to help out, so I feed myself when Mom is giving me dinner, so she can rest.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1982 The second set of sea changes came this year. In February, Penny and I got engaged. We were married on the Anniversary of D-Day, June 6. We went on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, two weeks later-visiting Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Galilee and the Baha’i holy places in Haifa, Akka and Bahji. It was an overwhelming nine days. We stopped in London, on the way back, and visited the Tomb of Shoghi Effendi, Baha’u;llah’s great-grandson, who guided the Faith for 36 years, after the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Before summer’s end, we also took a six-day road trip up to a Blackfeet First Nations Reserve, in southern Alberta, joining a Continental Indigenous Council Fire.

Penny and I settled in Tuba City, and she took a job teaching Special Needs students at the Primary school, across the street from the Intermediate School where I worked as a Counselor. We worked out a number of bumps and adjustments that came with sharing a small trailer, after each having lived alone for so many years. A friend in Flagstaff had told me that this would be a stormy marriage, but it would also be a good and strong one. How right he turned out to be.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 8

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Family, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 29, 2026- Hana, Aram and I visited one of her medical providers this afternoon. The visit brought good reports and five different medical center staff smilingly remarked at how much Hana has grown, since her last visit-three months ago. She has hit all the markers-babbling, sitting up on her own, crawling with her torso raised and high receptive vocabulary. They clearly see a happy, healthy little girl.

Once we were home, and it was play time again, Hana crawled all over her grandfather and at one point, after I helped her stand with both feet full on the floor, she took two steps, while I was supporting her. She looked at her father and said “Daddy”, not “dada”.

These are things for which I have given up most of what I did before she was born. These are the things for which I am keeping myself in good health, for which I want to live at least as long as my dear mother did. I see a great future ahead for this child of the Divine. That we are related is beside the point.

HANA’S NOTE- I usually don’t like going to the doctor’s office. Today felt nicer somehow.

YEAR IN REMEBRANCE-1981- By the time New Year’s had come around, my first housemate had left, and a second, an Iranian student, had been with me for three months. He, too, left, when the Iran-Iraq War broke out, as his home area was one of the battle zones. I had him call his family, that night, and he found they were all okay, with a relative in Teheran. Two months into the New Year, I had another pair of housemates, a couple-Chris and Carol. They .were still there when I left in August. I also got a phone call “from AT&T”, two months into the year-asking why I had called Iran. Although it was quite clear that the caller was from a Federal agency, and not the phone company, I was honest as to the reason for the call. I was then told that it was excused, this time, but I was never to do such a thing again. (Calling a nation with which the U.S. does not have diplomatic ties is a big no-no.)

This has broader significance. I had begun a romantic relationship with Penny, who I had met in Zuni, in December of last year. She was living and working in Keams Canyon, on the Hopi Reservation. I would go up there, one or two weekends a month, hitching-as I had no car. She would come down to Flagstaff, on other weekends. This was one huge change in my life.

The other was the Baha’i Faith. Penny had been a member of the Faith for about four years. She shared its tenets with me, and when I read the biography of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, I saw no reason why I , too, should not embrace the Teachings of Baha’ullah. I was put in contact with the Baha’is in Flagstaff, and declared my Faith, in February. The effects were both immediate (I gave up alcohol and gambling) and gradual ( Slowly, almost too slowly, I emerged from the fog of autism.)

I completed my Master’s program in August, by which time Penny had also completed her Master’s, in California, and had both found a job near San Diego and moved on from another relationship that had sprung up over the summer. My feelings for her didn’t go away, and by September, I was making monthly visits to see her in Julian, CA.

With an Arizona School counseling certificate, I was able to get a job at an Intermediate (Grades 4-6) School, in Tuba City, AZ, in the western part of the Navajo Nation, bordering the Hopi Nation. Thus, did a five-year residence, and a long-standing friendship, with these First Nations people come to be.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 1

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 22, 2026-Hana started her new month with a new behaviour- wanting to more actively take part in Story Time. She wants to be able to look at a page for several minutes after I have read the words. She focuses on the pictures and the form of the words. She also likes to touch the page, especially if it has a smooth texture.

She laughs a lot more now, taking delight in all of my antics and silly songs. Once, this afternoon, she put her hand over my mouth.hen I was singing to her-then she started laughing. She also likes to tip a tower of rings over, as soon as I put the rings back on. It is just another of the games that get invented by infants, using their observational skills.

We went on our morning walk early, again this morning, thus avoiding the later 105 degree still air. Few people were along the path, but there was a group of Middle School Track Team members, getting ready for what was hopefully a brief pre-season workout. Hana, for her part, spent part of the walk asleep in her stroller.

HANA’S NOTE- I want to know what this reading thing is. The stories that Papa reads to me are sometimes exciting and other times just silly. I am looking at the pictures and making little stories in my mind. Sometimes, I dream of them.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1974 I spent my first year at UMass-Amherst living in a co-ed dorm. Having a large group of brothers and sisters was nothing new, so I was quite relaxed. Still, ever the rube, I used my antiquated record player-which became known as The Set”. Most everyone else had a boom box, state-of-the art stereo systems, etc. I was okay with what I had. I was also the “editor” of a residence quad newsletter called “The Sage-Revisited” and I delivered The New York Times around campus, six days a week. That lasted about five months, then I forgot yo change the code to “Sunday”, a bunch of Sunday Times were ripped off and i left that job. The editor position wasn’t much more successful. I did a lot better, academically than in extracurriculars.

I kept encountering Baha’is in Amherst, though I remained Catholic. I did not find the Newman Center (Catholic student union and parish) very supportive of us students, so in hindsight, I might have made more inquiries into the Baha’i Faith-my second Residential Assistant, and one other RA across the Quad, were Baha’is. I babysat our RA’s infant daughter on at least one occasion. (I would later meet both mother and daughter, at Baha’i gatherings in Arizona, in the 1990s.) The Dean of the College of Education was also a Baha’i.

Summer of 1974 was mostly spent at a resort hotel in western Maine. Quisiana was/is a music camp, so there was a wealth of musical talent. I wasn’t part of that talent. I worked as a busboy, did a credible job and explored a lot of Maine, those eight weeks. Young women floated in and out of my life, which was okay. I have never been much for brief affairs.

This was the summer of Goodbye, Nixon. The staff dining room attendant made the announcement of the President’s resignation, on August 2. It was a quiet day, otherwise. This potentially unsettling year was like my one encounter with a juvenile moose-could have been troublesome, but …Nah

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 29

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 20, 2026- I used an unconventional means of opening a container, this evening. Hana looked astounded, and let me know that she didn’t think it was a good idea. I told her that, although it worked this time, I wouldn’t do that again. She gave a wan smile. If you have ever been scolded, in infant-speak, you know what I mean.

She is speaking her mind, a lot more these days, and I find it fairly easy to decipher what she is saying. There are times when she will speak, from the back of her throat, in intelligible English words- “I want that”; “I don’t want it.”; “I love you”. As the teeth pop out, she will produce more words, certainly.

She also has her own set of expectations for our daily routine. She will not go for a nap, until she has had her walk in the stroller and taken her medication. She also prefers to take any afternoon nap with me, in the recliner. Her lunch meal has the “bite” order of vegetable, starch, meat, sip from the milk bottle, and repeat. This works just fine and she is a plate cleaner.

HANA’S NOTE- I told Papa, “That is not a good thing to do”, when I saw him opening a salad box, without using scissors. I have to watch him every minute that Daddy isn’t home!

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1972 I was discharged from the Army on January 2, with the condition I attend college. I resumed my studies at North Shore Community College, in Beverly, MA. I lived at home the first semester. I worked at a warehouse called Central Sales, not far from the college, three evenings and Saturday mornings. As before, young women floated in and out of my life. I dated a sweet girl who was four years my junior, for a few months. She was more mature than I was, and it fell apart after about three months.

Summer brought a three-week jaunt across Canada, from Montreal to Edmonton and Calgary, then down through Montana, Idaho, Utah and across Colorado, the Midwest, West Virginia, Maryland and back up through Pennsylvania and back to Massachusetts. I met nice people along the way, and learned the limits of sleeping outside, in some of the national parks of Canada. Stops to visit people along the way ranged from turbulent (a pen pal in Colorado) to gratifying (my Viet Nam buddy , Bill, and his family, in Baltimore). I also first heard of the Baha’i Faith, outside Philadelphia. I was still comfortable as a Catholic, so didn’t investigate any further, but the name kept popping up, over the next several years.

Fall semester found me living with an eclectic group of people in Beverly. I stayed there with Al, Sandy and their housemates, into the following Spring. It was a pleasant arrangement and I learned the value of platonic friendships with women, other than my sister and cousins. Emotional maturity was coming along, slowly but surely.