"Son Charlie," Mover and shaker, Part 1.

I was born in a house on Third Street in Charleston, Illinois in 1943. My folks bought it in 1922 for $600. When my Mom, at age 91, died in 1994, I bought 1/3 of it with two sisters (from the other five siblings), and then, over time, I bought them out. My oldest sister, 87, lives there now (rents from me) and when I move back to Charleston that will be my home too. I already have a room and an office there.

Her move back there is 66 years after she moved out after getting married in 1942. She loves the home. Of course, it is a lot different now than when she first lived there. Then it had coal heat and was uninsulated. Insulation, siding, lowered ceilings, gas space heaters (upgraded to gas forced air furnace with heating and air conditioning), and remodeling have occurred. The plumbing was upgraded in 1977 when we put on an addition for Mom with a big bathroom and a utility room for her washer, dryer, and freezer.I lived there including through college and moved to an apartment when I started teaching in Milford, Illinois. I was there one year before moving into a small house for two more years.

I transferred to another school and lived in three places that year: a sleeping room in West Chicago, a hotel in St. Charles, and an apartment in Batavia.I got drafted for leaving the first school (they declared me "essential") and put into the army. The army moved me around a bunch. First I lived a few days at what they call USARECSTA--United States Army Reception Station. There they give you your army clothes before shipping you out to your basic training barracks. I was in basic training with two groups (Company C-1-1 and then Company B-1-1); I did four weeks in each company, with a week in the hospital with pneumonia in between. The USARECSTA, C-1-1, hospital, and B-1-1 were all at Ft. Polk, Louisiana.