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military

NaBloPoMo: Who wouldn’t you play with as a child?

May 4, 2012 by robertforto 3 Comments

I am participating in the NaBloPoMo challenge for May. It should be a fun one. It is titled: Play.

The topic for today is: Who wouldn’t you play with as a child?

I grew up in typical middle America in the heart of the iron belt along the Ohio River Valley. It was full of coal mines, trains and hard workin’ men that you may see in Ford truck commercials.

On our street, Collis Avenue, we had our smattering of recently returning Vietnam veterans, a salesman or two, plenty of housewives that loved their bonbons and their afternoon “stories”. These same ladies would prowl the neighborhood at night after dinner, usually of the goulash variety, to hawk their wares from Avon and Tupperware.

On one end of the street was my little girl friend Micthy and here little sister Cindy that cried as much as my brother, which is hard to beat because he fully lived up to his nickname: Cryin’ Ryan.

On the other end of the street was a man-child, a beast of a boy, with greasy blonde hair, buck teeth, dirty Toughskins and worn and faded concert T-shirst from the 60s that rolled through town a decade before he was born.

His name was Zeke. 

Who names their kid that? He is sure to end up in a correctional facility or in films that you are forbidden to see before the ripe-old age of 17.

Zeke was the neighborhood Scut Frakus sans the toadie. He was fully a one man operation and he was only seven–a year my senior.

You would often see my mom in the driveway as I headed out to play with her hands on her hips and sportin’ a housecoat giving me the what-for.

She would say,“I better not catch you down at that Zeke kid’s house or there will be hell to pay!”

Even though Zeke only lived six, maybe seven, doors down, that was the forbidden zone of Collis Avenue. You would often catch us kids taking the long way ALL the way around the block to meet our other playmates that lived PAST Zeke’s place.

We never played with Zeke, at least my little clique. We stayed as clear as we could of him but giving him mucho respect as he trolled the halls of Highlawn Elem. Even as a kindergartener Zeke commanded a head nod from the boys as he passed them in the halls. It’s a guy thing. If you are a lady, you might not understand.

I don’t know what happened to Zeke. But my money is on one the fore-mentioned occupations. But if not, he would be wise to change his name to something like John Smith or something. Because in this day an age, with a name like Zeke, you might be on one of those lists at the airport.

Who wouldn’t you play with as a child?

______________________

Robert Forto is mushin’ down a dream in the wilds of Alaska. He and is wife are raising two teenagers at Forto’s Fort. 

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Filed Under: Daily Post, NaBloPoMo Tagged With: BlogHer, Huntington West Virginia, military, NaBloPoMo, Top, Tupperware

Service Badge on Foursquare

November 11, 2011 by robertforto Leave a Comment

Today is Veterans Day and Foursquare honors veterans and active service members in a special way: the Service Badge.

Foursquare users will be able to unlock it by checking in at a Veterans Day celebration today, or in the future by checking in three times at a military base.

Text for the badge reads:

Here’s to all those who serve their country, and all those who support them. Your country salutes you.

Follow my news and updates on Twitter, my whereabouts on Foursquare and  relationship status on Facebook. Or send me a telegram.

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Filed Under: Daily Post, Foursquare Badges Tagged With: Active duty, Day Veteran, foursquare, military, United States, Veteran

The Daily Post: Who will you remember this day?

May 30, 2011 by robertforto Leave a Comment

Today’s daily post topic is: who will you remember this day?

As many of my rabid readers, friends and fans know, I was a military brat. My step father, Michael Gibson came into our lives when I was about eight years old. He was a huge influence in my brother, Ryan and my life. He and my mom, Donna, married in 1979 and had another child. My brother, Chris.

We called our step-dad Mike. I guess it was because we still had a relationship with our dad. He didn’t seem to mind.

Mike was a United States Marine. He was also a big time college football player and had the Oakland Raiders interested in him but he decided on the Corps. Us kids thought that was so cool. When he came into our lives he was just a Second Lieutenant and stationed at Cherry Point (North Carolina). My earliest memories is my mom and I going to visit him on a road trip in an old MG. It was an eight hour drive in the pouring rain and here I was eight or so leaning out of the car window wiping off the windshield as we drove 55 miles per hour because one of the wipers broke off.

When mom and I arrived for the weekend visit I can recall both Mike and I feeling a bit nervous. He around kids for really the first time and me for having a new man in my life. I also remember Mike giving me a small wire-bound dictionary with an inscription and his signature. What an odd gift for a little kid but I can remember using that dictionary well into junior high school until the pages started to fall out and get lost.

While Mike did his best to teach us kids family values and become good men, I did not realize what he was trying to do until long after I had moved out on my own.

One of my best memories is how we used to sit at the little kitchen table for dinner at our home in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Mom would always have dinner ready right around the time Peter Jennings was finishing up his broadcast on the nightly news. Us kids would be sitting there knife and fork in hand. But we knew the rules…

We all knew that we couldn’t eat until, first: mom was sitting down and Mike proclaiming– “dig in boys!”

We all grew apart after high school and that saddens me today. I guess you can say life got in the way.

Mike was a tough Marine. He made it thru the ranks and eventually retired as a Major. But being tough cost him his life. Mike suffered from colitis for years. He refused to go to the doctors much and I believe that without the medical supervision that was required, he developed colon cancer.

I saw Mike for the last time in the late summer of 2000 when I travelled to North Carolina for a visit. He did not look well. He was sitting most of the time in his office with all of his trophies and awards, and his Marine Corps swords that he proudly displayed. He stayed in his lazy boy under the covers watching T.V. even though it was near 100 degrees outside.

Mike passed away May 23, 2001 at his home with my mom by his side. He is buried on Memorial Day at Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery. He was only 51.

It has been a decade since Mike has passed. I still think about him almost every day. It’s funny because I often use many of the things he taught us with my kids. I see so many similarities. Mike came into our lives and into a ready-made family. Similar to how I did mine. I never thought I would be “like my father” but I truly am. I am doing my best to raise my kids just like Mike did us.

In just a couple years, our middle son, Tyler has intentions of joining the U.S. Marines and he will become part of a brotherhood that shaped my life. My wife, Michele and I are so proud. I can not wait to attend his boot camp graduation and shake his hand. I will say a prayer for Mike that day too and let him know that his step-son did listen to him and did his best to raise his family up right.

So on this Memorial Day it is a day of rememberance. A day we should remmeber all of those who served and sacrficied for this great country. For me it is also about remembering…

Major Michael Gibson, USMC

Hoorah!

Filed Under: Daily Post Tagged With: memorial day, military, postaday2011, robert forto, USMC

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