In 1971, I graduated from Jamestown High School, and wasn’t really sure what course I was going to pursue toward the next 40 -50 years of my life. The question posed to me when I was five years old, “What do you want to be when you grow up,” had not been fully answered as I closed out the K-12 chapter of my life was coming to a close.

I had some idea of what I might like to do, mainly, from a movie I had seen just before entering tenth grade at JHS. Back then our schools were K-6, buildings, junior high schools for grades 7,8 and 9 and the high school for grades 10, 11 and 12. That movie was one of the many great Sidney Poitier films of his career, and especially of the 1960s. It was titled, To Sir with Love.

So, in late summer of 1971, I enrolled at Jamestown Community College, still wrestling with the answer to that Kindergarten question, and began taking courses that could, and in my case would, be part of the curriculum toward a career in Education. After that year, I made up my mind and began the “full steam ahead” journey to becoming a teacher.

After JCC, in the spring of 1973, I was accepted at SUNY Fredonia into their Education program, and fortunately I earned my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education in the spring of 1975. I stayed in the area as I tried, hopefully, to find a teaching job, knowing that I would have to prove myself through substituting, so for two years, I drove here, there, and everywhere in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, subbing in any and every area, they offered me. I probably subbed 300 days out of the 370 days of the school calendars those two years, all the while, filling out applications and seeking interviews for any opening a school might have in my certification area.

Luckily, in the summer of 1977, I was offered a Long-Term Subbing opportunity for a teacher who would be starting the school year on Maternity Leave. Circumstances allowed me to be able to stay in that position for the entire school year, and then the following year, to be offered a chance to stay in the same position as a full-time, fourth grade, teacher. I was lucky to be able to get a job in my hometown, and stay here up to the time I hunted and pecked the keyboard of my laptop to pen this narrative.

That same luck fell upon my sister (Spanish) and brother (Social Studies) who also earned teaching degrees, not as lucky for my younger brother who found his successful career in Rockford IL, as a college professor, eventually earning his Doctorate of Education degree. So, you can say it was definitely still a blessing for him.

In 2005, Jon Bon Jovi released a song on his Have a Nice Day album, titled “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.” Many from my generation were lucky and were able to find jobs in their chosen field in our hometown areas if we chose to do that, but there were some from that time, and certainly from the next generation who could not find work in their hometown area, or maybe chose not to stay in the area, and decided to go elsewhere to pursue their careers and go to someplace warmer.

Two of my children are now working a great distance from “home.” My third child, Chrissy began her work life near 3,000 miles away due to her husband’s military service. They have since moved back to the area. For Chasy and Jon, they have built their careers and lives in Tennessee and Virginia, respectively, and have made wonderful lives there, as has Chrissy in Dewitville.

There are times, Sally and I wish, we had everyone living close to us, and we envy (mea culpa), but are happy for, those of our friends whose children found their lives in the same place they grew up.

One hope we have is that Chas and Jon heed to the advice so many parents give to their children when they flee the nest to build their own a distance away. We always tried to teach our kids, “Never forget from where you came.” If anyone who moves away from wherever they came, heeds those six words, they won’t have to worry about going back. If they remember from where they came, home will always be with them, in their hearts and minds. It’ll be like they never left.