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I first experienced snow when I was 20 years At 20, it was “Love Story.” At 21, it
old. Having spent my years in Texas, I had was “A Clockwork Orange.”
never seen anything but a light dusting
of snow. But that year, my husband and I At 20, it was The Rascals, The
packed up our Ford and headed to our new Grassroots and - of course - The
college in Pittsburgh, PA. Four Seasons. At 21, it was Pink
Floyd, Jethro Tull and - of course
It was 80 degrees in Oklahoma, but when we - The Four Seasons.
stopped in Kansas our motel clerk warned
us that a bad storm was coming. The next At 20, I had my college deferment
morning brought only a little bit of white and was happy to have it. At 21, I
stuff and it wasn’t that cold. Well, as the day thought my deferment unfair but
wore on it got colder. Enough snow began still feared Vietnam.
falling that we had to use our wipers. While
we refueled, a man warned us to stop before At 20, I didn’t think any girl would
the motels fill up, but we just couldn’t imag- want me. At 21, I daydreamed of
ine what these people were talking about. the woman I’d marry.

By 4 p.m. it was dark. Our wipers were on At 20, I heard of Woodstock. At 21, John Carchedi
full speed and even with our headlights on I wished I had been there.
we couldn’t see. Only a few big trucks re-
mained on the interstate, and soon it was At 20, engineering was the major and McDonalds was the workplace. At 21,
just us - no towns, no signs. Unable to see, psychology was the major and St. Elizabeth’s psych ward was the work place.
I rolled down my window, stuck my head
out into the snow and found the edge of the At 20, Ohio State was losing the Rose Bowl. At 21, the Browns beat the
highway. A faint, distant light became a Jets on the first Monday Night Football game (my birthday).
motel sign. Slowly, we slid into the lot. The
motel clerk couldn’t tell if we were great ad- At 20, cities rioted against The Man. At 21, man was on the moon.
venturers or total idiots. We were so grateful
to get into our warm room that we fell into At 20, demeaning the Women’s Movement. At 21, my girlfriend got the
bed with all of our clothes on. We learned a meaning through my head.
lot about snow and when not to drive in it.
ALLEE BLATNER At 20, I wanted an 8 track player. At 21, I had a reel-to-reel.

At 20, living with my parents. At 21, care packages from home.

At 20, we saw Kent State. At 21, we saw Peace with Honor.

At 20, sideburns were big. At 21, sideburns, unfortunately, still big.

At 20, psychedelia forever. At 21, psych out.

We didn’t start the fire at 20 but at 21 it was a pretty good year.

JOHN CARCHEDI

At 20, I was in my sophomore year mask and forehead. I woke up in a cold The caption under this photo from a
of pre-med and working at a large room with Sister Maria holding smell- July 1 Lake Charles newspaper read:
Catholic Hospital in Lake Charles, ing salts over me. After word spread “DEATH WATCH - A surgical team
Louisiana. I had started out as an around the hospital, I was the butt of at St. Patrick Hospital stands by for
orderly - bathing patients, inserting every joke. holiday traffic victims.” Ron David-
catheters (nothing glorifying, believe son is pictured on the left.
me) - but knew my calling was in trau- My knowledge of anatomy continued to
ma. I decided to come in on my own improve, and one day, Mother Superior
time to learn the names and uses of Theresa informed me that I was to
all instruments. Eventually, a couple begin assisting the forensic patholo-
doctors invited me to the trauma unit gists on autopsies! I tried to talk her
for a pop test. I scrubbed up, dressed out of it, but to no avail – I stopped
for surgery and scored 100 percent counting after thirty.
in both trauma and operating room
procedures. I eventually left pre-med for a major
in economics. I later became a certi-
The first time I assisted a surgeon, a fied fire fighter/EMT in a volunteer
patient came in with two fingers al- fire department and rescue squad for
most cut off. Everything was going twelve years. These events, plus the
great until the surgeon asked for the support of my wonderful wife Bondra,
electric bone saw. As he started cut- our children and our three grandkids,
ting, chips of bone flew, hitting my made me the person I am today.
RON DAVIDSON

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