A Paradox: A Seeming Self Contradiction
Never forget where you came from. Live in the now. Always remember where you are going. Keep these three balls in the air at the same time like a juggler of life.
An analogy that can help you to visualize this paradox is a ride in a car. There are times when you are right in the moment, but at the same time, you have to look through the front windshield to see where you are going, and also check the rear view mirror to see where you have been, particularly in the heavy traffic of life.
When I finished writing my memoir I wanted to touch the roots from where I came. Vicki and I went back to Conshohocken to locate the Alan Wood Steel Coke Plant where I was employed in the summers to earn money for college. It was a place that provided a formative experience for me. We drove up the Schuylkill River that runs along Conshohocken, the blue collar town where I was born and raised, and couldn’t find the coke plant so we went to the borough hall. No one remembered it. They were all pretty young. They suggested that I walk down the street to a frame shop where the local unofficial historian of the town worked. I asked to talk with him. He was enthusiastic about the history of the town and its surroundings so I told him that I couldn’t find the coke plant. I asked where it was. He pulled out some books that contained pictures of the plant and then said, “It’s gone!”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I asked, “How could it be gone? It was an iron edifice complete with tunnels, ovens, and conveyor belts that reached to the sky?” It took up miles of space. He said just one word, “Dynamite.”
The area is now filled with new industry such as the Inquirer newspaper printing plant. He let me know that a professional demolition company destroyed the plant and carried the remains away, earning a great deal of salvage money.
It was gone! How funny! It can’t be gone because I can remember every inch of the place and the cast of characters who inhabited it. My only regret was that I had wanted Vicki to see it!
We then drove past my family home that was built by my grandfather. He raised a family of twelve children in that tiny home. There is a narrow alley in between my home and our neighbor who introduced me to the world of boxing. The home is where I was born and raised. We lingered in front of the home remembering times we visited my parents there with Thad and Joanna. We then passed the bar where my father was a too frequent customer when I was young. We continued on to A.A. Garthwaite Field, one of the first lighted stadiums in the area. It was Conshohocken’s version of “Friday Night Lights.” Everyone came to the games. The air was always electric with excitement!
I remembered everything being much larger than it really is. Perhaps the past looms larger in affecting our lives than I was willing to admit. I should have taken the advice that I have given to so many others, “Don’t forget where you came from.” I will now repeat that statement with more enthusiasm, intensity, and importance.
I believe that we as human beings are more alike than different no matter what your life circumstances, race, or creed. I believe that an important question needs to be asked to find your purpose in life. That question is: "How did I get here from there?" The answer rests in you.
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