THE KID FROM ARMOURDALE

Book excerpt: This is a story about a kid that was raised during the Great Depression when the word welfare was virtually unspoken. He had deep loyalties for God, country, and family. It was the custom in those days to salute the flag each school day. He attended weekday church school every Wednesday afternoon during his elementary school years. His family was poor but proud and self-reliant. Lloyd learned early in life that if he wanted something, he had to work for it. His loyalty to his country was reflected in his leaving high school and volunteering for the navy the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It’s about the struggle of two high school dropouts that fell in love. They started life together on the bottom rung, and it never occurred to them to feel sorry for themselves. They were happy in their stroll together down the rough and rocky road that lay ahead. Theirs was a love affair that lasted fifty-seven years. They were both from broken homes and determined that their children would not suffer a similar fate. It is the story of two kids willing to work hard, to study and learn, to save a penny wherever possible. It is a story of survival. They ate weeds, as some people might call them. They liked to call them spring greens. He hunted rabbit, squirrel, and quail in winter and fished during the summer. It all went into the larder. Inch by inch they elevated their lot in life, not unlike a waterlogged timber that might slowly rise to the surface and into the sunshine. They grabbed snatches of education wherever they could. Esther took typing, shorthand, and secretarial courses and later a school of cosmetology. Lloyd finished high school, took college courses, and acquired a little more than the equivalent of two years of college when the air force selected him for an engineering course at the University of Colorado. It’s about the search for Valhalla, a place and the means to retire, after a lifelong struggle by two kids so unlikely to succeed in life. Together they proved the truth of the old adage “If there is a will, there is a way.”