Post College Years:
Florida:
Aug., 1974-June 1975
Lived in St. Petersburg, worked as a t.v. delivery/student t.v. repairman for Economy T.V., for this time was active with American Legion and helped out with Bingo.
June 1975-June, 1980
lived at 607 67th Avenue North, Bradenton. While living here had taught 2 years at St. Joseph’s Parochial School, went to Manatee County Votech School for Licensed Pratical Nurse degree, worked at Sarasota Memorial County Hospital in Neurology/Neurosurgery (18 months) and finally got back into Government work by working at Bay Pines Veterans Medical Center.
Note: My most rememberable time teaching/coaching occurred the second year that I taught. It occurred at a basketball game for grades 3-6 that some of the coaches and I wanted to set up to give to this age group a chance to play and instill in them a love of the game realizing that some of them might be skilled enough to go on to play in High School and College. However, it was stressed more that sports are a team effort, that everyone who puts out the effort will get the opportunity to play.
We played a team that the week before had beaten my guys by 20 points playing only their starting 5 the entire game. My guys wouldn’t listen to what I wanted them to do. I had to sit back and let them learn the hard way.
This time around my guys put to practice what I wanted them to do and had the other team down by 20 points by the end of the first quarter. My guys attempted to convince me to let them play our best 5 against them to teach them a lesson. I told them “No, remember what I said when we first started playing/practicing that Basketball was a team sport and that everyone who showed up for practice would get a chance to play?”
When they tried again to get me change my mind, I asked them “Who beat your team last week?” They replied “They did!” pointing to the other team. I asked “They who?” (I knew who they meant I wanted them to start thinking about the team.)
When they insisted that it was the other team that had beaten them, I responded “They played their starting 5 the whole game. There are 15 boys on their team. Therefore, only 5 boys beat our team, not their team. Our team (meaning every boy) will beat their team.”
With that done, I instructed my 2 best ball handlers and jumpers to get the ball out to the other players that I will substitute in so that they too will score to share in the victory. The Parents of the boys in the stands really got into it then seeing their little one score and being given a chance to play. (We won this game with a team effort by 20 points and they learned a valuable lesson of working together to overcome an embarrassing situation and to succeed.)
After the game was over, the other coach came over to shake my hand for the win and to thank me for not running up the score on his team. Meanwhile I saw my School Board President making a bee line for us with something very obvious on her mind to express to him since her son was on the team. She pulled up short and listened to what I was telling him.
“If I was a vindictive coach I would have left my starting 5 in like he did last week when they had beaten my team by 20 points. Only He would have had to explain to his School Board President “Why a team who his team had beaten by 20 points came back the next week and had beaten his team by 100.” I told him that he had forgotten why I had agreed to get together a team for this age group: Sportsmanship, team play, learning to bounce back and most of all Fair Play.
After he turned and left, she came on up to me and told me”I was going to tell him “How did he like that and Now he would have to deal with an upset son like she had to the past week?” “Oh, how I wanted to rub his nose into that, but then I heard what you were saying and realized I was lowering myself to his level and I didn’t like what I saw. Thank you Coach for saying what you did and also for stopping me from making a fool out of myself.”
Note:
This was the only game that I have in a win colum here on Earth, but in Heaven I’m at 100% win. My main object in coaching was to teach my players how to bounce back from defeat and to go on. That some one had to lose sometime and that they had better know how to handle it. If we won any games that was the extra effort that they had put into it.
My most Soul Searching Experience as a Coach occurred a few months later:
One of my star athletes was hit and killed while riding his bike after dark without a light. I still can hear his voice asking “Aw Coachie,do we have to do that?” Working with children as a teacher/coach, a teacher get really close with his players, much like a father image. He really touched me deeply since I had a son about 5 years younger. I did some real honest soul searching about what my main purpose in life was suppose to be. I realized that I was suppose to be involved in medicine. This is the main reason why I went back to school to become an Licensed Practical Nurse.
June 1980-Sept. 1990
moved to 3500 29th Avenue North where I continued to work for Bay Pines VAMC. Was AFGE Local 547 Vice-President for 1 year and Assistant Chief Steward. While here my youngest son was born.
Sept. 1990 to present:
North Carolina:
Moved of out St. Petersburg, Florida to Moffit Branch Road for 6 months (renting) before finding our home in April of 1991 and buying it in Botany Woods, a subdivision in Riceville Community area. Continued to work for VAMC at Asheville, North Carolina. (As they say you can take the boy out of the mountains but you'll never take the mountains out of the boy.)
I realized as I was reviewing my site that I hadn't put down anything since I was medically retired from the VAMC Jan. 31, 2004. To make a long story short, I had asked for not floating due to my PTSD to those areas that escalated my PTSD through my Mental Health Clinic Doctor's recommendation. The Chief of Nursing didn't want anything to do in honoring my request. As a result I had flash backs that night and ended up going out on Medical disability due to this intolerance. If I hadn't gone on Auto-pilot I wouldn't be here today. I was helped by the Union President the next day when he realized that I wasn't here in person but that I had flashed back to Vietnam. The last day I worked was Nov. 20, 2003 with my paperwork going in that morning at 8am due to the previous day meeting outcome.
St. Eugene's Church- a very special place to me in order to regain my Faith.
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