Boys, Here’s What Happened
The following stories are from my book, Boys, Here’s What Happened. They are set in Golden, Colorado and trace a boy’s life from the optimistic 1950s to the tumultuous 1960s. The stories touch on nearly universal experiences including the torment of a first love, the joys and sorrows of Little League, the trauma of childhood square dancing, the perils of a paper route, the love of close family, the excitement of high school romances, the suffering endured in high school football, the challenges of a first job, the struggle of coming of age at the time of the Viet Nam War and the value of life long friends.
I wrote these stories for my grandsons, Conner and Tyler Gaffney because we are miles apart and I don’t have as much time to share my tales with them as I would like. When I grew up, holidays and birthdays brought friends and family together regularly where my family’s stories were shared and treasured. I loved listening to the stories my grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and parents told and retold. I even came to enjoy the slight — or in some cases — extreme exaggerations that came with every retelling. Those stories grounded me in my family. As an only child, they helped me understand the bigger family of which I was a small part. Those stories were our unwritten family history. I hope my stories will give my grandsons a sense of their history as much as my family’s stories did for me.
I’ve done my best to remember these stories, but keep in mind the events I described happened 60 to 70 years ago. When memory failed, I filled in the blanks. As you read these stories, remember that there may be some exaggeration here and there. As a good writer once said, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good tale.” I'll leave it to you to decide what’s a stretch.
Click on the image or the title to open the story.
Boys, sooner or later a girl will come along whom you will find breathtaking. You will fall head over heels for her, do everything in your power to win her affection, then she will break your heart. Here’s what happened.
Boys, don’t listen to bullies. They are insecure and pick on smaller, weaker people to make themselves feel big and important. Instead, listen to the people who believe in you and want to help. That’s the lesson I learned in my first season playing Little League baseball. Here’s what happened.
Boys, we didn’t talk about mental illness in 1958. It was something to be hidden; we felt embarrassed and ashamed if anyone in our family struggled with mental illness. While we still have a long way to go, we are beginning to understand that mental illness is like any other sickness.; it is not the fault of the afflicted and can be treated with therapy, medication and hard work. Here’s what happened.
Boys, it’s important to keep an open mind to new things, no matter how horrible they may sound. You may be surprised. Sometimes they turn out OK. For me, that horrible new thing was square dancing. As it turned out, square dancing was better than I thought. Here’s what happened.
Boys, maybe you’ve already heard the old saying, “When you get thrown off a horse, get up, dust yourself off and get back in the saddle.” I learned that lesson literally, working on a ranch, breaking a pony. Here’s what happened.
Boys, we are all strangely attracted to dangerous things, whether it’s a deadly rattlesnake or illegal fireworks. As children and teens, we are willing to break the rules for the excitement generated by the risky or forbidden. As adults, we create rules to mitigate the danger. Yet, even as adults the excitement never truly ends and sometimes rules are bent or broken. Here’s what happened.
Boys, There are many lessons to be learned from delivering papers. My route taught me responsibility, dependability, and the fundamentals of running a small business. It also taught me how to deal with difficult people. Here’s what happened.
Boys, The population of Golden and most of Jefferson County was almost entirely white, so I had very little experience who didn’t look like me. My knowledge of other races came from watching racial violence on the TV news. Surprisingly to me, racial unrest wasn’t just between whites and Blacks or whites and Hispanics; it was across all races. Two of my friends and I got a very personal look when we found ourselves in a tough situation on a bus to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Here’s what happened.
Boys, my cousin Fritz was like the older brother I never had. He taught me how to cuss, chew and spit. He had a wide variety of off-color remarks, which I adopted as soon as I heard them. Those words served me well when I was trading insults with my friends; they always wondered where I came up with such novel phrases. And, as you have read, he made a practice of saving me from threats of all kinds. He was always there when I needed him, my guardian angel. Here’s what happened.
Boys, sooner or later you will play on a team pegged as underdogs, but don’t give up, things can change. I played Little League Baseball on a team that no one thought had a chance. We were horrible; no one thought we would win a game. But all that changed unexpectedly when a new kid moved to town. Here’s what happened.
Boys, my mom’s side of the family came from very little. Mom’s parents worked hard as dairy farmers, brewery workers and cooks, then spent their last years in a house that started life as a chicken coop. Despite a life of hard work and lack of material things, they were happy. Here’s what happened.
Boys, Its’ important to play by the rules. If you cheat, you will disgrace your family, your community and yourself. You will feel terrible. One time, I built a soapbox derby racer on my own as specified in the rulebook. I asked for advice from my family but the work was all mine. As a result, the car definitely looked as if an unskilled fourteen-year-old boy had built it. It was ugly. Other boys and their families cheated. Their racers looked as if they were built by professional mechanics — and they were. As you might expect, the race didn’t go well for me, but things turned out fine in the end. Here’s what happened.
Boys, learn how to use your head. It’s so much easier to think your way through life than to get into fights, or break your back doing manual labor. At one point, I found myself facing a challenging situation, but I didn’t panic. I kept cool and thought my out of it. Here’s what happened.
Boys, Sooner or later, your will find yourself in a fistfight. It’s inevitable. When you do, you better know how to throw a punch. Here’s what happened.
Boys, beware of older women; they are enticing. When I was a teenager, I fell for one. Our relationship was doomed from the beginning, but it was great while it lasted. Here’s what happened.
Boys, a summer job is a great place to learn how to work: following orders, seeing what needs to done and doing it without being asked. If things work out, you may even get to be an assistant manager. But beware, the responsibilities of management can bring challenges you don’t see coming. Here’s what happened.
Boys, everyone rebels against authority at some point. I imagine you will. We sneaked out of the house, smoked cigarettes and drank beers before we were of age. Usually, these small rebellions and consequences were minor. If our parents caught us, we were grounded for days, or even weeks. But one time, it was much more serious. Here’s what happened.
Boys, I learned many lessons playing football including endurance, perseverance, and team loyalty. Despite the lessons I learned, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t play football. I would pursue sports that are safer and more in-line with my abilities such as cross-county, cycling or golf. Here’s what happened.
Boys, my friends and I were very competitive. Not only did we compete in athletics, we competed in pranks and practical jokes. We constantly played tricks on one another and then sought revenge when we were the butt of the joke. Our motto was don’t get mad, get even. Here’s what happened.
Boys, if you are ever with your girlfriend and a fortune-teller stops you and offers to tell your girl’s future, ignore the fortune-teller and keep walking. Nothing good can come from this. Here’s what happened.
Boys, driving a car is a big responsibility. My friends and I didn’t always act responsibly, but we were lucky. We sped, drag raced, and drove recklessly, but we were never caught and amazingly, no one got hurt. We should have been arrested and had our licenses suspended — on several occasions. Just because I got away with it, it doesn’t mean you will. Drive Responsibly! Here’s what happened.
Boys, guns and hunting were commonplace in Golden, but guns in untrained hands can be extremely dangerous. My cousins always asked me to go deer hunting with them, but I never did. They were well-trained and careful riflemen, but I didn’t like killing animals so I didn’t go. Later, I learned how deadly guns could be if you are, like my friend Bruce, careless or … lost. Here’s what happened.
Boys, a time will come when you must leave your childhood behind, become a man, and face the real world and all of its problems. For me, like so many of my generation, it was when I turned 18, registered for the draft and left home for college. Here’s what happened.