Why A Blog Now???!!!

"...to conceive extravagant hopes of the future, are the common dispositions of the greatest part of mankind."
                              Edmund Burke (1729-1797)



The rest of Spring, 1966 was beset with concerns for the future.  The U.S. was beginning to be mired down in an unpopular war in Viet Nam, the end of living in an idyllic college environment for me was fast approaching, I had no firm career plans and...I was in love.  I can't say I was particularly political at that time, nor did I have strong views about the war and its legitimacy having been "cloistered" for four years in a rural college community at the far northern reaches of our country.  The world seemed to be passing us by.  "Miranda rights" for suspects were set forth, the National Organization for Women was formed, Muhammad Ali declared himself a conscientious objector, color TV was rolled out on the three major networks, gas was 31 cents a gallon, and John Lennon of the Beatles said "We are more popular than Jesus...", and the war escalated.  Many of my buddies who were in ROTC were preparing to go off to war, and there was a collective anxiety.

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy came to campus and spoke to a packed house.  He described his positions on Viet Nam, Medicare, and student protests, underlining his view that we must continue to honor our commitment in Viet Nam and predicted there would be 400,000 troops there by year's end.  I remember asking him a question about domestic terrorism by the Ku Klux Klan as he had been the Attorney General under his late brother and had pursued that hateful group.

Robert Kennedy on campus...that's me in the lower left hand corner leaning on my hand

 I was not a particularly outstanding student during my college career so this made future choices even more narrow.  Ever since childhood, I always wanted to be a physician, other than a short period of misguidedness when I seriously thought about becoming a rabbi in Reform Judaism.  In 11th grade, I even went to Cincinnati for a serious interview at Hebrew Union College which had a joint program with the University of Cincinnati  to which I was accepted. I had second thoughts and quickly thought better of it, returning to plans for a career in Medicine.  I struggled through majoring as a pre-med in Chemistry, particularly Physical Chemistry.   Looking back, I think I received bad advice and could have majored in History or even Government and would have had better chances of medical school admission.  There are always so many roads not taken.  As a result of the war, there was about one medical school admission for every fifty applicants so the competition was fierce.  I duly sent in my applications and received one rejection after another.  I was, however, admitted to a PhD program at New York Medical College in Anatomy...the closest I could get to a med school!  I planned on accepting this and going on with my life.

Romantically, I pursued my courtship with Suzanne, getting to know her family better as she did mine.  I remember her dad, Tex, asking me, being a pre-med student, to assist him in the barn one late night, delivering a Holstein heifer calf that was in a breech position.  After tying rope around the feet of the infant, we literally pulled it out of its mother!  He also asked me to administer a huge pill to another cow by means of a "balling gun", which, essentially was a plunger that went in the bovine's mouth.  This was quite the education for me and some bonding with my future father-in-law.

A Holstein and her calf

A balling gun

Graduation was set for the weekend of June 4th, and, besides my plan for studying in New York City, I planned to ask Suzanne to marry me.  I bought the tiniest diamond from a jeweler in New Rochelle ( I still have the bill!) and planned the time and place...Friday, June 3rd, 1966, on the steps of the administration building overlooking the quad.  I don't recall if I actually got down on my knee but she responded in the affirmative.  Suzanne, rightly so, was adamant about finishing her degree and, as she was two years behind me, we both knew that there would be separation.  We had no idea really how far apart that separation was to be!  Suzanne's mother, Peg, an alumnus, was actually there on campus for her reunion, and I'm not so sure how well she accepted this plan, but, nevertheless, we persisted.  Looking back., I suppose I should have had some discussions with her before I proposed.

Peg, me, and Suzanne graduation weekend

Goodbye, St. Lawrence!

We were apart for a good part of that summer, Suzanne working on the farm and me, working as an orderly, at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, wheeling patients to surgery.  It was there that I met another orderly, Don Heise, an American studying at the Free University of Brussels Faculty of Medicine.  We had some long discussions about this alternate pathway, the high quality of the school and the fact that all instruction was in French, with oral exams.  After much thought, I decided to apply, having had seven years of French instruction and feeling quite comfortable with the language.  Why pursue something I had little interest in doing when there was an opportunity to do what I really wanted to do.  I applied and was accepted.  I had some mixed thoughts and internal conflict about making this huge next step.  My wise mother, Beatrice, told me that, if I didn't go, I'd regret it the rest of my life.  I applied for a visa and had to go to NYC to the Belgian Consulate to be interviewed.  I remember entering a darkly decorated room where the Belgian Consul sat in an over-padded armchair, smoking a cigarette, probably a Belga by its powerful aroma.  As I entered, he greeted me in French, and then tossed the Belgian newspaper "Le Soir" at me.  He asked me to read it and explain to him in French what I had read!  I smiled as he finally stamped the visa into my passport.

The rest of the summer was in a preparatory mode, getting ready to go off to Belgium in October, and seeing Suzanne as frequently as I could, either in Mt. Vernon or Cherry Valley.  One day I drove up there, a 3 1/2 hour drive, to see her in the fields, sitting atop a Harvester tractor, mowing hay.  She jumped off and ran towards me and, as we embraced, that wonderfully invigorating  scent of fresh cut hay was as good and enticing as anything put out by Arpege or Chanel.  She was to return to college in the Fall and then summer school to get extra credits so she would complete college by January of 1968.  We set our wedding date for July 15, 1967 which meant we would be apart for half a year after being married.

The last cog in the wheel popped up in August of that summer when I received the infamous greeting from my local Draft Board to appear before them and discuss my future.  It was a hot day in that office building on Stevens Avenue in Mt. Vernon.  By total coincidence, I met Nick Nardullo there, the very same fraternity brother who was on a date with Suzanne in Buck and Red's Rendezvous that fateful night when I first laid eyes on her!  He was going into a teaching position which was allowed an exemption.  Then it was my turn to stand before the Board and explain my future plans.  They then adjourned for a few minutes and went into a conference room to determine my fate.  I was ready to enlist if things were not in my favor but this was not necessary.  They explained I'd be of better service to my country as a medical officer once I completed my studies, as they handed me a 2S deferment.  I don't exactly remember my response but it certainly was one of gratitude that they had faith in me and my future.  Only a year before, Dr. Adolph Spandorf, my five foot tall Biology Professor, an Austrian immigrant, stood before me and pronounced, "Mr. Mayer, you vill never be a doctor!"

Next: Belgium!