Being fifteen in 1973, Minneapolis, Minnesota


When I first started writing in this blog, my intention was to explore history before I was born, and that's what I usually do here. But as the years have gone by I've found that my own life seems to cover the type of history that many people don't know about, so today we're going back to 1973, when I was fifteen years old.

I was watching a video this morning of a comedian talking about how much his son knew at 15, which was everything. And, as someone who is no longer fifteen, I know that that level of confidence peaks at 18, and then tends to fall off quickly, as you find out that the world is a much more complicated place than you ever imagined.

I grew up with three brothers, and we were all monkey boys. My dad hung ropes, and swings, and just about anything that a group of orangutans would want, in the backyard. At fifteen I had just started on the gymnastics team, which my brother got me on, even though I was still a year away from high school. I guess they weren't that strict in those days. What I'm doing there, by the way, is called an "L-lever" which seemed impressive to grownups, but was actually very easy for me. All you really need is very skinny legs, which I had.

In the background of my early teen years was the Vietnam War, which had been going on for a very long time, and unlike previous wars that the United States was been involved in, was mostly seen as unpopular. People were protesting against it, and some people were burning their draft cards. It worked like this: there was a lottery to see if you would be drafted, and you were given a number when you registered for the draft. The war ended in 1975, while I was still too young to be drafted, and at the time both the draft and registration for the draft ended. Actually, registration was quietly reinstated, but for young men my age, it didn't exist. I'm not sure when it returned, but not long afterwards I'm sure as most people don't even know that it was ever suspended.

At fifteen I was already making arrangements to get out of Minneapolis. Unlike most of my friends, I hated the snow and cold (although the summers are pleasant!). My friends played hockey, and were happy living in an ice world, but I dreamed of places that were warm all of the time. I had never seen them, except in movies, but I know that they existed.

I didn't have a car in high school, but I bought one when I turned eighteen, and the following year I packed up the most important stuff I could think of, like a tennis racquet, a small set of golf clubs, and a drawing board, and moved to Phoenix. My confidence will still very high, and even though I've learned a lot since then, it remains that way.
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