Chapter 7: 1979-1981, Expanding horizons

They were settled in at Spicebush now, and Steven was enrolled at Wellington High School. Lonnie, however, was now faced with the question of what he was going to do with the rest of his life.

2 The period between his early graduation from Ridgeville High and getting moved into their new home had been exciting and rewarding. Sure, there had been plenty of work in finishing the house and getting the old one ready for sale; but there had also been many glorious hours of tramping through the woods and exploring the abundant plant life he found there.

3 He wanted to be a park ranger, but that didn’t seem very practical. He would probably have to move far away from his family, and it would still be hard to get a foot in the door – even with a willingness to relocate. There was also the issue of his religion to consider. Rangers often had to work on the Sabbath.

4 There was, however, a small technical college in southeastern Ohio that offered what appeared to be an excellent two-year program in Environmental Health. “I won’t be in the middle of the woods, but I can still make a contribution to protecting the environment in the form of cleaner water and air,” he reasoned. He would also be close enough to come home on weekends – an important consideration for a young man who was so attached to home and family.

5 “I think that Hocking is the best choice,” Lonnie told his grandparents. “I’d really like to try and go this fall.” “We’ll do everything we can to help you,” they assured him.

6 Wayne told him that he would help him too. “You have a fine mind, son,” he said. “It would be a shame and a waste if you didn’t attend college.”

7 That fall, Lonnie rented a room on the second floor of a private home that shared a kitchen and bathroom with another student down the hall. Clara Hashman rented the rooms to supplement her social security and retirement income from her deceased husband.

8 “I don’t want any wild parties, and I expect you to keep the place clean,” she told Lonnie. “You can’t have overnight guests, and you will have to be in at a reasonable hour.” Lonnie smiled. “I don’t have any problems with any of that,” he assured her.

9 Lonnie was still getting used to his classes, fellow students and new landlady when word came that a group of radical Iranian students had taken fifty-two Americans hostages in Tehran. “I’m sure that the president will demand their release,” he told Mrs. Hashman. “I hope so,” she replied.

10 The president, however, did not secure their immediate release, and the captivity of the hostages dragged on and on, month after month. As the election approached in the fall of 1980, it was becoming clear to almost everyone that Ronald Reagan would defeat Jimmy Carter, the incumbent president.

11 On Inauguration Day, like many of his fellow Americans, Lonnie watched the television set in his room as Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the fortieth president of the United States. He was impressed by the optimistic tone of his address to the nation and was thankful that the hostages had finally been released. Maybe a new day really had dawned after a long, dark night.

12 Still, Lonnie was apprehensive about what he perceived as Reagan’s indifference toward environmental issues. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” he told his friends.

13 Then, in March, the news flashed on the television screen that there had been an incident involving the president at a Washington hotel. As the coverage continued, it was revealed that shots had been fired, and that people had been injured. Lonnie raced downstairs to Mrs. Hashman’s den.

14 “Are you watching this?” he asked. “Yes, it’s awful,” she replied. Eventually, they (along with the rest of the nation and world) learned that the president had been shot. Upon hearing that, Lonnie and his landlady quickly bowed their heads and prayed together for Mr. Reagan’s recovery.

15 Although the life-threatening nature of his injuries were not fully appreciated at the time, everyone understood that the president had literally just dodged a bullet. After all, it was clear to them that the injuries sustained by his press secretary and others had been very serious. Even so, Reagan recovered quickly, and his survival added to the aura of strength, success and good humor that had already made him so popular with the American people.

16 Lonnie graduated from college that summer, and Steven graduated from high school. To celebrate those events, Doodle and Clayton hosted a party down by the creek. Linda and their siblings by her second husband attended the affair, as well as both local and out of state family and friends. There was plenty of food and plenty of alcohol.

17 For Lonnie, however, the real celebration of his accomplishment was his grandfather’s decision to take him on a two-week long trip out West. They placed two cots in the back of his Chevy Scottsdale pickup truck with a camper shell over the bed, and they followed Interstate 80 out through Iowa and Nebraska.

18 “They say that the Platte River is a mile wide and an inch deep,” Lonnie told him as they drove along the watercourse. When they got to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, he asked his grandfather to pull over by a mountain stream. He jumped out of the truck and dipped his feet into the cold rushing water.

19 “Can you believe that there is still snow up here in June?” Lonnie asked in disbelief as they rode up into the mountains. He got out of the truck and made a snowball, but the air was a little too thin for much play.

20 The following day, they headed north for Wyoming and the massive Wind River Reservation. “I want to see the places where my Native American cousins live,” Lonnie had explained to his grandfather.

21 However, as they drove through the reservation, he began to realize that many of his notions about these people and how they lived were inaccurate and naive. “They do not look like me, and most of them appear to be very poor and are living in modern housing,” he observed.

22 Slowly, he began to realize that he had romanticized many of his ideas about these people and his connections to them. For one thing, he was surprised to see so many White folks wondering around and living there.

23 Even so, Lonnie did feel a spiritual energy flowing through him which he had not felt before. It may not have been what he expected, but he definitely felt a connection to this land and its people.

24 From there, they continued westward and shortly entered the valley of Jackson Hole. “Poppa, look at the reflection of the Tetons in that lake!” Lonnie exclaimed. Clayton smiled and simply said, “Yeah, I see it.”

25 They continued north into Yellowstone National Park. “This is where it all began,” Lonnie told his grandfather. “This was the first national park.” As they drove deeper into the park, Lonnie thought about President Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to the park just seventy-eight years before his own.

26 “Stop, pull over!” Lonnie suddenly shouted. “What for?” Clayton asked as he pulled the pickup off of the road and parked. “Look at all of those buffalo and elk!” Lonnie exclaimed as he jumped out of the vehicle and began running across the open ground toward them. There were plenty of other tourists who had their cameras out and were doing the same thing.

27 A park ranger, however, shouted at them and motioned for everyone to return to the side of the road. “These are wild animals in their natural habitat, and you are guests in their world,” he explained to the crowd that had now gathered around him. “The ground here is also unstable. There is geothermal activity everywhere here beneath us. Hence, you must stay on the dedicated roadways and paths,” he continued.

28 Later, they also stopped to see Old Faithful and spent the night at one of the designated campgrounds. They immediately noticed that lids were attached and firmly secured to every garbage can in the area.

29 “Make sure that you do not leave any food out, and that all food is secured away from your vehicle,” another ranger had told them. “You don’t want a bear snooping around in your camp,” he explained.

30 The next day, they skirted around Yellowstone Lake and headed east toward the Bighorn Mountains. They were working on the roads that summer, and Clayton was not very pleased with the gravel and dirt surfaces which they had to traverse through the mountains.

31 “Damn!” and “What the hell?” were frequent expletives along the way, but Lonnie was in heaven. The mountains were beautiful. And, as they wound their way through them, Neil Diamond’s America started playing on the radio. Lonnie had goosebumps.

32 In South Dakota, they visited Mount Rushmore. While his grandfather sat down on one of the benches, Lonnie stood on the viewing platform and closely observed the faces of the presidents who had been carved into stone. The visages of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln stared back at him. “This is my country,” he thought. “This is my heritage – sweet land of liberty.”

33 They also stopped at Badlands National Park. “Isn’t this beautiful!” Lonnie exclaimed. “Looks like a bunch of dirt and rocks to me,” his grandfather replied. “Oh, Poppa!” “Well, it does,” Clayton chuckled.

34 “We have to see Pine Ridge and Rosebud,” Lonnie proclaimed. “Why?” Clayton demanded. “Because I told you that I wanted to see the reservations, and I have to see Wounded Knee,” he explained.

35 “You’re determined to get me off on every cow path and pig trail you see,” Clayton protested. “This is important, Poppa,” Lonnie persisted. “This is at the heart of this entire trip.”

36 As they drove across the plains, Clayton complained that he didn’t see “a damn thing” worth noticing. However, when they parked by the sign marking the spot where the “Battle of Wounded Knee” had occurred ninety-one years ago, Lonnie jumped out of the truck and began reading the plaque.

37 The first thing he noticed was that the word “Battle” had been marked through and someone had scribbled the word “Massacre” over it. He had read Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee the previous summer, and he understood the strong feelings which this place and the events which had occurred here evoked among Native Americans.

38 As he stood there and looked out toward the place where the events had unfolded so long ago, he did not feel the pride which had enveloped him just a few hours before. In its place, there was sorrow, shame and many questions.

39 “Is this a part of my heritage?” he asked himself. “What was it really like to be hunted like an animal and forced off of your land?” he wondered. A strong breeze was blowing; and, despite the summer sun overhead, he suddenly felt cold and very connected to those who had died here.

40 There were still many miles between them and home, but Lonnie knew that the trip had effectively ended here. This was the objective of his pilgrimage. The things which he had seen on this trip epitomized the dichotomy inherent in his heritage as an American – the good and the bad.

41 As they headed home, Lonnie thought about that contrast and its implications for him and the country he loved. He couldn’t reject it or deny it. It was an integral part of who he was. It was all a part of his heritage, and all he could do was embrace it and claim it as his own.