Back in Ohio, it was finally time for Steven to have
one of those major surgeries on his feet that the doctors had told them about
when he was a baby. “We will adjust the position of the tendons in his feet,”
Doctor Strong explained. “These are my colleagues: This is Dr. Hassler and Dr.
Bennett,” he continued. “They will be consulting with me on your son’s case.”
2 Steven spent that summer with both of his feet in
casts. Lonnie pushed him up and down the concrete driveway and along the
sidewalks that ran in front of the house. Nevertheless, the red-headed dynamo
was not to be kept down. He insisted on being wheeled into the middle of
neighborhood softball games and even tried his hand at bat from his chair!
3 There was, however, one very bright spot that
summer. On July 20, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Wayne allowed his young sons
to stay up past their bedtime and watch the events unfold on television with
the rest of the family. “This is history,” he told them. Then Neil Armstrong
took that first step off the lunar lander and said, “That’s one small step for
man – one giant leap for mankind.”
4 That fall, as Steven was still recuperating from his
surgery, his teacher came by the house in the evenings and gave him his lessons
so that he wouldn’t fall behind that year. “You’ve got to do your work,” she
told him. She was, nevertheless, completely charmed by the spirit and tenacity
of her student and probably let him get by with much more than she should have.
5 However, when Steven went to have his casts and
stitches removed, the doctor who had been assigned to the task was not as kind
and empathetic as his teacher had been. “Don’t move,” the doctor warned him.
“But it hurts,” Steven squirmed. The doctor gave him a little slap on the leg
and said, “That doesn’t hurt that bad!”
6 At about the same time, Dr. Strong entered the room.
“How would you know?” he demanded. “Have you ever had your damn feet cut on?”
The doctor quickly apologized and retreated from the room.
7 “How’s our little red-headed shit doing today?” Dr.
Strong asked. Steven smiled and wiped away the tears from his eyes. “Let’s see
what we have here,” Dr. Strong continued.
8 When he was finished with Steven, he turned to
Wayne. “My staff is going to show you a series of exercises that you will have
to perform on your son’s feet to maintain the flexibility of the tendons and
their use,” he explained. “They will be painful, but they are absolutely
necessary,” he concluded. Wayne shook his head to acknowledge that he
understood and swallowed the lump in his throat.
9 The following year Wayne met a young lady from
Elyria named Janice and proposed. She accepted, and the newly minted couple
decided to tell Clayton and Edna about their plans.
10 “Janice and I are going to be married at the end of
January,” Wayne told them. “Well, that was kinda fast, wasn’t it?” Clayton
asked. “Clayton,” Doodle scolded. “We’re happy for you,” she continued. “What
about the boys?”
11 Wayne swallowed hard. “Of course, we’ll want them
to stay with us,” he answered. “I’m looking forward to getting to know the
boys,” Janice added.
12 There was a knot in Edna’s stomach the size of a
grapefruit. “This is Wayne’s house,” she began. “Clayton and I will start
looking for a place of our own,” she told them. Clayton looked at her and
slowly shook his head.
13 The year that followed was pure hell for everyone.
Clayton and Edna moved to an apartment in Cleveland, and Janice moved in with
Wayne and the boys.
14 The new lady of the house didn’t waste any time in
trying to make the place her own. She had the living room painted fire engine
red, and the couch recovered in an orange floral print. “The boys are too old
for these stuffed animals,” she declared one day. The next day, they were all
boxed up and donated to the Salvation Army. Flower beds were ripped up and
rearranged, and it was clear to everyone that there was a new sheriff in town.
15 Edna, however, was already tired of suffering in
silence (and being separated from her grandchildren) and had convinced Clayton
to buy a new house for them just across town from Wayne and Janice. “That bitch
is not going to last, and the kids are going to need a stable home when she’s
gone,” she told him.
16 Within months, her prophecy about the marriage came
true. Wayne finally grew tired of trying to satisfy Janice and prolong what had
become a very unhappy situation for himself and his children.
17 Wayne divorced Janice and sold his home. Then he
and the boys moved into Clayton’s and Edna’s home. For Doodle, all was right
with the world again. For Wayne, his attempt to make a home for his boys and
stand on his own two feet had failed.
18 For Lonnie and Steven, there was comfort and
laughter when the family gathered around the television set every Saturday
evening to watch All in the Family.
Lonnie turned the channel to number eight on the dial (the CBS affiliate in
Cleveland), and everyone would smile when Archie and Edith sang “Those were the
days.” “Poppa has his own chair, just like Archie!” Steven observed. “Michael
is a meathead, but he isn’t always wrong,” Lonnie added.
19 On Thursday evenings, they watched The Waltons. “I remember that,” Edna
would often interject as the story unfolded. Lonnie particularly enjoyed the
soothing narration provided by the show’s creator at the beginning of each
story and the “good nights” from Grandpa, Grandma, Mama, Daddy, John Boy, Mary
Ellen, Jason, Ben, Jim Bob and Elizabeth at the end. Indeed, after the upheaval
of the last few years, the entire family longed for the simpler lifestyle
portrayed on the popular series and admired the love and commitment which the
characters displayed for each other.
20 The last four years had been turbulent and full of
surprises. In fact, outside of the fall television lineup, there seemed to be
little stability and continuity in American life. Even so, Richard Nixon was
reelected to a second term as President in November.
