|
I was born on the 2nd
of March, 1948 in Sellersville, Pennsylvania. My father, a well-driller
for Harry Gargus at the time, was also part owner of an old hotel
coverted into apartments located across the street from Schmell's
General Store in Applebachsville on the old stage coach run from
Dublin to Bethlehem, PA. It was a good place to grow up. Plenty
of country to roam in and plenty of kids to pal around with.
Two
year old Erick with Buzzy
The family moved 7 miles west to
Quakertown when I was five, purchasing a small, white, monopoly
house just outside the town line. The home is still owned by my
70 year old mother, Gambelin' Granny, shown here with her winner's
check after hitting Caeser's progressive slots big-time in Atlantic
City. The check is a fraud, of course... they pay off only $11,000
a year over 20 years. But Gamblin' Granny is still a winner
and continues to play the slots - and win!
Gamblin'
Granny
I graduated from Quakertown Community
High School in 1966 and went in the US Navy immediately. I spent
six years in the Navy and never boarded a ship... well, I did go
on an English aircraft carrier once to get some guys who we were
going to play softball with, but that doesn't count. I was an Intelligance
Yeoman, attached to admiral's staffs. I worked for SACLANT in Norfolk,
VA and CINCUSNAVEUR in London, England.
|
Jennifer, Gage, hubby Karl, Garrett
|
Aaron
|
By this time I had a family with
two children. A wondrous daughter, Jennifer Rebecca and a gung-ho
son, Aaron Jason. The Emert Kids. I exited the Navy and started
a string of jobs that finally led me to Phoenix, AZ in late 1992.
Along the way I acquired another son, Jason Paul, and an adopted
daughter Ally, the Smith kids. Jenn and Aaron both still live back
in PA. In fact, Jenn is married and recently made me a grandfather
twice over with the addition of two wondrous sons, Gage and Garrett
to our growing family. Jason lives out here in Arizona and
is married to Terri. The Smith's had their first baby, Kylee, and
followed up quickly (10 months later) with their second, Garrett. And Ally,
well, Ally is sometimes here and sometimes there. We always
look forward to her visits.
Jason
and Terri
Ally
Currently I work for a firm that
distributes assessment testing materials called Drake Kryterion. They
make the finest such materials in the country. You can find them
at www.webassessor.com
if you'd like to check them out.
Since joining us in 1990 Ally &
I started putting together notes for stories about her people who
live in a land similar to our own but different. I did
a lot of background research with Ally before I actually started
writing her story. I understand her language and history owing to
a lifetime study of our own world history and histories of our Native
Americans.
Out of all this came the stories
of Ahllie and the Weald. One June I joined an on-line work
shop called Write Lab and started honing the craft of creative writing.
I then joined a great group of people on-line at the WritingChat
coffee house. The discipline I acquired thanks to participation
in these groups enabled me to come to grips with what I want to
achieve as a writer and as Ally's historian. I now have some direction
and am working toward attaining the writing goals I'd like to achieve.
A couple years later I drove to
Oregon to visit a friend from the on-line Coffee House. Sara and
her husband, David, opened their home to me and I had a wondrous
time visiting with them. Me being single, David asked whether I
intended to every marry again. I told him I figured I would and
he suggested I get busy and make myself available. When I returned
home, I followed up on David's suggestion.
I placed my profile on something
called Match.Com which is a way to meet people on the Internet.
My profile wasn't the usual height/weight/this-is-what-I-want type
of thing. I posted one of the poems Ally & I wrote about the
relationship of the Cord peoples. I simply stated, "If
you can see me in this, please write."
Pammers
Grant
& Sara
I didn't expect many responses and
didn't get many, but the ones I received were from truly nice individuals.
Within weeks, one exceptional young lady from Ohio, Pam, and myself
were corresponding on a daily basis. This led to huge phone bills,
our engagement, and our wedding in February of 1997. Who says
you can't meet extraordinary people on the net? Once again
the family circle grew as Pam brought to it her wondrous son, Grant
and his new wife, Sara.
Jake
and Sissy
Nieka,
Me, & Oscar
So there you have it. Pam and I
still live in our Arizona love nest with our dog, Neika. (Shes the dark
one on my right in this picture. The white dog is Oscar, Jason's
dog and Neika's son from an earlier litter.) Nieka provided
us with 7 pups, Skeezix, Scarlett (who's now named Becky), Bubba,
Charley, Tzena, Max, and Cubby Bear, of which we kept Bubba and
Tzena. The 'Black Pack' is pictured below, sans Max and Skeezix
who had already found a good home. Since then, we adopted
three kittens, Sissy, Jake, and Snowbell, and three new dogs, Sadie,
Ivy, and Carmel. Of course, Ally also rejoins the family from time
to time as well.
Charley,
Cubby, Tzena, Becky, Pam, Bubba
That's about it. Thank
you for taking the time to visit my home page. I hope you
enjoyed everything and I hope you come back for another visit soon.
Erick
|
