A New Adventure

We affectionately called her the “Blue Goose.” That was our name for the newspaper’s van back in the early 70’s. This blue half-ton panel van was used to pick up each week’s edition of the newspaper from the printer and then deliver them to the area stores.

It was a 1972 Chevrolet G10 “Shorty” with a three speed manual transmission on the column. Years later I learned to drive a manual transmission on that old van. 

Life’s a dance you learn as you go. That song was performed by country and western singer John Michael Montgomery in 1992. If life is a dance we learn a lot about this dance from the jobs we do.

There was a time when most people stayed in one job for most of their lives, like Ruth Jost. Ruth has been employed at Warden Publishing almost as long as we have been around, since February of 1974. Warden Publishing was incorporated in 1963.

Forty years ago I left the comforts of home and drove 90 miles in my 1972 Nova to attend the University of Missouri in Columbia — also the alma mater of my wife. Eleven days ago Connie and I drove our Dodge Grand Caravan those same 90 miles to watch our baby girl graduate from ole’ Mizzou. 

The first car was a two door muscle car from the 70’s for a bachelor, the second, a vehicle to transport a family of five or more to school functions.

I’m sure you will agree that the domestic duties of a modern-day husband are quite different from our grandfathers and even our fathers. Everything started to change in the last century during World War II when women joined the workforce in greater numbers.