Let me give you a little background first.

So, my name is Joel.  I grew up in Savannah, Georgia where I was raised by my single (at the time) mother. 

                   This is the house I grew up in.  I remember my mom planting that tree on the right.  It was small enough back in the early 1980's that I could jump over it.


When I was 10 my mother married a U.S. Army Major named Phil.  I actually met Phil before my mother did.  His sons and I went to the same school there in Savannah.

                  I went to St. James Catholic School in Savannah.  It was full of nuns and a couple priests from County of Cork Ireland.

St. James encouraged parents to be active volunteers and Phil used to monitor recess (my mother usually did lunch duty and passed out pizza.)  This being the 1980's and nuns and priests at the time believing that fitness of the mind can't occur without fitness of the body, fighting wasn't encouraged, but it wasn't frowned on either.  

               
                   I vividly remember watching two 8th graders duking it out in that breezeway while all 4 of the priests stood by and watched until it was finished.






                                                                                                                                                                
Anyway, the first words Phil ever said to me were "Kid, you gotta learn to fight" as he picked me up off the ground after Brian Smith and I rumbled one afternoon (kids in the 80's were a little more rough and tough even in the 1st grade.)

Well, not long after my mom and Phil got married we moved to Williamsburg, VA.  Mom was looking for a change (which the night life of Savannah as compared to sleepy college town Williamsburg was a huge change) and Phil went wherever the Army sent him.


Life went on, I went to college, I worked some jobs and I collected some stories.  Hopefully, this will be a good outlet to try and record them on.