Мое путешествие к Свету. Часть 1. My Journey to The Light. Part 1

“The Range of Light” - I cannot imagine having never seen nor set foot in these beautiful mountains. It is a magnificent range. I could wax on for the next 100 pages and never fully capture the “Essence” of “The Range of Light”, my “Sacred Place”. Though they are far from me now, my memories will always be filled with their “Light”. I was the second born of 5 children. I was raised in a good family where values mattered. My parents were very strong folk, neither one tolerating excuses when hardships appeared in life. My father was raised poor and at the age of 22, as WWII was raging, found himself traipsing all across Europe. He served with the 2 nd and 3 rd Infantry Divisions. He was in numerous battles and engagements, the worst of which was probably the “Battle of the Bulge”. His unit found itself trapped along the Siegfried Line in the “Dragon’s Teeth”. Call it fate or what have you, that my father was even on the ground fighting. He wanted to be a P51 pilot and passed all the initial tests. Then more causalities and if memory serves me correctly, the Army had worked the list of potential pilots down through “L” and stopped. Everyone whose name started with an “M” down was assigned to combat units. Pearce obviously falls after “L”. He carried many physical wounds, yet, his greatest struggle must have been the horrific memories of the atrocities of war. He was hell-bent on raising children who would rise above mediocracy and “make something of their lives”. He was a great encourager. He was a quiet man. Most often folks missed his depth, for he usually only showed a very surface aspect of his “True self”. Most people did not realize he cared a great deal about health and had brought his own body back from all his injuries sustained during combat.