Most of us are just ordinary people. Not too many of us are famous as viewed by society today. Looking back at my journey through life I realized how all the events in life shaped me and helped me learn lessons along the way. Following my Vietnam era enlistment in the Navy, I went back to night school and started a new career with the skills learned while in the Navy. I married my wonderful wife in the late seventies and we had two beautiful daughters. I retired from corporate life in late 2011 and started another career of writing and photography. You will probably laugh at some of my adventures and shake you your head and wonder 'why did he do that' at some others.
**My earliest recollection took place a couple months before my third birthday in 1949 when my brother was born. I was with my father in the front seat of the car when we pulled up outside the hospital. My eyes squinted with the reflection of the sun off the concrete as the nurse pushed my mother and new little brother in a wheelchair down the long sidewalk to our car. The nurse got them situated in the back seat. Keep in mind that there were no baby car seats in 1949. I was so excited trying to see my new brother that I started jumping up and down to look over the high back of the front seat just as my father was pulling away from the curb. Amid my jumping, I landed on the door handle which pushed down to open and the door flew open and I tumbled out of the car right on my head. I remember my mother screaming but all I could think of was that it’s a long way home and I wasn’t going to be left on the street. So I popped up running as fast as I could to catch the car which had now stopped. I don’t remember much more about that day except having to sit facing forward and being very still. **At about five or six I had to have my tonsils removed. I remember the staff wheeling me to the operating room and my mother waving at me. They put a mask over my mouth and nose and said to count. I shook my head no and held my breath. I overheard one of the nurses saying “he will have to breathe sooner or later” Sure enough I did breathe and then woke up in a high up bed in the hospital room. I remember wondering where Mom was as she had said that she would be here when I woke up. Well if Mom is not here, I’ll find her. I climbed over the railing and jumped on the floor. My throat was hurting really bad. I ran out the door and down the corridor. All of a sudden the alarm was sounded—runaway kid. Several of the nurses started chasing me. I turned left at the next corner and then left again down the center corridor. The hospital staff was converging on me near the elevator. Just as I was about to get cornered, the elevator doors opened and out walked Mom. She had gone to lunch because no one expected me to wake up so soon. The staff was not too upset with me. However, I was sternly informed not to do that again. They did give me ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That was the only good part about this.
Ken Holly is just an ordinary guy with an ordinary past. He grew up in post-World War II America as a middle-class boy in an old fashioned surburban neighborhood, learning the value of hard work and absorbing the strong ethics of the Greatest Generation. But being ordinary is what makes Ken special. Whimsical and honest, An Ordinary Guy shares Ken's story of how a childhood spent in Houston, Texas, in the 1950's made a lasting impact on his life. Ken was a faithful church-goer who grew up surrounded by World War II Veterans and was active in Boy Scouts; in this memoir, he reveals how each of these influences shaped him into the adult he is today. He also discusses how his values sustained him in some of the most challenging times of his life. While serving in the US Navy as an aviation electronic tech and radioman, Ken had some close calls but came out of them unscathed. Following his military service, he went back to school, built a career in electronics, and married his wife, Pat. He became a father twice with the birth of his two daughters and continued working until his retirement in 2011. Through all of life's challenges, Ken never forgot those influential days of his youth. My book is available on this site in Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4624-0432-2 Buy it Now
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