18
Posted on 10/30/2013 12:22:29 AM PDT by jy8z
The first ride hired me for the day to string some communication wire between two rigs and introduced me to a driller that had an opening on his crew. Lived in Killdeer, ND, and worked as a roughneck on the drilling floor as a 17 year old. The company was Brinkerhoff Signal and the rig was down two hours of gravel road somewhere to the west of Grassy Butte, ND.
Ha, me too. I’ve been married 42 years.
At 18, in a Gremlin.
Worked several jobs at once, just to get away.
Briefly had to stay at the ‘rents house in my twenties.
It was hell.
You really can’t go home again.
I was 18 and left for college. I probably went home for Christmas. After working in the oil fields in the summer after my freshman year I returned home. My room was still there, but they had finally upgraded my basement bathroom and put in a real shower, insulated floor, and a HEATER in what had been my bathroom for many years (toilet, utilty sink and a curtain around a floor drain in the cold concrete floor).
I visited home once a year for the next 5 years, and then less frequently as I ended up on the east coast, then west coast. Never losing touch with my Midwest roots though.
Spent a few weeks with my high-functioning, but dieing mother this summer with my wife and kids. In reminiscing with her, going over old letters between her and my dad (rip), old photos, etc. Every once in awhile I would get a bit weepy. She made the comment “I guess it HAS been a long time since we’ve spent so much time together. When did you get so sentemental!?” (Her stoic Norwegian heritage.)
My kids and wife just laughed!
Of course now I miss my mom (rip), and my siblings (still in the midwest), more than I ever had. Before when people would ask me if I missed “home”, I would always reply “There’s no place like home when you’re this far away”. (Jimmy Buffet?) But now I wish that I had stayed a bit more connected.
Mom died when I was 7, foster care until 13 when my aunt got custody of me. She died when I was 15. My Grandmother said I was too wild so she kicked me out. Lived on the beach and then in my car once hit 16. First job at 14, my aunt told them I was 16, 1976.
1968..USAF..at just 19
I too had an AMC Gremlin. A 1972 three on the floor hatchback model. My mom wouldn’t let me take it the day I walked out of her house holding a six pack of Schlitz. I still never looked back.
18
The first part is true.
Left at 18 to go to college.
Most people left home before 20 where I grew up. It was the friggen 80s too. Back when that was pretty normal.
Mine was a ‘73 “Trans Am Orange”. <-—LOL
3 speed with the 258 straight 6.
Toughest, most dependable car I’ve ever had.
For a 2WD, it excelled at ‘swamping’ down in the river bottom.
I had a lot of good times in that car.
My ex used it as a trade in on a VW Rabbit and it got hauled to a junk yard in WV.
About 2 weeks later, my mom spotted it on I81, being driven by some young kid.
The odometer had stopped at 238K, probably a year or so before being traded in.
For all I know, that thing is still out there, somewhere....at least I hope so.
Good ol’ funny lookin’ car.
:)
I left at 24. Parents weren’t happy. They believed a woman should stay with her parents till she married. Only I had no intention of marrying. Dad took it harder than Mom — a surprise since he was the one who encouraged responsibility and independence. But things smoothed over eventually.
At 22, my parents moved out and sold the house.
I was 20 in 1985. Joined the union iron workers in NYC. Took a $2,500 loan from a bank so I could more quickly move out of my parents home and paid it back $117(?) a month for two years.
I left at 17. Got married, had three kids by 22 and divorced by 24. I was a single mom with no support, and now the government wants me to think 26 year olds are kids in need of parental care.....sheesh!
I’m not sure what to count—’78, when I left for college the month after I turned 17, or ‘80, the last summer I spent at home.
But you’re right, it was normal then. I think the average 15yo in our era was about as responsible as the average 25yo today.
The rich kids in school made fun of me because of mine. They drove Trans-Ams, Firebirds, Mustangs and Chargers. When times were lean, I could drive all over town because of the fuel mileage while they were stuck in the drive way.
17, dropped out of High School, joined the Army, went to Viet Nam, and was back in civilian life at 20.
I reached the age of majority in 1974. In those days, no self respecting 21 year old stayed with Mom and Dad a minute longer than they had to. Some left even earlier.
I left home at 19, but ran into trouble with employment and came home after about a year. Life in my mom’s house sucked so badly, that I soon began busting my azz to get the heck out of there again.
Shortly after my 21st birthday, I took my meager savings and rented an apartment with my fiance. We were married shortly thereafter and had a baby within the year.
I was 17 and joined the Air force in the Delayed Enlistment Program. Graduated in 1976 and entered active duty two days after my 18th birthday when my training slot opened up. That was in September 1976.
I delay enlisted in the USAF in December of my Senior Year in High School. Left for Basic Training and was on my own ever since.
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