I moved to Livingston County in June 2012. Previously to settling down here in Genoa Township, my wife and I were living in exile in North Carolina from 2009—2012. My wife and I are both born and raised Michiganders—she from Northville and Brighton and me Down River in Taylor. My wife still has family on Ore Lake who have lived there since 1920 or so. She moved to Brighton in 1975 with her parents
to Briggs Lake. She finished her junior year at Northville and graduated Brighton High School. I am originally from Taylor, a graduate of Harry S. Truman High School, known today as Taylor Truman. Since graduating from high school, I have had numerous jobs and traveled around the country to have a better understanding of how people of various cultures and socio-economic status interact within their communities. Like the opening lines of The River written by Bruce Springsteen:
I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young They bring you up to do like your daddy done
I started out my adult career in the local steel mill where my father had worked nearly 30 years. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, fore me, the American steel industry was in the final stages of collapse, and my first career ended before it even got started 4 years later. At the age of 22, unemployed and with no desire to return to college, I headed to Williamsburg, Virginia and joined 11 other restless souls for a 5,000 miles Trans-America bicycle tour. We were designated TAE-517. That was Trans-America EAST (the coast from which we started) and the departure date May 17. For the next 3 months, the 12 of us rode through some of the most beautiful sights you can see in this country. We also had some frightening moments as well. But if you ever want to see America, the real down to Earth, get your hands filthy America, get out of your cars, off the super-slabs and spend some time on the blue roads of this country. If you think you do not have the time to go national, try it at the state or even local level sometime, you will be impressed by how your neighbors really live, what they think and what they really believe.
