Another Round of Changes, Part 1

No, this is not a political post against our President, so all you liberals reading this just relax. I’m talking about changes in my life, current and upcoming.

By the time this is uploaded, Brayton’s Black Belt Academy, my taekwondo club, will have moved to a new facility. Since I took over the club back in 2003, we’ve been conducting classes at the local Y. I won’t go into all of the problems experienced throughout the last seven years-almost from day one-suffice it to say, I didn’t understand a lot of the lack of communications between several parties. But, no need to rehash trouble and promote ill will. This is about change.

Anyway, beginning September, 2010, the club changes locations and with a little luck, a little organization, a little student support, a little promotion, the club will reach new heights.

I admit, I’m scared. I’ve never liked change in the sense where I wasn’t allowed to think through matters, couldn’t control the outcome, or else didn’t have enough time to prepare myself. I don’t like to jump into anything too quickly, although there are exceptions.

I remember when my family moved from the Quad Cities to Danville. I’d had friends in East Moline, attended a fairly decent school, and suddenly I was stuck in small town Iowa. The school was smaller, the faces unfamiliar, the culture different from the urban setting I was used to. I had never known any other meaning of the word ‘combine’ except when two or more things are mixed. We had corn/bean fields behind and to the west of the house. I could ride my bicycle from one end of town to the other in fewer than five minutes. My graduating class in 1984 consisted of only thirty students.

But, I came to enjoy Danville. I cherish my classmates and miss the old two story house I called home for fifteen years. When I started attending Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, it was the first time away from home. I had responsibilities to further education and the changes were taken in stride because I was ready for them.

A big change came when I moved out on my own when I took a job in Kewanee, the self-proclaimed, ‘Hog Capital of the World.’ Almost two years at a radio station and had the boss not demoted me back to afternoons, I would have stayed longer.

Back home in Danville another major change was getting ready to happen. My parents were trying to decide to move to south-central Iowa because Dad had been hired at another bank. I was totally against the move. Danville was home, no matter where I was. But, I wasn’t in control of the situation and the writing was on the wall. I was cynical about the new town, and didn’t like the fact it was so far away from Danville. About the time my parents moved to Centerville, I took a sales job in Oskaloosa. Even though I hated the old house being sold, the move for mom and dad was the right thing for them and I don’t begrudge that. I still miss Danville a little.

Osky brought several changes throughout the years. New jobs every so often, a new apartment, new opportunities, new acquaintances.

I’ll discuss some of those changes next time.