Foggy Bottom University (or FBU) is located in Washington D.C. just South East of Georgetown in an area appropriately called Foggy Bottom. A line drawn from the White House to the Watergate Hotel would just about cut the campus in half. FBU is sometimes shortened to FU by students who are in financial shock over the tuition or terminally frustrated by the heroic efforts required to accomplish the most trivial of administrative tasks. Yet FBU continues to prosper. Students keep fighting their way through the barriers of admissions and registration. Faculty keep fighting their way through the barriers of scheduling and trivial distractions. We meet in the classrooms leave the chaos outside, and something important happens. I'm not sure exact what it is, but we all seem to be better for it. This is probably one of those myths that helps get you through the day, but the competing academic myth involves Sisyphus and it certainly does not help you get through the day.
My father was a small town guy who thrived in local politics. He ran for jobs like Mayor, County Executive, or Head of the School Board. His slogan was "Make things a Tad better" He was so proud of this slogan you would think that he had gotten it from an expensive Madison Avenue ad agency; although there isn't a chance it would work North of the Mason Dixon line. Tad Wentworth III was also a prosperous small town attorney and his one goal in life - had it not been cut short - was to keep doing what he was doing until he was too old to do it any more. Life, for him, was on cruise control at a comfortable speed and he was enjoying the scenery.
Katherine Wentworth was the 'Apple of his Eye'. I cringed every time he said that, but they loved it at the 4H and Rotary. Tad and Kathy were high school and college sweet hearts. After college they were married. She started teaching high school English and he went to law school. They were a cute couple. A little too cute sometimes. They were almost exactly the same age, with birthdays only twenty seven days apart: his on the 2nd of May and hers on the 29th. They got married on 15th. Instead of celebrating their birthdays and anniversary, they set aside the whole month of May to celebrate life. It was very cute and a little annoying.
Who knows, maybe I could have grown up with an apple of my eye, quick with a handshake and clever phrase. But, I guess, it wasn't meant to be.
It was the 15th of May. Tad and Kathy were celebrating life. There was a new upscale restaurant in the next county that was the talk of local society and everyone wanted to try it. Dad had to make reservations two weeks in advance and mom had tried to coach him so he could correctly pronounce what he was going to order. They had had dinner, presumable some champagne that Dad couldn't pronounce and were on their way home.
There is a railroad track on the South side of town that divides the municipality according to economic means. According to police reports Tad and Kathy sat at the crossing in front of blinking lights waiting for the train to pass. Then, according to some of the eyewitnesses, the light stopped blinking and the barrier raised even though no train had passed. I'm sure that Mom offered a word of caution, but Dad, somewhat giddy from the champagne he couldn't pronounce, felt bold. He shot across the railroad tracks just in time to meet the train that carried them both into the next world.
There were claims and allegations, charges and counter charges. Apparently just as Dad's car surged up onto the track, the barrier dropped again. Witness stories were in conflict over whether or not the barrier had ever actually raised. Some claimed it was an equipment malfunction. Some claimed he had just shot through the barrier. As gossip embroiled the story there were rumors of land deals involving shady characters and that the accident may have been murder. Some even claimed that the accident was a suicide attempt to avoid potential financial failure. It was ugly.
Up until that point the biggest decision I had to make was what kind of jelly I wanted on my peanut butter sandwich. The biggest threat in my life was getting caught watching TV after bedtime. But all that was about to change. My life descended into darkness and confusion that I have never fully comprehended.