attended a Parochial school located about a mile away from our farm. I graduated from eighth grade in 1963, and had not yet adjusted to high school when President John F. Kennedy was shot. The world was turned upside down, and I didn’t know what to do about it.

High school was a struggle for me. I had to work hard to get good grades, especially in math and science classes. Sports were just as difficult for me, partly because we didn’t have organized sports in Parochial school, and partly because I wasn’t especially coordinated.

I still didn’t know what to do about the problems in th...