Trip to Israel

These are the opening paragraphs of the most remarkable trip we ever went on, and it was one we will never forget. We wish everybody could experience a journey like this one. We continue to call it the trip of a lifetime. We never expect another to equal it or even come close. I have written a lengthy account of that trip, but it is far too long to place here. I always write detailed accounts of each foreign trip we take, hoping it will someday be read by our children so they will know we weren't as dull as we might seem in our maturity.

Israel- 1993

We left Sullivan, Illinois July 23^rd for our first real trip overseas as a couple. The year was 1993. Sandra’s brother Larry had been living in Israel for a couple of years by then and was attempting to learn Hebrew in order to become a citizen of the country. He previously lived in New York City for over twenty years. Somehow Larry had done some work for a company in Israel and earned two free tickets for round trips to Israel from the USA, so he gave them to his sister and me.

            Our flight out of the US started from Champaign, Illinois, only fifty miles or so from our home. We had driven there and checked our four bags at Willard Airport for the short trip to Newark where we would catch our Lufthansa Airlines ride to Tel Aviv via Frankfurt, Germany.

            Our overseas flight left Newark about four in the afternoon for the long trip across the Atlantic. I think Sandra was almost as excited as me to know we would be seeing Larry in a short time. Larry was to meet us at Ben Gurion Airport just outside of Tel Aviv later the next day. He was borrowing a car from his friend and business partner in order to meet us and take us to an apartment he had arranged for us to rent.

            Our flight to Frankfurt went off without a hitch, at least until we reached the Frankfurt International Airport. As we left the plane to make our connection to Tel Aviv, we had to wait for our luggage to arrive so we could check it through to Israel. We waited as the entire plane load of luggage arrived on the luggage belt. People grabbed their bags and went through the Customs line so they could make their next connecting flight. Sandra and I waited…and waited…and waited some more. Eventually the belt stopped moving and we still never had our luggage. I went to see a man in the Customs office and explained that our bags never showed up. He assured me there more bags coming and we had to wait, so Sandra and I waited some more. Nothing more came through on the baggage belt conveyor, so I went to see the man again. This time he directed me to go through the Customs line and report the loss to the baggage clerk at the claims counter. I told Sandra I had to go through the line and she should wait there where she was seated until I returned.

            Going to Israel is an experience, I suppose no matter where you are from, but I soon encountered a new experience. As I went through Customs empty handed. I explained to the officer what I had been instructed to do about my lost luggage. He promptly took me inside a tent set up for the purpose of doing body searches. He had me stand flat-footed with my legs far apart, bent over and leaning on a table. He patted me down from head to toe, stopping in some places that made me very uncomfortable. I was embarrassed with the thoroughness of his body search. Finally he let me go, so I went to the baggage claims clerk and told her about my lost luggage. She said that if it didn’t show up within fifteen minutes, we should go on to our final destination and report the loss there at Tel Aviv. I then walked over to the ticket agent and explained we had to wait another fifteen minutes for our luggage. “I am worried that our [plane is about to leave,” I told her.

            “No, they will wait for you, Mr. Meredith. This happens quite often,” she told me.

            “Do you mean they are holding up that 747 with 400 people until we get our bags?” I asked.

            “Yes, they will wait,” was her answer.

            I headed back to tell Sandra in the large waiting room where she sat, but I was directed to go back through the same tent. I protested, but to no avail. I suffered the same kind of search by the same officer as before. “You just did this to me a few minutes ago,” I told him. He ignored me and made me go through the same process as before, a bit friendlier with his hands than previously. Again, I was free to go see my wife, but I was beginning to think this guy liked me a little more than I was comfortable with.

            Sandra and I waited another fifteen minutes, after which I told her I had to go back to the baggage clerk and tell her our bags weren’t there yet. She sent me over to talk to the ticket agent once again. “Has our plane waited on us?” I checked,

            “No, they had to leave, but there will be another plane in three hours,” was my answer from her. “Please check your hand luggage through Customs and see me again for a ticket change.” She told me to back through Customs.

            As I looked at that damn tent again, knowing what would take place there if I entered again, I decided to wait until the officer was busy and duck under the rope and avoid the tent search. And I did exactly that, ducked under the rope to go get Sandra. As I straightened up from ducking under the rope, a German soldier screamed for me to halt as he ran up to me with a really big gun. He grabbed me and turned me around and had the gun in my neck. I was sweating bullets by now. They thought I was a terrorist, or maybe something worse. He yelled at me in German, but I didn’t understand a thing he was saying. A second soldier came to help the first one. He also screamed at me. I thought I was about to be a dean man. I wondered at that moment how Sandra would ever get to Israel by herself.

            Then I saw the Customs man in the blue suit come out of his little office to see what all the commotion was about. He walked over and asked the soldiers a question, which I didn’t understand. Then he turned to me and asked what happened. I tried to explain I was just trying to avoid another embarrassing body search.

            I’m not sure what he said to the soldiers, but they holstered their guns and turned me loose to return to Sandra. I know I was shaking like a leaf when I reached her sitting against the rear wall of the large room. She looked at me, without even asking me how I was or anything that considered my near-death experience. “Did you get out tickets changed?” she asked.

            In a very shaky voice I told her, “No, not yet.” I was still so out of breath I could barely manage to say anything. She gave me a direct order to get back up to that counter and get our tickets changed. I will not say what my next words to her were, but trust me, my church friends would not want to hear them.

 

 

In MY Wildest Dreams

Below is a short synopsis of one of my best selling e-book novels, a romance story that follows the story of Josh Whitley and the only two loves of his life. I think you will find the novel a very compelling read. It is available at:

http://www.amazon.com/My-Wildest-Dreams-Paul-Meredith-ebook/dp/B00ANQILIE/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

 

In my Wildest Dreams

Synopsis

 

Joshua Whitley was a man working on his career goals when he met Julia Cusack in a lunch room one day. Julia was a beautiful young lady with career goals much like his. Yes, it was truly love at first sight for Josh, the name most people called him. Over time Josh and Julia became romantically involved and eventually married. They purchased the home of their dreams and started their family. However, their plan for life was soon to be derailed with an issue that was beyond their ability to solve. Life changed dramatically for Josh as his dreams for happiness spun out of control. Then an unexpected set of events in a family already marred with tragedy caused a change none in the family could have known would happen. Life for Josh went from being lonely, dull and boring, to a life filled with new hope and happiness for the future. In his wildest dreams Josh could never have planned what was about to happen to him, but it did happen. He met a new love in a place he never dreamed, and the rest as they say, is history.

            Was it fate that threw Josh and Dianne together at the most critical time of their lives? Nobody could know for sure, but it was a match that had to be made in heaven. From the time they were first together as a couple, it was almost magic how success came to the two of them, both in love and in their separate business ventures. Obstacles that would have stopped others from getting together were simply viewed as challenges to be overcome by Josh and Dianne. This is an epic story of how love can overcome almost any obstacle if the passion is present.

            Don’t think everything went smooth as silk for them though, because that would be a huge mistake. There is tragedy throughout this remarkable story, the loss of spouses, of parents, and even the horrible death of Dianne’s mother, all of which sent shock waves through this strong young couple as they struggled for success in life.

            Dianne made a totally unexpected career change when she realized she had seen in a vision where the body of a missing elderly woman was located, a woman she had never met or knew personally. When Dianne was questioned about how she knew of the location of the dead woman, her responses gave the local authorities cause to see a need to solicit her help in other unsolved murder cases.

            The story takes so many unpredictable turns it is difficult to write a synopsis that includes all the major parts of the story, but let it suffice to say the reader will be astonished by the unfolding of the story. It is a story that includes most of the elements one could possibly expect in a really great love story.

The New Year of 2016

Today is January 7, 2016. It is one of the very special days in the life of one of my beautiful daughters, Tara Lynn Meredith Inghram. It is her birthday today. Happy Birthday, sweetheart.

I am so lucky to have been able to raise all of my children to be such well-rounded individuals who have contributed to society in such positive ways. I am so very proud of each and every one of them.

My New Year started rather auspiciously, and not necessarily on a happy note, but I look forward to a great New Year with new opportunities to do good in the world. My wife and I are thankful for the blessings we had in 2015 and we look forward to more of the same kind of blessings in 2016. We hope for good health for us and for all our children and grandchildren and extended family members. We pray for peace in this very troubled world. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

The Evolution of Elizabeth Grant

The Evolution of Elizabeth Grant

by

Paul R. Meredith

 

The following is a very brief synopsis of my newest story, an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Imagine a six-year-old girl being taken from abusive parents and she and her three siblings placed in an orphanage.  What will become of her? It is not a pretty picture. But Young Teresa Harden endured and evolved from this rough start in life to a life beyond expectation for most people. Once adopted by loving parents, her life takes on challenges that most of us will never face. Her life as a young woman introduces her to life-changing events that caused her to live a secret and often shameful life for the middle years of her existence. Then after a happenstance meeting with a very special man, she feels she has to change her name and run away to save him. Years later after Elizabeth Grant is found by that special man, her life begins the evolution into a deep love and a life filled with treasures even she could hardly believe.

 

Here is the Amazon link to my book:

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Evolution+of+Elizabeth+Grant

 

Remembering the Great World War II

Remembering the Great World War II

 

I was ten years old when the greatest war of my life ended. The official date was September 2, 1945, but we first heard the news about two weeks before. I remember my mom and dad and a few close neighbors wanted to go celebrate the end of World War II in downtown Decatur, Illinois, my hometown. Red and Lil Fleming wanted my mom and dad to go downtown with them to see the big celebration that was taking place. One of my aunts watched the other kids, but Dad and Mom took me along because I was the oldest kid and had shown more interest in the war than the others. My twin sisters could have cared less about the war because they didn’t understand it. I think my Uncle Harley met us downtown near the square.

            Red Fleming, our wonderful neighbor just across the street had served in the U.S. Army Cavalry and saw active service in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He had been discharged and came home just a few weeks prior to the ending of the war. Red never told any us any stories about his war experiences, but we knew that he had been through hell over there. We knew he suffered some minor mental problems from what he had endured on the battlefield.

Red was a truly wonderful man in every respect. He had worked at Swift Ice Cream in Decatur prior to being drafted into the army, so when he was discharged, he went back to work for Swift again. He drove a truck that delivered ice cream to stores all over our part of the state. We loved Red because he brought a box of ice cream bars to the Meredith kids about once every week. We also loved his wife Lil and his dog Poochie. Red and Lil were childless, so they more or less adopted the Meredith clan, and we adopted them as our favorite neighbors. Poochie thought he was our dog a lot of the time because anytime one of us was outside, Poochie was there to play with us.

I remember we parked and walked two or three blocks to get to a spot where we could see the celebration festivities. We stood on North Main Street somewhere between Linn & Scruggs Department Store and the Lincoln Theater. People who lived in the apartments on the second and higher floors of some of the buildings were throwing paper confetti and making all kinds a racket with horns, firing shotguns, beating pans with spoons, and yelling. It was a wild and exciting time for a ten-year-old kid like me. A stage had been set up just across from the old Transfer House on the square and several people, I think including the Mayor of Decatur, gave speeches and made announcements that caused all the people to yell and cheer like crazy.

I think we stayed downtown for about two hours. I just remember I was really tired from trying to see through all the tall adults standing in front of me. There was a big parade with lots of military people walking down Water and Main Streets. There were also bands of all kinds and just a bunch of people following along singing songs. People were really happy the war was over and our soldiers, marines and sailors would all be coming home, except for the thousands and thousands who had been lost in battle.

On the way home, Red told me, “I brought something from the war back for you, Sonny. I’ll get it for you when we get back to the house.” I wondered what it could be, but as soon as we arrived back home, Red went in to his house and brought it over to me. It was a German soldier’s helmet that he had recovered in a fight somewhere in France. It was a black helmet with a big silver spike on the top of it. I treasured that helmet for many years, and sad to say now, I have no idea what ever happened to the helmet. My guess is that someone took it from our house. I hated that it disappeared.

Paul R. Meredith - Date: Unknown

Getting Caught in the Closet

Getting Caught in the Closet:

There had been a really bad car accident one evening up near Maroa. Several people were involved in it, and I heard one person was killed. I was called to the ER to help transport patients into and out of the wait area and in to the ER hold area. One of the women, a girl I knew pretty well, was a patient from the accident and I ultimately was called to take her to my floor to the female wing where she was placed in a traction for multiple broken bones. She was sleeping during the time I transported her after her initial surgery, so she had no idea I was helping her in any way.

The day following the accident, I went in to see her, but she was sleeping, so I didn't bother her. But the third day I went to see her, she was awake and feeling decent, so we talked for a few minutes. I explained I had brought her up to this room after her initial visit in the ER.

The girl's name was Allis. She was a senior at school just as I was. She was going steady with a friend of mine named Gene.  He had also been hurt in the accident but was taken to the other hospital in Decatur, St. Mary's Hospital. I never knew why, unless it was due to overcrowding.

While Allis was in the hospital on my floor, but down in the women's wing, I generally stayed over after I got off work at 12:30 to go visit with her for half an hour or so. After about the third or fourth day, we started kissing. I had her trapped in her tractions devices, because both her legs and one arm were broken, as well as her collar bone. She was really bruised up badly, but not so badly that she didn't enjoy the kisses. Eventually the kisses turned rather more passionate than before, so they progressed into more serious touches of her body (and mine). Of course the traction setup and her pain wouldn't allow much of anything further, but we still enjoyed the signs for the future when she would be released from the hospital, although there were never any firm promises for intimacy. She still had her boyfriend Gene to consider, as I did my girlfriend Karen. Karen and I had been going steady for a year plus, but I was growing restless with her. She wanted more freedom to move in her social circles than my six-day a week night job could offer. I knew the relationship would have to end sooner rather than later. I did not want to waste another birthday or Christmas present on her.

On the last evening I went after my shift to visit with Allis, we were really busy smooching up a storm, when what to my sensitive ears did I hear but the clomp-clomp of what I knew beyond any doubt was Mrs. Draggert's hard-heeled shoes. They were coming down the hall towards Allis' room. I quickly covered her up and jumped into the stand-up closet that was in her room. I barely could fit in the narrow closet, but I managed to squeeze inside just as Mrs. Draggert entered the room. She saw Phyllis was wide awake, so she went to her bedside and said, "Good evening, my dear. How are you feeling now?"

                Allis muttered something incoherently in response. I could not make it out clearly, but I could see through the narrow crack of the slightly opened door that she was sweating bullets. I think she might have said, "I am good," or something like that.
                Mrs. Draggert smiled at her and said, "That's good to hear. Now, I was really looking for my orderly, Paul. Have you seen him this evening?"
                "Whhooo?" Phyllis said.
                "My evening-shift orderly, Paul. You do know him, don't you?"
                "Uh, yes, we go to school together. He is in one of my classes at school."
                "So have you seen him this evening?" Mrs. Draggert asked again.
                "No, but I think he's off work by now, isn't he?"
                Mrs. Draggert said nothing more to Allis, but she turned on her heel and marched right over and jerked the closet door open and told me, "Step down out of there, Paul."
                I did, and she grabbed me by my ear and walked me straight down past the three nurses at their station as they stared in awe at me wincing in pain. We went straight to Mrs. Draggert's office where she tossed me in the chair facing her desk. "Now, I am going to give you exactly three minutes to explain to me why you were in that girl's room, what you were doing with her, and why I should not fire you this very minute."
                I was rubbing my ear as I tried to explain. "She is a good friend of mine from school. I was just seeing if there was anything I could do to help her."
                "Yes, and I could tell that you were attempting to do just that about the time you heard me coming, right?"
                "Uh, well, it wasn't exactly what you might think. We're just friends."
                "Very close friends I must assume, because I definitely could tell there was something sexual about to happen."
                "No, that would not be possible. She is in traction," I insisted.
                "Yes, and I must say it was skillfully manipulated so that you could crawl in bed with her. Did you realize we were about to bring a new patient into that empty bed beside her in a few minutes? The new patient was being prepped to go into that room with your friend. Do you realize what would have happened if they had brought her in while you were busy doing whatever you were about to do? You would have shamed the hospital, plus probably have cost several of us our jobs."
                "I'm sorry, but I really wasn't doing all that much wrong."
                "Oh but you were. So now tell me why I should not fire you on the spot, Paul."
                I sat there as I tried to think of an answer. "I won't do it again," I told her.
                "Oh, believe me, I can guarantee you that I know that," she said. "Now, again I ask, why should I not fire you right now?"
                I was very nervous, realizing it was about to be curtains for me and my job. "Because I am the best orderly here at this hospital and I have not missed one day in more than two years of employment. And besides that, my patients and my nurses all get along really well with me." I sat in silence while she gave me that special Draggert stare that sliced right through me.
                Then she spoke. "Paul, I am very, very angry at you right now. I am also very angry with Brenda and those other nurses for allowing you to stay with that girl like that. Don't you dare try to tell me they didn't know, because I know they did. I will not ever tolerate that kind of behavior from you or from any of them again. I intend to go speak directly with them tomorrow as soon as they come to work." Then she just sat there. Finally she told me, "Get out of here."
                I stood to leave, but I had to ask, "So, am I fired?"
                She stared at me again in that special way. "Did I say you are fired?"
                "I don't know for sure, but I don't think you said it directly."
                "If I didn't say it, it must not have happened. I will see you tomorrow.
                Man, I could not wait to get out of her office. She was a really mean woman. That is why I feared for what she would say to the nurses the next day. Everyone was petrified of her.
 

Allis and I never got together after that--not at the hospital or even later when she was released. I continued dating, but not with Karen. I had moved past her and found a new girl by then. Allis and Gene continued to date through high school and eventually they were married.

This continued my record of never having been fired from any job I ever had in my life. I came close a couple of times, but I always managed to salvage the situations somehow. This trend continued for the remainder of my life until now, and since I am retired, I assume it will be a lifetime of never being fired. Not too many people can say that.

Paul R. Meredith

2015

Bicycle Finance

 

Bicycle Finance

 

       Dad and Mom bought each of the twin girls, Marlene and Darlene, a new Schwinn bicycle for Christmas. They would be in their teens on their next birthday in March. I knew it was a real stretch for our parents to buy gifts as expensive as new bicycles, but they did it by saving up for a year. The bikes were a beautiful light blue color and even had battery-powered headlights on the front fender.

As for me, I already had a new Monarch bike that I had purchased with money I made from my paper route. I used my bike to get back and forth to school and to deliver my newspaper route.

       Although I made pretty good money delivering the newspaper, I figured I could always use a little extra money to buy neat things I might want. So I started using Marlene's and Darlene's bikes to rent out for short rides to other kids in our neighborhood. I tried to do it when the two girls weren't using them, but there were a few times I had to take them away from the girls when I had clients to whom I had promised rides. I told the girls that my bike had problems and I needed to use their bike for a short time. I always kept my bike chained up with a lock so they couldn't know whether I was being truthful or not. This did not make the girls happy, so they told Mom on me. Of course she scolded me, but I told her the same story about my bike having troubles. She seemed to buy the story, although I feel sure she noticed that my bike was always good for delivering my newspapers at four o'clock in the afternoon.

       My method was to ride the bikes to the renter's house away from our house, so the girls always thought I was actually using the bike myself. I tried to be careful and only use one of their bikes at a time, but there were times I had both of them rented out at the same time. That was when I had to come up with tall tales in order to confiscate both bikes at nearly the same time. My fee for renting their bikes was ten cents each half hour or fifteen cents for an entire hour. Weekends were my busiest rental times, especially Saturdays.

       One day one of my twin sisters (I forget which one) saw one of my clients on a bike exactly like theirs. They told the kid they had a bike just like the one he was riding. My side business started to seriously unravel at that point because that kid told my sister that he didn't own the bike, he was just renting it from their brother, which was me.

       I don't recall all the details now, but suddenly my lucrative side business hit the skids. Mom went down to talk to the boy who had the rental bike and he told her he was renting it from me.

That pretty much ended my extra income potential. Of course Mom was very angry with me and told Dad what I had been doing with the girls' two rental bikes. Dad was really upset with me too, but for whatever reason he did not beat me. Maybe it was because he thought I was too old to get the kind of whippings I had gotten before. Whatever the reason, I was extremely thankful.

 

The End

 

Paul R. Meredith

Circa 1984