Lorene Goodwin was born in the mountains of north Georgia into a house with no running water nor electricity. The first of three children, she had dreams of eventually leaving for the big city of Atlanta. She arrived there in 1959 and soon set up her life. She eventually found a great job with an insurance company, had found a new best friend and acquired an apartment downtown.
In late 1963, her roommate’s boyfriend wanted to set her up with a friend, Jack. They hit it off immediately. After a lengthy courtship of 14 days, they made the trip up to Ringgold, Georgia and made it official.
About a year later, with both of them possessing stable employment, they decided to purchase their first house, down off Cleveland Avenue in south Atlanta. Their life was blissful and they planned to have a family. Those plans came to an abrupt halt in early 1966 when dad was drafted for Vietnam.
He first reported to Basic training at Ft. Benning, GA, and mom would take the bus down on the rare occasion he had a weekend liberty. Next, he was off to Ft. Ord, CA for advanced infantry training. Mom wasn’t able to see him there. But the army had selected him for Officers Candidate School, so he was back at Ft. Benning for a couple of months, and after a few weeks, she was able to resume her trips to visit.
Dad was selected for helicopter flight school, so they moved to Ft. Wolters TX, where I, Greg was born. After that and a few more training courses, dad was off to Vietnam while mom moved back to their house in Atlanta. Mom had it tough, with a rambunctious toddler in tow, and not only a husband, but a brother both serving in the war at the same time.
Dad made it home, was stationed at Ft. McPherson here in Atlanta, and daughter Teresa was born. The family moved back down to Ft. Benning shortly after that. After a short stint there, the family was moved to Germany for four years where the small town girl from Blue Ridge was finally able to see the world.
Then we came back home, this time at Ft. Rucker, AL, where the family picked up dad’s niece Angelia, who was almost the same age as Greg. After Rucker, it was back to Benning, where Greg and Hope were allowed to finish high school in the same school. Mom was always the drill sergeant of the family, but with one kid off to college and the other married, Mom felt that she could start working again.
After Benning, there was one more stop at Ft. McPherson, where dad was stationed at the Fulton county airport. Both decided to put down roots in Douglasville. Mom found a job in town and dad took one working with the VA. After 30 years in the army and then 10 with the VA, dad decided that they were comfortable enough to retire.
Unfortunately, their golden years were cut short as dad contracted ALS and died a year later in 2007. They had purchased their final home in late 2004 and my mother was cheated of living out her years with her husband. Mom lived alone, but acquired two dogs and was always surrounded by caring neighbors who helped her in any way they could. Teresa and her family were ten minutes away and I, Greg, was only 45 minutes away. I came to see mom almost every other Sunday.
Mom was a good person, an excellent and caring mother, and a great friend to all those who knew her. She will be missed terribly.
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