While visiting the Guestbook part
of the website I ran across an entry or two by Jack Edwards. The name didn't
mean much to me at the time, that is, not until Jack mentioned he once lived in
a three family house across from Avon Avenue School, circa 1940s. I told Jack
via a Guestbook exchange that I used to hang around that neighborhood and the
Avon Avenue School yard when I was a teen age and I gave him my nick name.
Well, lo and behold, he recognized it
right away. He told me that he was a few years younger than me but he always
looked up to me and a couple of my close buddies who he identified and remembers
when we all enlisted in the Marine Corps. We concluded this exchange of
information by promising to get together one day.
Lo and behold, that very evening I
received a phone call from none other than Jack Edwards who was calling from New
Jersey. He said he was very anxious to talk to me and couldn't wait until we
met. Well, we were on the phone for over two hours reliving memories of the old
neighborhood and catching up on what happened to all the guys and gals we grew
up with during those formative years.
That in itself is a neat story and
Jack and I will get together one day soon but that isn't the real story I want
to share with you.
The real story is about Jack Edwards.
I share this because I think it is a wonderful story.
Jack, like many of us, if not most of
us, came from a humble background. However, he had a curious mind and from a
very early age loved to read. When he was still very young he especially had an
interest in books about anatomy and medicine.
Jack's dad passed away about the time
Jack entered high school and for economic reasons Jack's family went on welfare
and moved from the three family house on Avon Avenue to the Seth Boyden
projects. Jack dropped out of high school and took a job to provide for his
family. He eventually finished high school by attending night school at Central
High.
Eventually Jack got married. Over the
years Jack Edwards continued his interest in anatomy and medicine. One day, now
in his mid-thirties, Jack made a major decision affecting his life and with the
full support of his wife returned to school to study medicine. Jack's goal was
to become a physician.
He took all the required courses in
preparation for entry to medical school. He studied medicine at the University
of Guadalajara, Mexico for two years and returned to the United States where he
enrolled and graduated from New Jersey University School of Medicine and
Dentistry. Jack Edwards was awarded a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the
University and currently is a physician in North Plainfield.
And now you know the best of the
story.
Email this memory to a friend.
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