Short Stories of “Growing up in Milford and Other Far Away Places” is a wonderful, new book written by resident Jamie Boss. Though Milford is the setting of most of the stories, with far-away places, and closer to home, Hampton, included as well, the book is really about friendships, and encounters with people in different stages of the author’s life.
Jamie’s book entertains us with an America that has, to a large extent, disappeared, introducing an era to a younger generation, and permitting those of us of a certain age to reminisce over what life was like. The book brings to mind, for example, all the things that we got away with when we were kids, and our parents were never aware of what we had done — right under their noses!
Jamie began his book with a chapter titled “The Big World of Small Town Life”. He describes Milford as “a centralized New England community focused around a large green in the center of town. Everything you needed was downtown.” Some of us remember that downtown — a movie theater, clothing, hardware, record, grocery and drug store, a place to hang-out and watch the goings on in the community. On top of all of this, Jamie’s small town had a marina, a river, and the Long Island Sound to pique his interest. Though thousands of miles from whence I came, the adventures he describes are those that many of us might have experienced on our home turf in 1950s and 60s America.
One of the earliest memories is of Jamie, as a three-and-a-half-year-old, deciding that due to the unfair treatment of a boy known as “Bad Eddie”, he would run away from home to China, that “far-away place” that many of us thought we could dig to in our sand boxes. Jamie had no idea that China was not “…a bus stop on the main intersecting road”. He packed his six gun holster, a cowboy hat, and a peanut butter sandwich for his trip. The bus stop didn’t resemble the China he imagined. A stranger asked, “Are you alone little boy?” This forced Jamie to retreat and abandon his plans. He walked home, where his mother, who hadn’t noticed he was missing, asked, “Where were you?” His quick response? “I was in China”.
We can all relate to Show-and-Tell, which was usually the first event of the morning in school. Normally it doesn’t involve a visit to the principal’s office, or your father having to come to school. Jamie and his friend Dave brought in very authentic and memorable items to share with their classmates. Nowadays DCF, local police and the school psychologist would have been involved. All I can say is — I’m glad they weren’t loaded.
Later in life Jamie recalls a “huckleberry moment”. When a friend is suspended from school, before the parents are notified, Jamie and his friends decide a move to Florida may solve the problem. They conjure a plan to hop a train, knowing exactly where they can accomplish this. Jamie is first, and his jump is a good one, except that inertia was never considered and he is knocked out. His friends, thinking Jamie is dead, make alternative traveling accommodations. And leave Jamie to fend for himself. Someone spots his body and contacts the State police. The train is stopped, and he’s awakened by a trooper. Jamie creates a story that is believed and is given a ride home. His parents have no idea what he has done. And his friends? They make it to Atlanta before their trip is aborted.
Another theme: it’s a small world. We may encounter people from our small town in America anywhere in the world, and once while walking in the wilds of Vietnam, Jamie encountered a person from Milford. Jamie was one of the “lucky ones” who the selective service chose to serve this country. He spent 1968-1969 in Vietnam repairing tanks, day and night till the job was done, in the sun and humidity, in clouds of mosquitoes, in monsoon rains, on base, or in country, aka combat zones. He told his Dad about missing his guitar and his Dad sent it to him, but during an attack on the base, it was trampled to pieces. He also became very aware that he could lose friends at any time, and tried hard not to think about when his time was done.
Vietnam was not without its lighter moments. Once when driving to deliver a motor, Jamie spotted a pretty woman with a swaying red ponytail. His focus caused him to miss a curve and drive into a rubber tree. If you hit a rubber tree, you’re not going to bounce back. Driving your vehicle into a tree might not seem particularly “light”, but relatively speaking…
And then there were the poignant moments. While working in the driving rain, a representative from the Red Cross approached and asked, “are you specialist Boss?” He delivers the news, “Your wife is well and you’re the father of a son. Congratulations.” The messenger hands him cigars. The birth of his son in his absence leaves Jamie in a state of depression, his salty tears concealed by the heavy rain he must continue to work in.
An investment in the purchase of this book — Short Stories of Growing Up in Milford and Other Far Away Places — will be well spent. One maybe inclined to visit Milford just to explore some of the places that Jamie wrote about. This book is one of those you’ll go back and read when you need to smile or just take time to think about the innocence we grew up in Small Town America. This book can be purchased from the author, at The Hampton General Store, on Amazon, or by calling 844-714-8691 and online at www.XLIBRIS.com.