This story is going to unfold in a series of chapters. The thrust is a character study of how people develop and maintain, over time, a changing, growing, dynamic relationship. Of course, this is a fictional world where all the main characters are over 21.
I want to thank my beta readers for their time and comments. I welcome your constructive comments and look forward to reading your thoughts. I hope you enjoy going along the paths with Bear and the twins.
Chapter 1 - Voyage of the virgins
My Dad had a small carpentry shop in my old hometown out on the edge of the prairie. He would take on remodeling projects for people in the area and even build a new house. My older brother had been in the Navy and was a SeaBee like Dad was. When he got out, he joined Dad in the shop. Their attitude was the SeaBee motto, "Can do." They did; whatever the customer asked for, they made it happen.
In high school, instead of playing football, I worked alongside my Dad and brother helping out and learning their craft. By the time I graduated from high school, I was a damm good equipment operator, and I could run with the big dogs doing framing work. After high school, I followed the family tradition and went on and became a Seabee. Being in the Navy was an eye-opening experience; what's the old saying? Join the Navy and see the world. I saw places and experienced things I knew I couldn't find at home. I wasn't a small-town boy anymore. This got me to start taking classes that I would use for college when I got out. In my last six months in the Navy, I applied to and was accepted at the state university in their architecture program. Having been in the Seabees and taking classes in the Navy meant completing the program in three years instead of five years.
Being in the Navy gave me a different perspective than many of my fellow students. When I was in the SeaBees, I often asked myself, how can I make this project better? I asked the same question when I looked at a project in class. While many of my fellow students accepted an assignment as is, I looked for improvements I could add. Simply good enough, just wasn't good enough.
During the summers, I worked as an intern for a group of architects in the state capital. This gave me the real-world experience of working on real projects with real architects. In my last semester at school, I had to submit a project to my advisor and two other faculty members for review and comments. The idea was this project would be a capstone for your time at the university. The project I selected was one that I had worked on the previous summer as an intern. In addition to the capstone project, I had two other electives I had to take, then the degree would be mine.