Roughing It

About the Book

Dawn is the smartest, funniest person I know with such a great sense of humor. Of all the people I have worked with through my career, Dawn will be someone I will never forget. Andrea Stevens Vice President of Business Development Amedisys Home Health Dawn was born to an openminded father, who loved the outdoors and people. Her mother was city born and artistic. At the beginning of World War II, her father became the superintendent of beautiful Brown County State Park in Indiana. The Mead children in their early years grew up there in that wonderful environment and were nourished by it. Later the family developed a flourishing recreational area in the rugged Apalachicola National Forest in the Florida panhandle. Anna Altic Realtor, Nashville, Tennessee Through the years my siblings and myself have frequently enjoyed reminiscing about our delightful, childhood. Our parents began a family amidst the great depression in the 1930’s , followed by WWII. Having to adjust to these difficulties thrust my father into circumstance entailing certain difficult challenges to his keeping his family afloat and safe. In the process we children were gifted with a life which was nourishing and full of adventurous experiences. We grew up free to be ourselves, yet to work hard as a cooperative family unit. Even though we began our education in a little red one-room schoolhouse, what followed was the gift of good public schools. During some trying years, our parents cared deeply for one another and strived to give us the best life possible. They were indeed successful in this. When circumstances arose that thrust us into an abandoned, primitive old CCC camp in the middle of the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida with certain expectations, we met them and more. We went from city bred folks with all the comforts that life offered, to living in a four-room pine, unfinished cabins in the rugged outdoors and truly loving it. Looking back, it is amazing that our parents did not exude any anxiety or trepidation concerning this new lifestyle, so that we, their offspring adapted and flourished. Now only my 92-year-older brother and myself, quite elderly, are left to recollect and agree that we did, indeed, have a most wonderful childhood. I’m sharing this heartwarming story to honor our strong, loving parents Hansel and Peggy Mead, who made this story possible.

About the Author

Dawn has always enjoyed being outdoors. Some have said she is independent and adventurous. When three of her four children were small, she organized a six-week road trip that went from Florida across the Southwest up thru California to Washington then home. It involved pulling a pop-up camper behind a van, camping all the way in National Parks and occasional private campgrounds or just the woods. That was her idea of a vacation . She camped with her children for a whole summer in Maine and another in the US Virgin Islands. While living in Florida and Tennessee the family frequently camped in the National forests and State Parks. Her other great love is reading. While reading one book, she might have another stashed nearby, always making sure she has one available when she is finished with the current one. She reads a great variety of books some for entertainment, some for information and some to help her cope with life’s trials. Wherever she has lived she has been a patron of the local library and thinks of them as a big source of enrichment to her life. Also, throughout her life she has been an unfulfilled writer. While working in the marketing department at a local HCA hospital authored a monthly newsletter and another for a Seniors’ organization the hospital sponsored. When humorous happenings of family life occurred, she put them in writing either in letters or just written for her own satisfaction. She has been told she is a good story teller, so after her brother produced a genealogy, she decided the family’s stories needed to be recorded along with it. So after living nearly a century of life, she produced “Roughing It” wanting it to be an account of a very special childhood, rich with love and heartwarming, humorous experiences. Now she swims regularly for relief from painful arthritis at a local community pool. She has found that she can help older people, who are fearful of swimming or have never learned, and can get them to swim. People approach her at a local Community center and request a swimming lesson. She now lives outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband who is ninety-five years old, who was a NASA engineer, and only a domestic cat, nicknamed Kitty.