A fictional story about growing and discovering…

Charles Beaumont and his brother peered curiously at the skyline to where he dad was pointing.

“Look there, boys. Remember this. It’s the building of the Sherman Minton Bridge.”

With the naivete of a four-year-old, old Charles was not sure what to look at. Was it the towering oak trees overhanging the muddy Ohio River? The humble buildings of downtown New Albany, Indiana across the river? Or the honking of migrant flocks of sandhill cranes on this early fall day?

The boys spotted two steel beams reaching up into the sky. It was as if the girders were arms full of hope, waiting for similar steel arms coming from the other side of the river.

Charles, as well as Gerry, his younger brother, took more interest in playing on the decaying logs washed up on the murky Louisville side of the river.

While other boys’ dads might be more interested in teaching them how to play baseball or throw a football, Charles’ dad, who taught English at a local college, saw this as a historical moment to remember. Mom was at home, and was not interested in this boy-type of thing.

It was 1959, and a time of great optimism in America. In the post-war decades, the economy was starting its upward climb. People were having families and moving into new neighborhoods all over. They needed a way to get from their homes to businesses, which included eight whiskey distilleries which were opened in Louisville after the end of prohibition. Civic leaders in the Louisville area were wondering how they could get the funds to build two bridges spanning the Ohio River. And then President Eisenhower announced the Interstate Highway System. The federal government would fund 90% of two bridges across the river.

“Can we bring this home?” Charles asked. He sat on a large, weathered, hollow-out log. He thought it would be good to bring to their backyard and play with.

“It’s too big,” his dad answered. “And I’m sure they won’t let us take it out of here.”

And yet there were signs of trouble throughout the country that would shape this family’s life for years to come.