"I'm an odd duck. I'm an only-child military brat (Army) and was born in 1944 at Fort Monmouth, an Army base in New Jersey. My mother (Dorotha) and I followed my father (Ray) around the planet from one duty station to the next (when he wasn't in combat) for the first 17 years of my peripatetic life. Ray was emotionally distant and an alcoholic and that, along with my being shy, quiet, and having no siblings, led to my becoming a bit of a "loner". But I'm also a survivor and smart and have lived an intellectually adventurous life.

I'm an American mutt (equal parts Ukrainian, Polish, English, and Dutch) and love being an American (but boy, do we have serious problems to deal with here in the U.S.A.). I also consider myself to be a citizen of the planet - it's one connected system, and everyone else's problems are our problems too, as we'll all see in the years to come (and right now in Ukraine).

I've had an unusual education, what with all our traveling and the crazy schedules. I even spent part of the 5th grade in a country one-room school house in northern New York state near the Canadian border (I could write a book about education of children just from that experience).

Learning took place while riding in cars and trains, cruising aboard ocean liners, and flying in commercial airplanes because I've always carried books to read and study while traveling. Dorotha made those times fun as well as educational, so I was seldom bored. I'm largely self-taught in the things I'm interested in, facilitated when I started reading at age 3 and doing arithmetic at age 4 (thanks for all the great tutoring, Mom!). Also, I have some understanding of why home-schooled children seem to do better than their classroom-educated peers. I skipped Kindergarten and was later advanced from 3rd grade to 4th in Jan 1953 while living at Pershing Heights, an Army Base in Tokyo Japan. Since then I've been at least a year younger than my classmates. Here's a brief history of my high school years.

Ray was a U.S. Army Master Sergeant and was stationed in 1957-1958 in Kaiserslautern (called K'town by the Americans) in southwest West Germany at Kleber Kaserne, one of a number of American military bases in the area that formerly had been German (and the names left unchanged). We had lived in West Germany previously (1946 to 1949), so it was a piece of cake (literally as well as figuratively - my favorite cake was "Schwarzwaldkirchtorte", ie, Black Forest Cherry chocolate Cake) to deal with German culture and language once again.

We lived "on the economy" which means in a local dwelling in town rather than in military housing on base. As a result I was speaking German pretty quickly and generally "going native" - I even looked German! The reason Ray chose to live "on the economy" rather than "on base", in addition to the educational value of immersion in local culture and language (despite Ray's alcoholism, he was still a self-taught, well-read intellectual who spoke German and had German friends), was that it made it harder for his commanding officer to track him down for after-hours duty.

I attended the second half of 8th grade and most of 9th grade at Kaiserslautern American High School (KAHS). The single school building was located at Vogelweh, a large residential, shopping, and recreational, complex for American military families, located a mile west of K'town. The building also housed the junior high school in 1957-1958 (the junior high would have its own building at Vogelweh a year later). KAHS also served Air Force brats from nearby Ramstein AFB until the Air Force built its own high school at the Ramstein base years later. I commuted daily via a military bus from downtown K'town to Vogelweh (and back) to attend classes.

My best friend at KAHS was Robert Fuchs. I first met Bob on the transport ship carrying dependents (the families of servicemen) from NYC to Bremerhaven, West Germany, and we became close pals. Bob lived at Vogelweh with his family, so our social time together was mostly at KAHS. I've since lost touch with Bob, but if anyone reading this has his contact info, I'd sure like to have it (assuming Bob is still with us).

I have strong memories of 9th grade at KAHS (but few for 8th grade) and feel an affinity for all my former "Brat" classmates. The teachers were good, and I especially remember Miss Wilma Taylor, my General Science teacher, and Mr Rudolph Howze, my Algebra teacher. Both encouraged me to accomplish far more than I thought possible.

The student body at KAHS included a sizeable "tough" crowd - at least, it seemed that way to me. There was also a contingent of serious athletes - KAHS was the leader in athletics and competitive sports among all the American high schools in Germany at the time. I was definitely a "fish out of water", neither a "hood" nor a "jock". I often fantasized about transferring to Heidelberg American High School located 40 miles east of K'town. It was the top academic American high school in Germany, but transferring was simply not possible.

We left Kaiserslautern two months before the end of the academic year, and I finished 9th grade at Groton Central School (GCS) in Dorotha's home town of Groton, NY where I had previously attended all of 1st grade and most of 2nd grade and which had become a familiar place to park my carcass between moves. I was jokingly known as "Invisible Burke: now you see him, now you don't" - the locals there obviously didn't have much experience with military brats! I ended up at three more high schools before graduating - 10th grade at Austintown Fitch High School (AFHS) in Austintown, OH, back to GCS for 11th grade, and on to 12th grade at Rome Free Academy (RFA) in Rome, NY.

My 10th grade year at AFHS in Ohio was a good one. Ray was stationed at Lordstown Military Reservation, and we lived in nearby Austintown. AFHS was an advanced high school, and I took a lot of science and math courses and did well. I hadn't made any friends at school and was pretty much on my own at home during the academic year since Dorotha had started as a sales representative for Cort Cosmetics (the in-home sales division of Cody Cosmetics) and had quickly moved up the ladder to district sales manager (and worked long hours) while Ray was either absent from home or "out of it" most evenings. Fortunately, I knew how to cook for myself and had plenty of challenging homework to do and books to read (we had no TV) which kept me busy and distracted and free from boredom (but not from loneliness).

In June Ray retired from military service and we moved back to Groton (and Dorotha gave up her position with Cort/Cody Cosmetics). He goofed-off for a year (mostly drinking and carousing with my grandfather at two local watering holes) while Dorotha worked in the Texaco gas station and general store she had started by herself years before when Ray was stationed in Korea for the war, and which she had sold to her parents a few years later for the princely sum of $1!

My 11th grade year at GCS wasn't so hot. At AFHS I'd already completed most of what would have been junior-level courses in New York state, and GCS wouldn't let me take senior-level courses. So, the powers-that-be put me in the Industrial Arts (Shop) program for the year. Such are the hazards of being a brat. I specialized in Mechanical Drawing and Sheet-Metal Design and learned some useful skills. But, I was allowed to participate in several special academic activities including taking a math course ("Introduction to Finite Mathematics") at Cornell University in nearby Ithaca, NY.

In the summer of 1960 we moved to Rome, NY where Ray started a Federal Civil Service job at the Rome Air Development Center (RADC) next to Griffiss Air Force Base (GAFB), Dorotha had some part-time jobs, and I spent my 12th grade year in the college prep track at RFA. Once again I was playing the role of a loner, and my only close friend was Clyde Young, a fellow only-child odd duck (and gay - but still in the closet). His father, the school psychologist, had a total breakdown in the hall outside my classroom one day and was hauled off to the rubber room at the local hospital. And I thought my family had problems! Years later, Clyde would be killed in a ceiling collapse of his house within which he was making structural repairs. I participated in a few extracurricular activities including the Colgate Seminar and French and German Clubs. I also went out for field and track (shot put) but didn't make the team,

When we first arrived I had purchased a Raleigh 3-Speed English bicycle, and proceeded to ride all over Oneida County during the summer and the academic year (except on icy winter roads). I even made a two day trip in the late spring of 1961 from Vestal NY (in Broome County near the Pennsylvania border) back to Rome with an overnight stop in Groton. (What I was doing by myself in Vestal with only my bike and a suit and a book is an interesting story for another time.)

In June 1961 I graduated from RFA with General Academic, Science, and Math Honors and with enough 3.0 0r better credit hours completed in New York state to earn a NYS Regents Scholarship. I turned 17 in July. In the fall I was off to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY with an additional scholarship from RPI. I thought this was a dream come true, but RPI was a bad fit for me, and I began a nine year nightmare of academic failures, jobs (some good and others bad), and a failed three year first marriage entered into when I was 19 and exited (her choice) with my heart completely broken. The end of my marriage was also the end of my relationship with Ray since he was a causative factor in the collapse of the marriage.

Dorotha divorced Ray at about the same time, and he left the "lower 48" to enjoy his retirement in Fairbanks, Alaska for the next few years, followed by a year in Chicago, IL, and his final years in Prescott, AZ. He made it to 65; in 1982 the booze and the cigarettes finally did him in. The immediate cause of his death was heart failure. I flew to Prescott to handle his final affairs, probate his will, and give the eulogy at his (military) funeral. He left very little - I gave all his clothes to Goodwill, and drove his 2-door Toyota Coupe back to the East Coast and arranged for it to be delivered to Dorotha, now remarried and living in Hollywood, FL.

I supported myself during this period by working as an electronics service technician and commercial sound engineer for Lafayette Radio Electronics/Seiden Sound in Albany, NY, the city I lived in from 1963 to 1970. I had no trouble obtaining these jobs because I had been preparing myself for them by my self-studies and my hobbies throughout childhood (I built my first crystal radio when I was 7 years old and started reading electronics books and magazines at 8 years).

I eventually got my act together (those survival skills again) and completed a BS in Mathematics (with Minors in Psychology and Computer Science) from SUNY Albany and an MS in Computer Science and most of a PhD in Electrical Engineering, both from Penn State University. I had a long career as an entrepreneur and engineer (both as consultant and employee) in real-time computer systems and software and hardware design. I also was an Assistant Professor of Computer Science for four years at Fitchburg State College and a Lecturer in Electrical Engineering at Tufts University in Medford (a suburb of Boston) for two years. I retired from all that and then taught Computer Science and Math as an adjunct professor at Fitchburg State University for eight years. I retired again at the beginning of the pandemic and am now once again deciding what I want to be and do when I grow up (it's an on-going process!).

I'm recently out of my fourth marriage (don't ask; I'm a slow learner!), and it lasted (after a fashion) for 22 years. She was originally from China (PRC), and we met in Boston. She's smart and was a pharmacist in China, and got her MS in Computer Tech at Northeastern Univ., divorced her Chinese husband (after he had an affair with an underage Chinese girl in Boston), and was working as a systems programmer when we met (she found me). The plan was for her to eventually move in with me here, but she could never tear herself away from Boston. So, we would get together once in a while at my house or in her condo (in Jamaica Plain and which I helped remodel and furnish). For reference, the first three marriages lasted 3 years, 17 years, and 3 months. I see the trend here but can't believe I'm sabotaging my marriages up front by the partners I choose.

Being an odd duck (ie, someone significantly different from the norm), I've tended to attract wounded (ie, emotionally off-balance) women into my life, and my four wives certainly were no exception. In defense of my choices, each partner had her own outstanding qualities and each was different from the others, so, I was trying to grow and not repeat my mistakes - I just found new ones to make! I wasn't mean, indifferent, controlling, or unfaithful, and I tried to be a loving and interesting partner, and worked hard to succeed professionally and provide economic security for us (and for the family in marriage number two).

It's just that two wounded partners in a marriage is one (or two) too many. And even though I thought I was a "good guy", I had to learn to accept my part in the relationship failures and learn how to do the MOST difficult thing that one can do - to successfully make a consciously planned change and make it stick! (My first experience with difficult changes was when my son was born and I gave up cigarettes cold-turkey, after thirteen years as a chain smoker; I'd started smoking at age 17.) OK, enough of the psycho-babble!

I have two grown children from my second marriage - a son and 2-year-younger daughter. They're both great people and successful in their lives and careers, and I love them dearly. But, I'm still waiting for grandchildren! Come on, guys, get with the program!

I'm now writing my memoir, "The Autobiography of a Curious Character and Wide-Eyed, Only-Child, Army-Brat." This has proven to be the most difficult project I've ever undertaken, and I've started many and completed most during my seventy-seven years on the planet. I hope to have the memoir completed and published this year (2022) or next. It's been a journey of discovery and has been harder and taken much longer to do than I anticipated. And I've had so much to learn about research, organization, and writing - and myself! - and am still, and ever, learning!)

That's my brief story. I wish all the surviving students and faculty from my four high schools, all American military brats everywhere, and all the other players in this game of life on the planet a good journey - because life can be painful and a real struggle, especially for us loners, free thinkers, gypsies, free spirits, seekers of knowledge and wisdom, wearers of our hearts on our sleeves, performers of random acts of kindness, and odd ducks everywhere.

So, open your hearts every day to the blessings around you, and if you can't find or recognize them, then bestow blessings from your heart to those around you. And, remember, you can't realize your expectations until you become equal to them.

Regards from Michael (Mike) A. Burke, 77 years of age, residing in North Central Massachusetts, becoming more and more a wild and crazy guy (I learned from the master, Steve Martin), still deciding what I wanna be when I grow up, still playing guitar, and trying to keep my brain well lubricated (with proteins and vitamins, not alcohol!) so it can function and think at warp speed."