Hello, my name is John Lepkowicz. I was born in Mexico. I’m the oldest of three. My siblings live outside of Chicago and I live in St. Louis. I have 4 kids. Two are in their 20s and live in Texas and I have two others with my current wife. How my parents met based on the various versions I heard from my mom. My mom was taking an English class and at the time, students were able to practice their English by writing with a pen pal. My mom, at the time was in her thirties so it would be hard for her to marry someone in Mexico because of her age. My dad, after serving in World War II, was up there in age. She wrote to him and eventually invited him to visit Mexico. He did and ended up going to Mexico to meet her. From there, they married and had a family. When my father passed from pancreatic cancer, I was 10. My mom had to raise 3 kids on her own. Most of the family from my dad’s side turned their backs on us because they didn’t approve of him marrying a Mexican woman not Polish. My mom had to make ends meat with the 3 social security checks she received because of the 3 kids. My mom would get hand-outs from various organizations to help us. I remember us as kids, we would go to Loyola University dental school for dental work because it was cheaper for my mom than going to a certified dentist. As we got older and hit the age of 18, the check would go away and it required more penny pinching. To make up the difference, my mom rented. Our house had a 1 bedroom apartment connected to the house. It had a large living room, kitchen, bathroom and access.
Once I graduated high school, I attended a community college. I knew I wanted to get into computer science. I ditched a lot while in high school. It wasn’t until my junior year when I took a Wordstar computer class that got my interest. My degree was bulk in math with some computer. After one year of college, I entered the military. I served 4 years in the U.S. Navy. It was my first time away from home and getting to see the world. I will always cherish the memories that I have from my time in. That sacrifice allowed me to go to college for free with the help of the GI Bill and the IL Veterans Grant. I graduated from IL State University with a degree in Applied Computer Science and landed a job as a mainframe computer programmer with a consulting firm in Chicago. While working I also was doing the Navy Reserves. I was sent away for my 2 weeks to Italy and extended another month and let my employer know. When I returned I was laid off. I decided to go back active duty and was sent to Italy again. I did 4 years there and then lived in London for 3 before being assigned to a ship in Norfolk, VA for almost 5 years. I, once again, returned to Italy to complete my 20 years of military service and retired.
When I lived in Europe I had a real bad attack of sciatica. It was hard for me to walk, to do my job and had to go through physical therapy to try and do a simple task of touching my toes. After months of therapy and no improvement, the last option was surgery. I remember talking with the surgeon and telling him that my back would loosen up whenever I ran and I wouldn’t feel any pain. He suggested that I start running again. It would be painful at first but to stick with it. To see a grown man cry from just trying to run was a sight. That was in 2005 and haven’t had any issues since.
I found from my time living abroad, to gain the full pleasure of the culture is to live among the people in that country. That is what I did while in Italy and in London. I learned and appreciated the experience of the local cuisine. Talking with neighbors. Driving just like them.
Owning my own home, I have had to learn to tend to any issues that come with home ownership. In the state of Missouri, clay is everywhere. There is an inch of dirt and there is clay underneath. I hate clay but I have to work with what I have. The other gripe I had was zoysia grass. It is so aggressive that grows into anything. I had to remove that grass and replace it with Kentucky Bluegrass. I have applied that focus into other areas such as baking, gardening and any other repairs.
Finally, I’ve always been a runner. I’ve never been on the track team. I used my running to help me escape from the truant officers while I was in high school. I’ve run my handful of marathons in Europe. My most memorable is the actual Athens marathon. I’ll always consider that the most memorable because of that it started it all and why there various marathons. The story of Pheidippides started it all and I supposedly ran the course that he had run.
I never imagined I’d be living in Missouri but I am glad that I am. I have a full-time job, I am a real estate investor with 4 rental properties that bring me in some extra money. Now I am interested in doing blogging. I don’t know what will happen but I am anxious to see where it goes. I have learned that there are 3 ways to learn: from life, reading, and observing or listening to others. The idea is to collaborate with others and to learn something along the way. I have enjoyed writing. Nothing professional, but I do enjoy journaling. This, in a way is my online version of journaling for others and myself to read.