It was a magical time. I was a young guy who was lucky enough to wind up working as director of student activities at a small college in Denison, Iowa. I was newly married to Kitty, who taught at Denison High School. We lived in a tiny, tiny house in a nice part of town. We had a collie, Casey, who roamed the streets of Denison, always finding his way to the local butcher shop. Casey introduced us to many people in Denison who became Casey’s buddies along his journeys about town.
Earlier, Donna Reed was born and raised in Denison. She became a famous movie star and played the lead with Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and then had a long-running television sitcom, “The Donna Reed Show.” In a sense, Donna Reed brought the simple, wonderful life of Denison, Iowa, to all of America.
I was lucky enough to live the wonderful life in Denison for two years. Kitty and I knew most of the good people of Denison. We walked the streets and smiled and said hello to everyone we met. On Saturday, we were two of the citizens who packed into a school bus to drive 88 miles to the big city of Ames to watch the Iowa State Cyclones football team get blasted by national powerhouses Nebraska and Oklahoma. The score didn’t matter. The mayor, attorneys, shopkeepers, janitors, waitresses and teachers of Denison, Iowa, all had a wondrous time together.
I look back at those years with great thanks. While the rest of the country was tasting a morsel of the good, simple life of Denison through Donna Reed, I was blessed with living it each day.
Now, at 76 years of age, and experiencing the complexities and challenges we all face, I try to relive a little taste of Denison, Iowa, each day.