Michael Hall                                                                                                                                                              

I graduated from Superior Senior High School in Superior, Wisconsin. Growing up in the country -- from raising chickens and mink, to bailing hay -- was a great experience. It was certainly nowhere near what kids do for fun these days. The three buildings of concern were a house under 500 square feet, a chicken coop and the outhouse. Two out of the three were always full!

I had no idea what a work permit was, not to mention that my parents had to sign it. Being 15 years old was hard, but those challenges didn’t stand in my way. I watched my mother read every stock page in our newspaper, and it made me inquisitive. I must admit she gave me sound answers to my unending array of questions.

My father and brothers worked on the Great Lakes. In fact, I have one brother that took the Edmund Fitzgerald out of the Twin Ports Harbor. After my father retired, it wasn’t long before tragedy struck and he passed away. More trouble came upon realizing that he had chosen the wrong retirement options, so my mother got nothing from his pension -- just Social Security.

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