Airship27

Greetings Loyal Airmen. With the coming of Fall, the elections, followed by the holidays, things have been a bit slow production wise. So we thought during this rare lull, we show you where the magic happens, Loyal Airmen. Surrounded by toys, books, DVDs and family photos. An easy place to get inspired.

In posting the picture of our current office, we found ourselves getting reflective on the journey we’ve traveled in becoming a writer; a teller of tales. Which then brought us back to Saint Thomas Aquinas High School located in Dover, N.H. The school officially opened the Sept of 1961 and among the two hundred members of that first freshmen class was yours truly. Yup, at that time even the building wasn’t completed. We remember guys with air-hammers working on completing the basketball gymnasium, while just across the hall our civics teacher, Mr. O’Connor, was going nuts because of all the loud constant noise. The cafeteria was nowhere near done and we brought our lunches in brown paper-bags. Oh, and as there were no other students before us, we had the privilege of being seniors all four years. The classes were taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame and on that first day of my high school career, we met our homeroom teacher, Sister Raymunda. She was also our English teacher and soon became the most influential mentor in our life. Sister Ray quickly picked up on the fact that Mr. Fortier loved to write and she never missed an opportunity to encourage that talent in us. From giving us added reading assignments, to essay writing, it was all to prime the pump of our creativity. In our senior year, she cast me in the very first play the school ever produced. It was “Ile,” by Eugene O’Neil, and the Air Chief played a cabin boy aboard a New England whaler. Fun stuff for sure. Sister Ray went on to become the school’s second Principal, long after our class had graduated. When she retired, she was sent to Boston where she taught English to immigrants at a nearby community college. Teaching was her life, which she lived to the max well into her 90s. We loved her dearly, think of her often, especially when writing something new. We kind of like to imagine she’s looking down on us still, always saying, “Go for it, Mr. Fortier.”

Finally as this week’s theme was a personal one, the Air Chief put together the above collage from lots of family albums indicating the stages of our lives. We were born, Ronald Joseph Fortier, on 5th November, 1946 to George & Gabrielle Fortier. One of millions of post-World War II baby-boomers. And yes, if you read that above date correctly, you see that next Thursday, the Air Chief will turn 80 years old! Wow, how the heck did that happen? Kidding aside, it’s happened thanks to a Love God who created us, put us in this wild and wacky world, gave us an amazing family heritage, a super wonderful gift to write and set us on our way. All glory be to Him, forever and ever, AMEN!

Welcome to Airship 27

Our Office