My Friend, St. Peter and Other Short Stories

In the first part of this past century, when the author was born, radios were a rarity and a plaything of the wealthy. Of course there was no television. The motion picture was an innovation. Common wisdom was, that vaudeville and the theater had nothing to fear from this newcomer. Most entertainment involved conversation. This was encouraged in the summer time, by the wide front porches, and in the winter, seated in the living room, in front of the fireplace. Naturally, much of conversation involved the telling of stories of events that had occurred. As Dr. Mighell grew up, he listened to these stories of his ancestors going back into the nineteenth century. He began to experience the Great Depression in his developmental years. He was determined to become a physician even though America became involved in World War II, with the natural disruptions that this meant in the lives of all young men in their twenties. He ended up a medical officer in the air force but was finally able to return to a life of normalcy completing his medical education and practicing general surgery for fifty years.

Dr. Mighell has drawn on this background as he has written these interesting stories, some of which were handed down to him by word of mouth. Some are his actual experiences growing up in a small town in Iowa during the time of a severe depression. Many are from his years of practicing medicine. All of his generation experienced the anger of Pearl Harbor, followed by the determination to win that war, and upon its completion, the returning to the type of life, which had been so rudely interrupted. He shows a determined commitment to the history of America as he reveals the nature of a distinctly Middle Western consciousness.

He arranged these stories, as a conversation would occur...not in any categorical order but more as the free flow of thought when two friends meet and recount various events, as they would come to mind. Thus the reader can enjoy a visit of varying length, returning at a later time to resume further discussion. Please enjoy these visits, and return as frequently as you desire. Stay as long or as short a time, as you can spare.