Idiot Out Wandering Around

Idiot Out Wandering Around is an endearing expression that some Iowans use to playfully self-describe their journey through life as they experience their own trials and triumphs. For this uncommon story, the term couldn't be more fitting. In a simpler era, one Iowa boy, Terry Rescola, began his life as the son of a United States Navy Lieutenant and lived in an environment filled with the loving guidance that every child needs. After moving around year after year, when Terry reached age seven and a half, life settled down when his dad retired and they bought a house in Newton, Iowa. Terry was living a typical all-American life, doing normal kid stuff until tragedy struck and dramatically altered his contented life course forever. At the young age of eleven years, Terry's loving father died from lung cancer and not too long afterward, his devastated mother became an alcoholic. With practically no skills to work with, little Terry found himself feeling hopelessly shattered, heartbroken, depressed, and lost. While he walked around aimless and despondent, he tried to figure out what life means now. As he struggled to find a voice to express himself with, eventually it became evident to Terry that he would have to somehow raise himself in this big, wide world, and it was up to him to find his own path. Each day that Terry tried to make heads or tails of his life, a weave of innocence and boyish sweetness always remained in his personality. This character helped bring him through his many challenges and fears that intertwined in all of his "live and learn" lessons, such as getting married at age sixteen and having a child a few months later, while doing his best to support his new family. Crossing pivotal decades and eras, Terry found himself flying by the seat of his pants, often acting on impulse and stumbling along while doing things that would never cross the minds of most people like going AWOL in the Army, by accident, and single-handedly challenging five members of a violent motorcycle gang with a gun. In addition, his path was filled with heartbreaking, suspenseful, laughable, and unimaginable occurrences that were anything but usual. From the beginning and as time went on, Terry always seemed to surround himself with people who would help guide him in the same way he remembered feeling guided before this devastation. From the dozen or so near fatal accidents he would encounter as he grew up, in one, he actually did die, was placed in a body bag, and was fortunately saved and brought back to life. Terry learned to process and vent his anger and frustration, while excelling in youth sports when he became an undefeated miler, undefeated wrestler, and a hot dog in Little League. Terry claims to this day that it was youth sports and the United States Army that saved him and somehow helped set his feet back on the ground and his focus forward. Terry's story will take you to a faraway island. It will touch the lives of many from drummers to military personnel, from bikers to fishermen, and from nude beach goers to nurses and sports fans. It will have you re-visit decades gone by and you will be led on a nail-biting deep sea adventure. He will take you through the sadness at his losses, and the happiness of his crazy luck. All in all, Terry's life thus far has been anything but boring, yet after each event, he just brushed off his knees and continued living.