Back To The Future: A Man's Journey To His Past

Figure One: Dave Madden (Father) around age 15 (1979). Source: Madden, David.

Figure Two: Dave Madden (second from left, age 16) with his niece and two nephews (1980). Source: Madden, David.

ONCE UPON A LONG AGO:

If one were to take a quick look at the 1980's, it would seem it was a time of new beginnings (Introduction n.p.). Hippies were starting over by trading their flower shirts for powersuits, but the big hair still remained (Madden). The music industry was looking more to television to "advertise" with the birth of MTV. The country decided to have a fresh outlook in the beginning of the decade by electing Ronald Reagan as president. There was a lot of "hype that surrounded the decade" (Introduction n.p.). David Madden was privileged enough to experience this hype through the workforce, the music, and the beginning of his own family.

Figure Three: Dave Madden on a friend's boat. Source: Madden, David.

"BLUE" EYED HANDSOME MAN:

My father, Dave Madden, was born on May 11, 1964 to Buddy and Rose Madden. He is the youngest of four children. Mr. Madden grew up in a small house in Barnstable, Massachusetts. When the eighties began, he was sixteen years old, and by the end of the decade, he was 25. He attended Barnstable High School (BHS), which was conveniently across the street from his home. In 1982, my father graduated from BHS (Madden). Freshly eighteen, he was ready for the world. My father attended day and night classes for one year at Cape Cod Community College (Madden), but realized school was not for him. Instead, Mr. Madden focused on finding his career.

Figure Four: The main entrance to Barnstable High School. Source: Barnstable High School.

FROM SCHOOL TO THE WORKFORCE:

Even though Mr. Madden left college to focus on work, he had had an odd string of jobs through out high school. My father had seven jobs (Madden) before settling down at one business. Some examples of these jobs included: a local radio station, CVS, a clothing store, a music store, and a tennis club. Finally, on June 1, 1984, when Mr. Madden was 20 years old, he began working at a fish company, the Lobster Trap, in Bourne, Massachusetts (Madden). My father still works at the Lobster Trap today. He is the sales manger (Lobster n.p.) and sells seafood to major stores such as,Wal Mart and Stop & Shop, as well as international seafood companies (Lobster n.p.). This June will mark, Mr. Madden's 27th anniversary at the Lobster Trap, a rare occurrence these days.

Figure Five: Dave Madden and a co-worker at a Seafood Show in Brussels, Belgium (2011). Source: Madden, David.

BAND ON THE RUN:

However, before Mr. Madden was even considering working at the Lobster Trap, he was a disk jockey at a local radio station, 106.1 WCOD. He described the job as, "Cool because I was always in the know" (Madden). This meant in the know with popular music, but also with what was going on in the town and he was always meeting new people. When my father thought back to working at the radio station, he remembered that in the eighties, there were no CD's or digital music. He had to play songs from records or cassette tapes. This then sent him into anther flashback. When he worked nights at the station, "for $10 (he) would make (his) friends mix tapes" (Madden). My father was able to have no segue in between songs so that every inch of the tape was used up by music. My father was a big music fan even before he started at the radio station. He was a huge Beatles fan when they came to America in 1964, and still is to this day. In the eighties, he was also a fan of rock 'n' roll and "hair metal bands". He listened to bands like AC/DC, Def Leppard, Bob Seger, and The Police (Madden). Even though the Beatles were no longer together, that did not stop him from listening to his favorite, Paul McCartney.

FAMILY MATTERS:

After finding a steady job and working for a few years, Mr. Madden married at the age of 23 in 1987. The median age of men getting married for the first time in 1987 was roughly 26 (Estimated n.p.). In October of that same year, his first child, Elizabeth Madden, was born followed two years later by his son, Christopher Madden. He said kids back then were different then today. In the eighties and decades before, there was no technology or no cell phones. "If you wanted to hang out with someone, you ran outside to their house. It was more personal" (Madden). Nowadays, it seems that people would rather send a text message then call someone on the phone or talk to them in person.

Figure Six: Christopher Madden (Brother), Elizabeth Madden (Sister), and Dave Madden at Chris's high school graduation (2007). Source: Madden, David.

I'VE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE:

Eventually Mr. Madden divorced and focused on his work as well as his children. Then one fateful day in March 1997, Mr. Madden called a bank in Colorado for business reasons, and found himself talking to my mother. She was also divorced with three girls of her own. They began talking more regularly, and finally, on November 13, 1997, they met in person in Colorado (Madden). They continued to talk on the phone and my mother visited Mr. Madden in February 1998. In August 1998, my mother moved my sisters and I to Massachusetts. The following summer my father asked my mother to marry him, "She said she would be happy to" (Madden). Finally on August 25, 2000, Dave Madden married Debra Madden and found himself with four daughters and one son. This August will be their eleventh anniversary.

Figure Seven: Dave Madden, Debra Madden (Mother), and I at Sandy Neck Beach in Sandwich, MA. Source: Madden, David.

Figure Eight: At my high school graduation (2010). Source: Madden, David.

LOOKING BACK:

The eighties was Dave Madden's time to grow up and start a new life. He graduated high school, tested the college life, dabbled in many jobs, and found his family. He tells my siblings and myself stories about times in the eighties and what life was like often. However, while he may have had fun and would not change his decisions, my father does not wish to be young again.

Figure Nine: Dave Madden and I in our home in East Sandwich, MA (2011). Source: Madden, David.

Works Citied

"Barnstable High School." Wikipedia. Web. 4 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Barnstable_High_School_entrance.jpg>.

"Estimated Median Age at First Marriage, by Sex: 1890 to Present." U.S. Bureau of the Census. 15 September 2004. Web. 15 May. 2011.

<http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/tabMS-2.pdf>.

"Introduction." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 8 May. 2011.

"Lobster Trap." Lobster Trap Wholesale Seafood Dealers. Web. 15 May. 2011. <http://www.lobstertrap.com/>.

Madden, David. Personal Interview. 14 May. 2011.