Paper Routes and River Nights

PAPER ROUTES AND RIVER NIGHTS
By Richard D Dykes
Before life became complicated, there were newspapers to deliver, rivers to fish, and summer nights that seemed like they would never end.
Growing up in a small Eastern Kentucky town wasn't always easy. After his mother lost her job and the family had to move in with his father, a teenage boy suddenly found himself in a new place, attending a new school and trying to make new friends.
Tired of never having spending money, he took matters into his own hands and got a paper route.
Six days a week meant afternoon deliveries—but Sunday was different. The newspapers arrived around two or three in the morning, and they had to be delivered before daylight.
When summer came, he mowed yards for his customers. When winter arrived, he shoveled snow.
But growing up wasn't all work.
🎣 Fishing along the river
⛺ Camping with friends
📰 Early-morning paper routes
🌙 Running the roads late into the night
🌱 Mowing yards during summer
❄️ Shoveling snow during winter
🏡 Growing up in a small Kentucky town
❤️ Friendships and memories that lasted a lifetime
Paper Routes and River Nights is a nostalgic coming-of-age story about working for what you wanted, finding friendship in an unfamiliar town, getting into a little mischief, and discovering adventure in the simplest places.
We didn't have cell phones or much money. We had bicycles, fishing poles, country roads, and each other—and somehow, that was enough.
📖 PAPER ROUTES AND RIVER NIGHTS
✍️ Richard D Dykes