Love Matters

Born June 8, 1938 to Herbert Skirving and Virginia Lee Shackleton in Abington, Pennsylvania, Ocean was the first of four children, followed by Herb, Ginnie, and Mary, his siblings. Following a tumultuous childhood, he enlisted in the United States Army as a 17-year-old, at the request of his mother, step-father and a judge. He served three years in Germany, developing an affinity for the language, and he was discharged in New Jersey in April, 1959. Ocean worked in manufacturing and landscaping, and he also made his living as an artist, a tree surgeon, bar tender, waiter, Maitre d, ' cook, chef, house painter, journeyman carpenter, general contractor, alcoholism counsellor and treatment-center manager. Throughout his life, he continued to write poetry, committing to paper his observations of life and his thoughts and feelings. During the 24 years he lived in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Ocean often shared his poems at local gatherings, and in 2017, he earned the silver medal for poetry in the Western North Carolina Senior Games. He now lives in a small village in northwestern Ohio with his sweetheart, Nancy, her father, Charles, and six cats. He continues to write and create art, and is still active in several community organizations.