Memories 1

A special person asked me in an email today, "What are some of your favorite memories?" from my childhood/life? Believe me, this will definitely jump around as one memory triggers another and then the dominoes start falling. I hope it isn't too disjointed but oh well...

The California Years

When I think about my childhood the first stand I remember taking was throwing away my baby bottle because I was too big to use it anymore. I walked outside and threw it in our trash barrel where the trash was burned. I felt big and important that day.* I have a few pictures of me from around that time where I was usually wearing a knit hat or beanie. It isnt very cold in California, so I am not sure why it was necessary for me to wear it unless I was being a style setter. * We had a dog named Ginger and she was a beautiful red dog. I am not sure what breed. She was really smart and a really good dog as well, so I cried several times when she died. *The neighbors had a really big dog who was mean as all heck and I stayed as far away from him as possible. One day though, he broke out of his yard and was running around the neighborhood and came up into the yard. I began running back towards the house as fast as my short little legs would let me go. I made it on to the porch and could feel it nipping at my behind. I was fortunately able to get inside the door without him getting ahold of me. But boy was it a close one. *I had a little club house out in the front yard that I played in all the time. Once, I had begged and pleaded and finally got a new box of crayolas. I took them and my book out to the clubhouse to do some coloring and forgot my crayolas out in the clubhouse. Of course the sun melted every crayon into a bog puddle of multi-colored wax. I hadn't even had them 24 hours and they were already ruined. I was crushed! * We lived near the desert and there was a mountain behind our house and my brothers would always take me out there. My brother Don would pull me around in my red wagon really fast like a madman.( "Going Loco" was what we called it. ) *I also remember my brother Ron, letting Don drive his car one time. I was in the passengers seat and Don, as new drivers usually do, slammed on the brakes sending me FACE FIRST into the dash of the car. I remember bleeding so much that they were worried that I may have to go to the hospital. *Ron, who died back in 1998 from his Multiple Sclerosis, was and still is one of my heroes. He was the one of the best athletes in the state of California. He was a fantastic student. He was good at everything he did. He had a '54 Chevy and a motorcyle. I mean he was just the coolest thing going. He used to take me with him down to the river or up to a park. I remember being aabout 3 and singing Me and Bobby McGee for him. He was just the greatest brother a guy could want. I know one time they were playing volleyball and he dove to save a ball and he landed with his hand on a stick or something and it went almost all the way through his hand. Most people would have went to the hospital but he just put some tape over it and finished the game. Man was he tough!!! He once saved this girl from a burning car by ripping the entire car door off it's hinges when no one else could even get it open. (I myself once saved a girl too!! But that is a story another day!!) *Since this was the late '60s and early 70's we had several hippie type people in the neighborhood. One neighbor, whose name was Patty Green, if I remember correctly, looked like Peppermint Patty from Peanuts but the thing I remember most was her car had a gas pedal that was shaped like a foot. *My sister helped me learn my letters and started me off on my way to be the genius I am today. *I remember being a big fan of Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five. I even watched their cartoon. *The landlord of our house in California, gave me a shoebox full of Hot Wheels that were orignal series of Hot Wheels. For some reason I did not bring them with me to OK, which I sure wish I had because those would be collector's items today. But noooooooooooo, I forgot them and brought my stuffed rabbit and dogs instead. In September of 1972 we packed up the 69 Chevy Impala and moved right into lovely Oklahoma..... to be continued...