It is normal, I am sure, for one to look back over his/her life and wonder if their presence here had positive or negative effects on others. Certainly we all had an effect. Brothers or sisters, if we had them, may have been only children if not for us. Our mere presence changed our parents lives, those lives of our husbands/wives, our children, friends, neighbors, school chums, first love, enemies, and even those we never met.
Even those we never met? Think about it. We were probably some one's first love, so someone else we didn't know, wasn't. Simply by existing we changed that person's life. And that person who loved us first thinks about us from time to time, probably.
Which one of you didn't have to go into military service because I did? Who missed out on college in Denver because I went there? The mere fact that we exist has changed lives. Question is, was it positive or negative? I remember telling my former spouse that she should have married someone else. Someone who was above her station, whom she could look up to and admire. I wonder who that someone may have been? Boy, did I change his life. I wonder if it was in a good way or a bad way? And that person I didn't marry...I wonder how she's doing? Her life was changed too. Did I ever meet her?
I have a vague recollection of living on Pine street in Fresno right next to St. Theresa's Catholic Church. I was three or four, no older. I remember falling out of bed. My brother and I shared a bunk bed. Not sure if I was on top or bottom. I remember we (my brother, myself, other kids in our hood) put water or something into someone's gas tank. We were in big trouble! And I remember being chased and caught by the Nuns at St. Theresa's. They didn't like us running around and making noise while they were teaching. Three traumatic events - that's what I recall off hand.
And then we moved to Fairmont; and then to Japan; and back to Fairmont. That would be 777 E. Fairmont in Fresno. Moved there, I think, in 1950. Stayed until I went to college. I had a great childhood there. A typical mom, apple pie and the flag, 1950's childhood. Can't imagine that it could have been any better. Idyllic, one might say. Of course others had either more or less than I. And their descriptions of their lives will be the same as mine. When we are young it is the love and attention we get that matters. Not much more.
There were great times on Fairmont. Lots of kids around my age. It was a new neighborhood with large lots and small houses. Some lots were vacant, and we'd build "forts" in those. Not sure who we were hiding from or protecting ourselves against. But we were pretty good at it. I was a Cub Scout - my mom was a Den Mother. I was a Boy Scout - my dad was a Troop Leader. I played little league baseball. Not well - I was the last man chosen. My brother Jim and I went hunting with my dad - for dove mostly. I remember coming home from hunting one evening and mom had prepared artichokes for dinner. Not sure why I remember that. We did shoot our share of dove. I missed more than I hit, but I shot a few. And we did a lot of camping. Boy Scouts was a big thing in our lives. Full immersion, I'd call it. How to begin to turn a boy into a man. We did all that stuff - and it was a good life. As I think of them, I'll recount specific stories. Stories about hot dogs, Japan, and the John Muir Trail, to name a few. It'll be fun.
