One Christmas In California

One year we went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house in California for Christmas...

On the couch is Dad, Mom holding Celeste, Grandma and Grandpa. In the front are Nancy, Tom, Me, Sam, Lloyd and Marianne.

Harrison Boulevard

When I was five, we moved to Ogden, Utah. Our first place was an apartment at the intersection of Harrison Blvd and 32nd street. It was a basement apartment. This is the apartment where Dawn was born. Going down the stairs, the door to our apartment was on the left. Once inside the door, the living room was on the left, kitchen on the right, and the hallway to the bedrooms was straight ahead. I'm not sure, but I think we had three bedrooms. The first bedroom on the left was my parents' room, and there was a bathroom across the hall on the right. At the end of the hall there were two more bedrooms, one on each side.

There are a few things I remember from our time here. 1) There was a lady who lived upstairs, who would come out onto her balcony and sing her heart out for everyone to hear. I remember her singing Copa Cabana. 2) There was a Chuck E. Cheese's across the street, and I thought that was so cool. I was pretty little, so I don't know how this came about, but somehow I was with another kid who thought it would be awesome to cross the street and sneak in to CEC's. So we did. We weren't there too long before I, hunched over some game, felt someone grab my arm. I was about to turn around and yell at whoever it was, but it was my Dad, and I was in big trouble. I don't remember my consequence or anything else, just going and getting caught. I'm sure my poor parents were worried sick, and now that I think about it--I wonder how they knew where to find me. 3) I have this picture in my mind of my sister, Celeste, sitting on the counter in the bathroom covered in blood. She had big smiles on her face and was joyfully singing and playing with something. My parents rushed in, and freaked out, because it was a razor she was playing with. !!! Don't ask me how she wasn't screaming, I've had razor cuts before and they are no joke. 4) One day someone knocked on the door, and when we opened it this complete stranger was standing there, acting like we had been expecting him, and like he expected to be let in. It was a bit unnerving. I'm not sure how long the charade went on before my grandparents followed him down the stairs to our door. The joke was on us, it was Reggie, who we had never met. He was engaged to my aunt Nancy, and it turns out we were expecting him after all. It was (obviously) the first time we met him.

I'm pretty sure this picture of me was taken in that apartment.

Up the Slide

I only went to Kindergarten for a few months in Missouri, but this happened at Rissler Elementary School in Trenton.

One day at recess, I climbed up the slide. I have no idea why. I was probably chasing someone, I’m sure I had a reason. Maybe it was just another kid setting the example, and me thinking it looked like fun to go up the slide. The rule about only going up the ladder, and not up the slide, was the furthest thing from my mind.

Up I went! About halfway up, I felt someone grab my arm. I turned around to yell at whoever it was to leave me alone, and found myself face to face with the teacher. And I was just confused. She made me get down. I have no recollection at all of anything after that, but I’m sure there was a consequence involved. I do not remember anything else about Kindergarten in Missouri…no memory of the classroom, or the school, or anything else.

Clouds

We had a fluffy, white dog named Clouds. I loved Clouds. I adored Clouds. He was our pet and I loved him.

One day Clouds bit the mail man. My mom said the dog catcher was going to come and pick up Clouds and take him away, and we would not see him again.

I hung on to Clouds all morning, so sad that he had to go. And then the dog catcher came, and he was gone.

By the time a week had gone by, I knew Clouds was dead. I always thought of him when I looked up in the sky, and saw the fluffy, white clouds there.