Bell

I don't have a super clear memory of the house on Bell. Again, the front door led right into the living room, with the kitchen to the right, and a hallway at the back that led straight down, to all the bedrooms. I'm pretty sure it was a three bedroom house. I don't remember where any of the bedrooms or the bathrooms were located. One thing I do remember is singing the Articles of Faith in the living room of that house. Again, it's funny what memory can do!


We left Corcoran after two years, as my dad had been hired as a teacher in Turlock, California, where our family would stay for about 18 years. (Such a record!)

Candy and Movies

The fence to our backyard backed up against the lot of a gas station/convenience store. So any time we got our little fists around any money, we’d slip over to the store and buy candy. I don’t think it ever occurred to us to ask Mom if we could. We were always playing outside, and we were not restricted to our yard. (It was a different world back then, for sure). So it didn’t seem like we were doing anything wrong. Although if my kids did anything like that today, they would be told that under no circumstances should they ever do that again.

Corcoran was just a crazy place to live, and honestly, I am so glad we got out of there when we did. A memory that horrifies me to this day has to do with the movie theater. This movie theater had been out of business for a really long time. I don’t remember it ever being a functioning theater, in fact. It was a block or so away from the convenience store behind our house, so it was very easy to get to, and we got to it a lot during our bike rides around town. Sam told me that some guy was playing movies and was letting people in for free. Again, why it didn’t occur to me that we should check with our mom first is completely beyond me. We probably went to the movies 3 or 4 times, free of charge. I don’t know who the guy was, if he owned the place or just figured out how to get in—no earthly idea. And I really can’t tell you why the movies didn’t really phase me or disturb me once, I think I wasn’t really paying attention (maybe?), because the movies he played for us were the Death Wish movies. Seriously!? How in the world could anyone with a brain play movies like that for a bunch of little kids??