Memories Of My Life , part 3

    When I was a kid , we went to Big Bear a lot during the summer months. We would often visit the same campgrounds week after week. We would spend whole Saturdays and Sundays there , picnicking , hiking , and just hanging out. Sometimes mom and dad would take us to Santa's Village. Those were some of the best times of my early life.

    One summer day , we visited one of our favorite spots. I must have been around eight or nine at the time. I remember I had these small toy animals. I thought I dropped one of them ( I can still remember the color - it was orange ) somewhere , and when I couldn't find it , everyone was sure a Blue Jay must have taken it. I remember we gabbed about it excitedly for some time.

Memories of my life , part 2

  When I was fifteen , I went to the California Jam with my cousins , Walter , Jackie , and Candy , and several of their friends from school. They picked me up the night before ( Friday ) , in an old gray van , that must have belonged to Walter. My aunt Shirley lived in a house by Azusa High school. I remember sitting on the floor , in the living room with the others , while cock roaches crawled sluggishly across the carpet several feet from us.

   I don't remember a whole lot about that night , or the following day , but I do remember that there was a lot of smoking and drinking , and the music was loud ( incredibly loud ) and exciting. I also remember that the main reason I wanted to go , was Black Sabbath. I was outside on the front porch with an old transistor radio , listening to KLOS. Bob Coburn came on and said , something like Here's one of the bands that will be appearing at the California Jam. The song he played was Sabbath , Bloody Sabbath.

   I remember that the speakers were huge , as big as houses. My ears have been ringing ever since.

Memories of my life , part 1

   When I was twelve , and thirteen years old , I was a basketball player and fan. I liked the Lakers , and the UCLA bruins. I remember staying up late on Friday and Saturday nights to watch Bruins basketball when mom and dad were next door playing games with Dorothy and Stan. I would also watch Alfred Hitchcock , and The Sixth Sense. While watching Hitchcock and Sixth Sense , my imagination often ran wild. Sometimes I would hear footsteps on the front porch , and sounds of the house settling became sounds of someone knocking or trying to break in.

   One night while watching something scary , I heard a scream. I almost jumped through the ceiling - literally. It hadn't come from the television. It came from next door. Later mom told me it was Dana Grinter. Apparently she'd awakened during the night to discover that her sister , Dawn , was not there.