Trying Charles' Milestones and Events

Inspired by Charles (Cinisoul), I'm going to try Milestones and Events in my life...

When I was...

1 - Troy, NY. I don't remember it.

2 - Still Troy, NY, still don't remember it.

3 - Still Troy, NY - taught myself to read and write that year, broke my right collarbone on Christmas night, switched to lefty, then back to right hand in the summer.

4 - Don't really recall - moved to CA that year.

5 - Kindergarten in West Covina, CA with a teacher named Mrs. Bowser. We had baby rabbits in class. When asked who had permission to bring one home as a pet, I raised my hand. No, I didn't have permission, but we kept him anyway. I named him Pinky (red eyes, albino rabbit). I took tap dancing lessons, danced at an exhibition at DisneyLand and photos of me from dance were displayed in Beverly Hills photography studio window.

6 - Part of the year in CA, part moved back east to Colden, NY. We moved around a bit. I recall East Aurora and another town outside of Buffalo, too. Dunno what was up with that. Lots of snow. Tons o' snow. *Added note: The move to CA and back were both drives cross country where I saw sights like the Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, etc.

7 - Moved to West Haven, CT. I walked to school and remember big rats on the way. I was five blocks from the Sound and would wander over there to find dead sharks washed ashore, horseshoe crabs. The swamp near us caught fire. My brother and I found a kitten and my parents let us keep him -- thus, Mittens was my favorite cat of many more to come. We played ball in the vacant lot on the block with boys named Ricky and David Nelson... while 'Ozzie and Harriett' was on TV, though not the same Ricky and David Nelson! I got my first straight A's that year and found it would be expected of me from that point on.

8 - Moved back to NY, to Latham (outside Albany) where I was when President Kennedy was assassinated and my little brother was born. Then it was onto West Sand Lake (Rennsalear County) east of Troy. I was put in a class where I was asked to read aloud in my first hour there (3rd grade). I remember pronouncing the word "laughter" wrong, then correcting myself. I was yanked out of that class and thrown into the "advanced class" where the teacher didn't believe in giving A's thus making my parents mad at me. I got some out of her, but I actually had to work for them. I was used to sliding through with them in second grade due to reading skills. I also got my first eyeglasses that year.

9 - Still in West Sand Lake. I fished on Hartz Pond. I hiked. I climbed trees. I climbed the fence to the horse boarding farm nearby and rode on the horses bareback until I fell off. I swam in nearby Crystal Lake and found out what leeches look like. I teased snapping turtles and caught crayfish. I saw what happens when a chicken's head is cut off and had nightmares. I held hands with my first "boyfriend." I was back to straight A's in school. My parents were happier. Saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan that year and thought they'd never be as big as Elvis.

10 - Moved to Round Lake, NY (Saratoga County). New school, kept my straight A's a goin' on. On dark stormy nights, listening to Mrs. Hara-Hara playing the 1847 Ferris Tracker pipe organ at the auditorium across the street was absolutely spooky. I fell in love with NYC that year due to school and family trips. I read everything I could about it and was fascinated. Although I was buying Monkees albums, I was more into Simon and Garfunkel. I saved my money and bought a guitar thinking I'd be a bohemian folksinger in the years to come... in NYC, of course.

11 - Had a sixth grade evil teacher (still in advanced classes). She was cruel and nasty. I skipped school for days on end and became suicidal. Thankfully, the school skipping was noticed and exposed the treatment I was receiving. I was removed from her class, went back to my straight A's and stopped being a suicidal 11 year old. I read my Mom's copy of 'The Valley of the Dolls' unbeknownst to her. I read everything I could get my hands on and that was there.

12 - Became involved in both the anti-war (Vietnam) and civil rights movements. A hippie was born the year before the Summer of Love. Unfortunately, this "hippie" had what was called "cat glasses", white frames at that. Huh. Some hippie I was! I started going to all the rock concerts at nearby SPAC, often riding my bike and sneaking through a hole in the fence. I was still getting my A's just floating through classes. I went to Manhattan with my art teacher and a few selected students and checked out the Guggenheim. That was the year I decided I wanted to be artsy... and loved NYC even more. :::grin:::

13 - First for a lot of experimentation that year. First beers -- two and I got sick as a dog and couldn't drink beer for a few decades. First Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill Wine at anti-war protests in Albany and Schenectady, better than the beer experience but still touchy to my stomach. First marijuana. Oh, no! That was to be a part of things for years to come (though it's now been over 20 years since I last had any). At an anti-war protest in Albany, a man in his 20's walked up to me and asked if I wanted to take a trip. I told him I couldn't; my mother was picking me up soon. Only as he walked away did I realize he was talking LSD. I felt so kid dumb at the time! I was still getting my straight A's and not working to get them.

14 - High school and, due to my grades, they put me not into just advanced classes, but things like Physics! Physics in 9th grade! Ack! I had to study, but kept that A average going on due to a mark above an A - an H was 5 points. I got H's in Health, French, English and History off and on throughout the year evening out the B in Physics. I ended the school year with above an A average, or a 4.2. I was put on independent study in many of my courses and was a lazy intellectual doing last minute cramming and paper writing. I discovered LSD. Now, I don't recommend drugs. They can mess you up. But, the times were different and I myself was a different person than I am now. I wuz a hippie; I told ya that! I was going to change the world and find out the true meaning of life. Or something.

15 - Pretty much the same as 14. Kept the grades up while being a rebel quietly -- my parents didn't know or perhaps didn't think I was as into things as I was as the grades stayed A's. I went to all the big concerts -- Janis Joplin, the Doors, the Who, the Rolling Stones, etc., ... and spent lots of time in a haze.

16 - A very eventful year. Leading into it, my Mom spent the whole summer at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester being a guinea pig for what's now gastric bypass surgery. It was to kill her before long. I left high school after 11th grade and started college at 16, moving out of my home. My father suffered a collapsed lung at work and it was found he had cancer. He would die five months before my mother. From that point on, I was on my own... with no home to return to. Numerous friends and relatives were killed in Vietnam (or returned not the same) or in car accidents. I thought the Grim Reaper was following me, jotting notes on who to knock off next. I kept up with my experimentation bit and tried avenues such as Transcendental Meditation (hippie I still wuz). I worked, went to school and partied.

To be continued...