1950s

I don’t have too many memories of these years. But I do have my mom’s photo album which you can see in the photos section of this website. It’s my only memory of my grandfather David.

I attended kindergarten and first grade at Oro Loma Elementary. One memory I do have is getting picked up by the bus at the end of our driveway. The school was a few miles away. One morning I must have been running late as I slipped and fell running to catch the bus and skinned both my knees.

Another memory, probably from kindergarten, is lying down at school on a blanket to take a nap after eating graham crackers for a snack. I still love graham crackers.

We used to have a barn behind our house where feral cats lived and had their litters. There was also a cow pasture next door that often had a mean, old bull that we were warned not to go near.

My dad’s office was just a mile down the road and I remember going into his boss’s office one day and seeing all the mounted heads of deer and other animals he had shot. He was an avid hunter and travelled the world collecting trophies. He also had a separate trophy room in his house where I learned how to swim in their gigantic swimming pool.

One final story my mom often told. As I was learning to swim, she asked me “Don’t you feel free?” I responded by saying “I not free, I four.”

Welcome to the decade of Oro Loma.