The last two days I have not written mainly because it was my birthday on the 27th. I was born in Rochester, New York at 12:32 a.m. and weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. My daughter swept me away to her house where she fed me, took me to movies and played computer games with me with her son. I had a great time enjoyed every second! I love her music.

Let me see, oh yes, my family. Don’t get me wrong, my family was not a TV program called Father Knows Best, or The Brady Bunch. At times it could have been The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. My grandmother’s, uncles ,cousins, and aunts were like The Wild Bunch. Things were never boring. My mother’s mother would come to the house and my father would just be very very quiet. Seems like he knew that what was ever said would get back to my mother. This usually caused problems in talking with my grandmother. One could tell how alone she was, always talking (i.e. complaining) about the way things should be with this world. Essentially it was just the way she was.

My other grandmother ( father’s mother) was just full of life. She used to work at Taylor’s. She worked their many years and I will never forget the Christmas parties put on by Taylor. They were fabulous! Thousands of people were there and all the children saw Santa Claus and got a gift. I don’t think companies do that anymore. She was very kind to us; playing games in the backyard and playing more games in the house. She was very honest and caring.

Now on the other hand was Uncle Sylvester. At times going to their house by the bay was quite the trip for my father. This man was always drunk! Whether it was 8:00 in the morning, 11:00 am in the morning or 3:00 in the afternoon, even in his condition, he loved to fish. Seems like that’s all he did besides watch television. I can remember my father watching him take two of his sons out on the 10 foot boat to go fishing. He then stood up and tipped the boat over. O my God I’ve never seen my father move that fast in his life as he ran down the dock and jumped into the water saved his two kids but left Sylvester for his own. I know my father was saying he has two choices he can drink the lake or he can get out by himself.

Let’s just say no one died.

Then there was my mother’s brother Uncle Leon. In my short life this had to be the funniest individual I have ever run in to. He was in the service for 30 years. He loved his wife and his kids. His family used to always make myself and my brothers and sister laugh out loud. He would stand as straight as a pin and point his finger at all of us, “Someone is gunna see you!” We never understood what that meant till it was early morning and my brothers and I had gotten up to get breakfast. We had opened up the refrigerator and had seen a 3 x 3 picture of an eye that he had placed in the icebox. He stood at the corner of the kitchen and living room shouting the words, “GOT YA!”

We never opened the refrigerator without our mother’s permission again. We loved him. Unfortunately being in the service he was always gone and again he left.

I can remember when my father went on strike from work. Things were very rough around the house. No food, no food, and no food. If I remember correctly he was on strike for over six weeks. He had to borrow money to feed us. I can remember having chicken egg noodle soup for breakfast lunch and dinner for about five weeks.

My aunt Arlene and Gil had three kids Sandy, Gale, Patty. Sandy and Patty would always play with my sister, but Gail would play with the guys. You could say she was a tomboy and she loved it.

My aunt Arlene and Gil were like oil and water. He would get mad and beat her, I did not care for that individual at all. Thank God she left him and she is truly with an individual who absolutely loves the ground she walks on. I am so happy for her. I can remember Christmas time at their house. They lived in a third floor apartment in Rochester. It was the greatest of times someone would yell Santa Claus is in the hallway and when all the kids want to see if Santa Claus was there Christmas gifts appeared under the tree. To be honest, I think the parents locked us out of the apartment for about three or four minutes.. The other thing I remember is the five tons of angel hair on my aunt Arlene’s tree. We would hardly ever go over to my Aunt Tilly’s house. It seems like she always came to our house. They lived in a very poor part of Rochester. They lived by the Rochester Red Wings ballpark. Her kids were Don, Bobby and Gary. We had lots of fun with them playing baseball and kickball.

My Aunt Lula lived by the beach. I will never forget my Aunt Lula. Her first husband’s name was Earl. My God did he scare me. He never taught his kids how to play baseball ,kickball ,soccer, or fish. All he would do is come home from work and get drunk. That’s all he ever did. I didn’t like him at all either. We very rarely saw them at all. They used to live next to a big ballpark. Everyone used to go play in the park without him. One thing I will never forget is my brother hitting a long fly ball to the outfield and my father was running running and jumping to catch the ball unfortunately he had a cigar in his mouth he crashed while catching the ball and rolled on the ground. I don’t remember ever seeing my father move that fast.

Here is the best one: Where did his cigar go? No one could find it. We looked and looked for it. No one could find it. I can also remember our dog and cat. Maybe some day I will talk about them.

There was something special about our mother’s sisters. My aunt Arlene ,Tilley ,and Lula. They were all fabulous mothers to great care of their kids. So get this, their maiden name was Doolittle. That’s right! When I was about 11 or 12 years old my mother showed me a picture of her and her sisters with a general James H. Doolittle. Remember him ?  In April of 1942, when he was a lieutenant colonel he pulled off the biggest raid on Japan that World War II had seen (30 seconds over Tokyo). They took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet and only had enough fuel to make it to China. They then abandoned their planes and hitched a ride back to the nearest US base.

My mother and aunt’s had the right stuff. They cared they loved and they cherished each other for better or worse. Every thing that happened in my family has given me an amazing life.

I can only say thank you with my heart.

My sister Barbara had a very small bedroom on the first floor of our house and none of the boys were allowed to go anywhere near that room. None of us wanted to! It was full of girl things.

My parents would hide the Christmas toys for us in her closet. My sister had a lot of dolls and stuffed animals posters on the wall and would always read books.

She was the type of kid who never had to study for a test in school. She would always pass it with a B+ or A.

She never had hand me downs like all the boys were used to. She was two years older than myself. My parents firstborn, (daddy’s little girl) she loved her music and always had her radio on.

I however was crazy! I just wanted to be outside. It did not matter what the weather was either.

In school I think everything above a D. It was a wasted effort with the exception of math. I wanted to be a scientist or an astronaut and like I said I made it to astronaut’s school. (We will again get into this.)

I loved to sing.

My brother Bruce loved music. He would always play outside with me. Oh the fun we had! He would always hang around me regardless of the time. He would play the tuba and play the bass guitar. He loved playing that guitar. He was really good at it.

My brother Jim was very quiet. I had to really push him to do anything, but when he started you could not stop him.

My brother Billy was Bruce’s twin. My parents were told to put him in a special class (a slow class) although I could never figure out why. He was always the first one to start baseball games, boardgames and ride his bike. I never understood what SLOW meant and to be truthful I did not want to know.

After a while my brother Rich was born. Now one must remember that after my parents had four boys they were completely worn out and yes Richie was spoiled! I really don’t remember Rich because when he was 10 I was getting into the service.

Like I said, we did not want to be in the House. All we had was a TV with three stations CBS, NBC, ABC and that was it folks! Now you have cable with over 150 channels to choose from. Same difference, because nothing’s on anyway.

Top songs were by the Platters , Elvis Presley, and how can I forget Dean Martin! I love that guy!

Then all of a sudden everything changed to the Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Beatles and yes I did love the Beatles.

I can remember wanting to grow my hair as long as they had it. Of course, that didn’t happen my grandmother would cut our hair every month right down to the skin. (Thank you, Dad…)

Big-time movies; “Days of Wine and Roses”, “The Longest Day”, “It’s a mad mad mad mad world”. Then came “Dr. No”, and “Goldfinger”

Our backyard was very small but at the time it looked huge. We used to play baseball ,wiffle ball we had a lawnchair for home plate. If it hit the plastic on the seat it was a strike and anything else was a ball. All the games we played I think this one was our best.

In the winter our mother would come out and make race tracks for us to play in the snow for our sleds. We would also carve out places in the snow banks to put our sled in. My God was this fun! One thing I will say for my mother, she would make the tracks and stay out the entire time with us.

In a lot of ways I think she had cabin fever. In the house we play games like bowling from the front door to the bathroom door this was done with the use of a golf ball and small toys that we had. We would drive my mother crazy!

The one-game we did have when we were banished to our upstairs room was called “The Vent”. The heating vent from the oil heater in the basement was in our floor. We had small plastic GI Joe Army guys which we would drop into the vent and try to pull up with a string and safety pin this went on for years. When my father found out, (oh nevermind we won’t go there.)

Like I said blood is thicker than water. The times with my brothers and sister I will never ever forget. These years, they were the “Wonder Years” to me.

I wish I could go back and experience them again when I was young. There were no words like dysfunctional families, killing, or parents pulling their kids apart because they could not get along.

My mother and father and us kids were very happy. I know we all learned, accepted ,and cared for each other. I wish other people could have had my happiness.

I think my brothers and sister would say the same for my mother and father who never went to school and learned how to be a mother and father on the fly. Thank you. Thank you!

Like I said when I was born my mother was 26 years old. By the time she was 29 years old she had five kids.

Barbara, myself, Bruce, Bill and Jimmy my other brother Richard didn’t come into this world for a few years later. To this day, I can not believe how she raised those kids in this small house that we had. ( and I do mean it was small)

It seemed like all my mother did was washed dishes, did the laundry, cleaned house, did the laundry, make food for us and oh yes, did I mention she did a lot of laundry? Now remember, these were not Pampers. These were the cloth diapers.

I think my mother could have sewed all the diapers together and made a sail for a 19 foot sailboat.

You want warm milk? We had no microwaves, just the bottles on the stove which had to be tested by my mother. Supper was always on time.

We had to be in the house by the time the sun had set and in bed by eight o’clock. You know, in Webster’s dictionary it defines Mother as a woman in authority. My God she was she ever and then some!

I can remember on a rainy day everyone was stuck in the house, my brother Bruce ran to the bathroom and threw up in the sink. She cleaned that up as well and my brother’s and I got sick as well. That’s right myself, Jim, and Bill were in that small bathroom doing the same. It was like a barbershop quartet.

When things got tough, my mother had to get a job. She worked at Star Market as a cashier. I don’t think she liked that job. She wanted to be home with the kids.

My father’s mother moved in and slept upstairs with the boys. I can remember during thunderstorms hopping into her bed along with all my brothers .

We used to go crazy thinking everything belonged to us. You could hear, ” That is mine! Mine! Mine! Give me! Give me !” My mother would look at us, put her hands on her hips then point with one hand at us. It is almost like a song echoing in my head and I can hear my mother’s yell. “You wait till your father gets home!” We would immediately stop.

My mother played golf with my father. When my father and mother used to argue, oh would they yell! Fortunately, it never lasted long. My mother would not answer him but she would look at him smile never saying a word. But in her mind she was thinking if life were fair, men would have stretch marks! It was her way.

My mother supported everything I did. Whether it was soccer, hockey, the band and my girlfriends. (Well most of my girlfriends.)

I never wanted another mother. She taught me to be honest, helped me in school and tried keeping me out of trouble.

My mother kept that family together like no other person could. Although she is in her late 80s now, she is still going strong. If I live to be that age I would be so happy. My mother has had a very hard life but at least now she can paint enjoy her friends and remember.

I remember her always walking up and down Britton Road and greeting people. She was so very happy and still she is!

I love you mother and always will. Thank you so very much for being there. I love you.

My father was 29 when I was born and my mother was 26.

My father was a lean mean fighting machine. He seemed to be about 100 feet tall at the time. He was only 510 1/2 and soaking wet about 180 pounds.

Back in those days he did smoke cigarettes and may be occasionally a cigar.

My father really loved his wife always cherished the ground she walked on, but would hardly show it.

On Sunday’s we would watch the New York Giants football games. At that time the TV was black-and-white and was called a 16 inch. It had a radio on top of it and I can remember how it used to fuzz to static and would fade in and out. My father would sit there watching that game and God forbid if you came to him with a problem!

My father loved to golf and bowl my father’s other love where horses. My God, he loved to bet on the ponies but only if he had enough money.

Some of my earliest memories with my father were when he would come home from work around 11 or 12 a.m. He worked second shift as a tool grinder at Delco Appliance for over 30 years. He would sneak into the house make himself a sandwich and put on the TV. On usually Friday or Saturday night, I would wake up and come downstairs  to sit in his arms while he ate and watched TV. This is how I learned all about science fiction. I will never forget some movies…”The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” ,”Them”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, and yes the best of them, “The War of the Worlds”. Those tripod machines kicked butt all over the world!

My father taught me how to play golf by swinging a 9-iron from the backyard and hitting the ball over the house to the front yard (and yes plastic balls do break windows.) I would always caddy for him but never could play until I could prove myself to have him say, “That’s my son!”

He played catch with me always wanted me to be a pitcher. I hated that position and wanted to be an outfielder like Mickey Mantel. For some reason at Christmas he got me a football.

I hated it. I could not understand how people could crash into each other standing up and do it again for over an hour, (sorry, dad).

No, I played soccer all of my life. He hated the sport and never went to a game, luckily my mother went to support me.

My father loved his birthday,Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

His birthday he would pretend that another year went by and that he didn’t care, but he loved everything that he got.

Thanksgiving my father could not eat enough turkey ,potatoes, rolls ,beans, and more turkey!

During Christmas, the joy in his eyes as he watched his kids opening their presents was something to behold. God did he love that.

My father taught us how to be fair with everything, be honest to people, and to tell the truth no matter how much it hurt us.

However, in his own way, sometimes he would become Darth Vader. I can remember when he had his teeth taken out and he had a Japanese doctor all he wanted to do was kill him. My father was not a fan of the colored people either. He didn’t believe in a free ride. “Get a job and just do something“, was his motto.

Like I said my father had faults but I loved him dearly.

He hated snowfalls. I remember when we lived on Lake Ontario which was prone to the lake effect large snowfalls. During many winters, he would go out and shovel his car to go to work. He would wake us up the next day asking us to shovel the driveways as all he could see was the radio antenna on his car.

No wonder I moved away from there. I loved the snow, but hated 4 feet of it at once!

When I came home from Vietnam, my family met me at the airport. When we got home, my father took me downstairs and oh my God did we get drunk. I can remember asking him about World War II, but he would shake his head and say that it wasn’t important. He’d then ask about my experiences. I would answer just something about war.

I was devastated when my father died. I was in the state of Connecticut and drove home to a military funeral. They gave my mother the flag but that was never enough. It destroyed my mother. My father was gone. He was my best friend and biggest role model.

Some things in the back parts of my brain always come back to me in regards to what my father used to say.

 He would stand over me looking down at me with his ears rolled back eyes almost shut and pointing his finger at me saying (don’t let anything happen to your brothers or sister).

Didn’t know what this meant but I thought I did if I got my brothers to fight with each other it was cool. If I got my sister to fight with one of my brothers or all of my brothers it was cool. 

Boy was I wrong, in time I found out that blood is thicker than water. Family should stay together and if need be fight for each other.

One must remember I had four brothers and one sister my father would say (you’re the oldest boy you’ll figure it out) nothing really changed we all fought but we lived through it.

My biggest get away was riding my bike. With six kids it was hard to buy parts for the bike so once every two weeks would go to the dump and I would check out parts.

One must remember this bike took me from Lake Ontario to Rochester, New York and back home just about every day I wish I had a picture of it but we didn’t have a camera. So much for that.  

The (Cuban crisis):

I can remember in school every time the sirens would go off we would have to get under our desks put our hands over our heads and hug the floor.  Please think about this; wooden desks.  If a bomb would have hit close by we would have all been crispy critters.

The best one was on the streets were we lived they had people drive up and down the streets when the sirens went off to make sure you were in your basement and not outside. ( why??? ) Then all of a sudden the crisis had passed. 

What was going on? 

Why had all this happened?

1949 seems like a million years in this crazy insane life that I have lived.

I remember walking with my brothers and sister to school and home. No television , boom boxes or fast food places.

My father worked nights so things were sort of rough but at least once a month we get to go to the drive-in. Our mother packed cookies, chips and water and we usually got there about one hour before the movie started that so we could play on the playground. Big metal slides ,metal stairs and swings. I really don’t remember watching any of the movies since we had gone to sleep maybe 20 minutes into the first one.

One must remember that this was just five years after World War II and America was getting on her feet. In 10 years we had Sputnik, a man in space color television stereo hi-fi and yes John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

I remember people telling me in school you could be anything that you wanted to be even the president of this country…all I really wanted was to be an astronaut launched into space and yes for a lot of years (I did achieve this) I will explain this later.

I never thought I would reach the age of 30 but at the age of 58 it astounds me how I’ve made it this long in the beginning thinking I was superhuman then settling down with a wife and now just living one day at a time.

The journey goes on.

After much consideration and coming to the fact that I must come into the computer age, my daughter has graciously bestowed upon me the use of a web site.

I will be back to update as much as I can on my opinions, feelings and emotions that a soon to be 58 year old has experienced in such a short life time.