March 12, 2013

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REMEMBER TO EAT YOUR VEGETABLES

My father came from the Quad Cities area in Illinois and my mother from East Texas.  They were both Marines and met in Washington, D.C. right after World War II.  They married in September of 1946 and moved to California.  About a year later they moved back to Moline, Illinois, where I was born on March 12, 1948.  A few months later, we moved to Dallas, Texas.  My brother Lonny was born there on May 19, 1949.  After another year and a few months, we all moved to the Denver, Colorado area where my brother Jim was born on September 16, 1952.  At about that time we moved to Arvada, a suburb of Denver.  My parents lived there for the rest of their lives.

Right after I finished kindergarten, our family bought a small house on 5 acres a few miles Northwest of Arvada.  I remember it as 3 rooms and a path.  There was a kitchen, a living room with a coal stove to heat the whole house, a bedroom – and out back was the outhouse.  We also had a large chicken coop which had indoor plumbing, even though the house had none.  Continue reading →