` Year 1956 Ages 4-5 years old
Between Danny Battreall and me, I am sure we dug up the whole perimeter of our backyards building forts and roads and tunnels for our plastic army men in the 1950’s. Danny was great. He was just as imaginative as me and I was lucky to have him as a play mate. I don't know if it was because of his strict Catholic upbringing or what but Danny and I never experimented with each other’s bodies. He never was interested that way. I never knew him to be interested in anything but playing Army and when he got older playing sexually with girls.
Danny had an uncle who was a War Hero from the Second World War and I really think this affected a lot of Danny's personality growing up. He had an older brother Mike Battreall who had a reputation for being tough however since he was ten years older than me, I never really knew him. By the time he got out of high school he got his girlfriend pregnant, and he married her and moved away from home. Danny and I were still in grade school.
Danny attended St. Polycarp Catholic School all through grade school, so we never really went to school together until Junior High. We were only after school friends.
About the only times I ever went to school with Danny was when he was in 8th trade, and I was in 7th at Marie L. Hare Intermediate. 'Then his folks moved away to 'Tulsa, Oklahoma for a couple of years and came back for Danny to attend his junior year at Rancho Alamitos.
I turned 5 years old in April 1956 and in September, I started Kindergarten, and I was in the first Kindergarten class at Bryant Elementary because it was brand new school and had just been completed. The school was in the old Alamitos School District and named for the old street name of Bryant which was later changed to Orangewood to bring uniformity to street names as Orange County began to boom. Alamitos School District was formed in 1878 and merged with the Garden Grove Unified School district and only dealt with elementary schools.
Donna and Charline both started another regional school called Wakeham an elementary school across HWY 39 on Chapman. It was located behind a market called John Carters. They attended school there until Bryant opened in the fall of 1956.
I remember on the first day of school mom walked me to Bryant . My Kindergarten teacher’s name was Mrs. Crump. I soon began to play with the other children before realizing that Mom had gone home and left me. To me she had simply disappeared, and I felt deserted and frightened. I began to cry but my teacher “Miss Crump” scolded me, and I settled down as I thought not to mess with her. Eventually I got used to being away from mom and my sisters would walk me to school. Kindergarten was mostly naps, graham crackers, and milk.
Not only did I begin school in 1956 but that also was the year that Garden Grove incorporated as a city, and we were included in the city. Oddly across the street and the homes to the south of Bryant Elementary were given an Anaheim address. Our house as well as the others on the east side of the street were annexed into Garden Grove and we were no longer apart of the county.
Mom and Dad took us to church in the 1950’s but only really began to remember going until about now. We were members of the Church of Christ and we drove into Brea where the only meeting was held for a no Sunday School church. I was taught that that there was no authority in the New Testament for any organization but the Church of Christ. We were taught that the father instructed the wife, and the wife instructed the children. The father was instructed by the church and the Bible.
In our home I can never remember Dad ever reading to us out of the Bible or teaching us any principles or ethical instructions. We never held family prayer or showed any sign of piety outside of going to church and saying a blessing over the food. For much of my childhood until the early 1960’s dad did bless the food at supper time. The prayer was so stylized that I can still remember the part in which dad would say, “ guide, guard, and direct us. Amen.” I can’t remember to whom dad directed his prayers, but I know Grandpa Williams always prayed to the Lord as in “Dear Lord”
I can’t remember one bit of Church of Christ theology being taught to me as a child. We were however constantly told the true church could be recognized from its conformity to the New Testament. God was very vague to me as a child although I had the standard concept of him being a white bearded male. The older I got the more abstract God became to me.
Grandma and Grandpa Williams had moved back to 7102 Dinwiddie from Cole Street. Grandpa was still a drill press operator for the Conveyor company . Minnie was listed as a babysitter. Bonnie and Bill Fagen lived at 7104 Dinwiddie behind Grandma and Grandpa. He worked as a salesman for Butler Brothers in Lakewood.
Later that year my youngest uncle Milton Williams who used to carry me on his back for piggy back rides married Marie Buehlman in December of 1956 in Norwalk, California.
As I recall we never had but one pet during the 1950’s when we had a little chihuahua pup named Dixie. Mom loved animals but dad never carried for pets for some reason and I really don’t remember having her very long.
The Year 1957 Ages 5-6 years old
I turned 6 years old in April and in September I began 1st grade with Mrs. Orchard as my teacher. I do remember Mrs. Orchard teaching me to read the word “look” by drawing two eyes in the word. The best part of first grade was actually getting to have lunch in the school cafeteria. However, I remember very little about 1st grade except that on the first day of school I dropped my lunch tray in the cafeteria and started to cry because I thought I wouldn’t have any lunch. But the lunch ladies were so kind they just dried my tears and gave me another tray.
I did begin to meet school friends for the first time like Loyd Davis and Jerry Smith who had the same birthday as me. Loyd became my best friend in most of Elementary school because he was my fantasy comrade during recesses. In first grade I began to develop an artistic ability and I became quite good as a child but as an adult I never retained the same level of creativity.
Outside of school Breese and Robbie Beaty were my sister Donna and my self’s playmates and they were a very corrupting influence on me as a child.
My future high school Rancho Alamitos opened its doors in 1957. Its name means ranch of the little cottonwoods and is an acknowledgement of the Hispanic heritage of this area. The forty acres of the Rancho Alamitos High School campus was part of the original Rancho Los Nietos (means grandchildren), circa 1784. Later, the land was divided among many family members into smaller Ranchos.
In the 1950’s, the Garden Grove Union High School District purchased the land from the Evans family and construction began in 1956 and was nearly complete by 1957. There were two homes on the property facing Dale Street. The homes belonged to the Evans and Miller families and were located just north of the faculty parking lot. The homes were bought and used as classrooms until construction was completed in 1959.
Rancho Alamitos first opened for grades nine through eleven on the Garden Grove High School campus during the fall of 1956. In the spring of 1957, the Rancho Alamitos campus officially opened under the direction of the first principal, Mr. Don Kennedy. The first senior class graduated in the spring of 1958 under the principalship of Mr. Richard Bivin.
In 1960, Mr. Sam Chicas was principal and was succeeded by Mr. Vic McClain (1961). Rancho’s next principal was Mr. William Zogg (1964), followed by Mr. Tracy Strong (1966) who was the principal for most of the time I attended high school
The two houses between the Beaty's and the Campbell's were also eventually occupied but I never really knew who lived there until a young man and his young wife rented the house next to the Beaty's in about 1957. They were Frank and Barbara [Freare] Welte who had two children Frankie born 1956 and Kathy born 1957. More about them later.
My uncle R.L. finally married at the age of 33 Aunt Jerrie in South Gate, California. Grandma did not approve as that Aunt Jerry was 47 years old at the time and a divorced catholic
The Year 1958 Ages 6-7 years old
I was in Mrs. Orchard’s 1st grade class at Bryant elementary when I turned 7 years old in April. However, in September 1958 I had Mr. Smith as my 2nd Grade Teacher. He was my first and only male teacher until Junior High. He was probably in his mid-twenties but seemed old to me and I think he was probably Gay. He was a gentle and kind man and the only thing I remember about him is Loyd Davis and Jerry Smith got in trouble calling Mr. Smith “Smitty” and he got mad at us and said we were being disrespectful.
In Second Grade Mom was a Cub Scout den mother for a short time of which Jerry Smith and I were once ones. However, Mom couldn’t handle it anymore and gave it up and I also stopped having anything more to do with scouting.
I only once ever remember Mom and Dad going to even a parent teacher’s conference while I was in elementary school. May be they did but I don’t remember them ever taking an active part in my schooling.
Stevie Campbell’s family moved away about 1958 when I was in the 2nd Grade and there went my first “boyfriend” even if he was a mean boyfriend. The Casas family moved in next door, and they were the only Mexican family that ever lived on our block. The father was a man named George Casas who was born in Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico in 1913 so he really seemed old to me. However, he came to California at a young age and after marrying in 1940 his family was raised more American than Mexican. I never knew them to ever speak Spanish. His wife Sophie Gamboa was born in 1920 in New Mexico. Coincidently George Casas worked in 1942 at a Dairy on Old River School Road in Downey that was near where my Grandparent Williams was living during World War II. He enlisted in the army in 1943 after he married Sophie in 1942.
They had Rosalie Casas born 1942, George Casas Jr born 1947, Philip Casas born 1949, Mark Casas born 1953 Jimmy Casas 1958, and Ricky Casas about 1960. I remember that at first, we were afraid of the Casas boys as they were all so mean and always fighting however usually among themselves with the older ones beating up the younger ones. I didn’t really know the oldest daughter as she was so much older than me and George Jr. was friends with the older kids in the neighborhood
I remember that George Casas Jr. was often in trouble and he and Jean Horan’s son Jim were arrested and indicted in 1970 accused of selling LSD. Jean’s daughter Carol and son in law Mike were major distributors of LSD and were often on the lam.
All in all, the Casas were good neighbors and while we were not extremely close to them, we were friendly enough to each other.
I think it was in the summer of 1958 when I was 7 that Robbie Beaty got me into trouble by teaching me to shoplift. She would take me down to the Stanton Plaza on Orangewood and Highway 39 where besides Alpha Beta there was a series of stores starting with Owls Rexall Drug Store, a meat market, some other stores and a Sprouse and Ritz Five and Dime Store. I don’t think I understood what we were doing was wrong I just followed Robbie’s lead. However, one time we were caught in the Sprouse and Ritz, I think shop lifting crayons. The store manager took us home to our parents and I cried all the way not fearing punishment as much as being ashamed that my parents would not love me. The experience so traumatized my young life that even the thought of stealing something was anathema to me and never did it again.
Year 1959 Ages 7-8 years old
I was in 2nd Grade with Mr. Smith as my only male teacher until Junior High when I turned 8 years old in April. Mr. Smith didn’t have much effect on my life noticeably as I recall, and my one strong memory is of us all sitting on this colorful rug while he tried to teach us the difference between cotton, wool, and linen. I don’t link I really comprehended it. Why that was necessary to teach us I am not sure.
In September I started 3rd Grade with a large woman named Mrs. Delaney. She was a huge woman and dark complected. Everyone seemed to fear her but for some reason I liked her a lot because she had a vast classroom library of books which I loved to read. Also, since my own mother was obese for all of my childhood, I think Mrs. Delaney’s appearance didn’t bother me at all.
I developed a love of reading from Mom who took us almost weekly to various libraries, the first I remember was a small one in Stanton. I was not yet able to read but insisted I have a book to take with me and the librarian gave me a cloth picture book. Later after the Chapman Library was built next to my Junior High we would go there almost weekly.
I was fascinated with picture books of ancient Rome and Greece because of all the simi-nude men and statues although I didn’t know exactly why. I developed a love of history at an early age from seeing men seminude in Roman baths.
After mom went to work about this time, it was expected that we siblings would have household chores. My sisters were not particularly given to the domestic skills as children growing up in my parents household. Donna was the better of the two sisters, but a blind man would have been happy to see the difference between the two.
Mom and Dad divided the housework along traditional gender lines. The girls did the inside work and I as the boy did the outside yardwork. However, I was really much better than either of the girls at cooking and keeping up the house. Charline should have been allowed to do the yardwork which I hated, and she preferred.
My endless job was to empty all the trash cans in the house and then taking the trash barrels from the back yard to the curb on trash day. I hated this job probably because it was my job. I'm reminded of' that poor fellow in Hades who after pushing a big rock up a hill saw the gods roll in back down to be pushed back up as his eternal punishment. Emptying the trash was my eternal punishment. And the worst the very worst was the trash from my sister's room. God only knew what unspeakable discards they threw in their metal trash can, which would sit and grow and ferment and mold. To this day the pungent smell of rotting orange peels send a shiver down my spine.
Donna was the orange eater. I hated oranges. Donna loved them and what she loved even more was throwing the peelings onto the bottom of the trash can where the heat and pressure of the garbage on top turned the peels into a fuzzy grayish green form.
It was Donna and Charline's job to clear the table and do the dishes after dinner. Dinner was usually an unimaginative event with Mom's lack of culinary skills and her general fatigue from being overweight and later on from working outside the home.
I don't remember Dad ever actually taking any part in the preparation of dinner. It was totally my mom’s responsibility and we had to eat what Dad wanted and what dad wanted was meat and potatoes! Yuck. My childhood suppers mostly consisted of' plain mashed potatoes, fried steak or meatloaf, and some bland undistinguishable vegetable such as peas or carrots.
Donna and I always sat next to each other. She sat on my left since she was left-handed, Charline sat next to Donna facing Dad across the table. Mom faced us and sat with her back to the kitchen so she could get out easily if she had to fetch something for Dad. I sat next to Dad and thus I was the object of his scrutiny to see if I was eating everything on my plate. I hated everything on my plate, but I had to eat it all, even the broccoli!
As if to purposely sabotage my appetite Mom placed a blue cornel glass dish containing sliced cucumbers and onions marinated in vinegar and black pepper on the table next to dad. This alone was my dad’s delight for the rest of us would not eat it and would sit aghast as we watch Dad dip his fork into the concoction and eat raw onions and cucumbers dripping with pungent smelling vinegar. I cannot open a bottle of vinegar today without the smell sending me back to my childhood supper table.
Our dinner always began with Dad saying grace, "Father Bless this food to the strength and nourishing of our bodies and guide guard and direct us in all that we do In Jesus Christ's name AMEN." Dad never varied one iota in this prayer, and he would say it slowly and deliberately as if he was creating it up in his mind for the very first time. It use to drive me nuts listening to Dad drone on over the same prayer that he had said over every meal we ate as long as I can remember. I use to silently pray that God would hurry him through it, just this once.
There was rarely any dinner conversation as I recall mostly just "Quit playing with your food and eat", "Sit in your chair right", and "Eat your vegetable". Never, "how was your day?" "What did you do in school today"? We never, to my recollection, discussed politics, religion, or current events or family problems. I believe that is why the 1950's are such a blank to me because I was isolated from the events of the world by the silence within my Parents' home.
I always knew that dinner was over by the ever-constant clue from my dad. Always at the conclusion of his meal he would belch. Down came my fork after that. Even if I had an appetite that end of the meal belch terminated anymore interest in my meal.
We had the typical 1950's dining room set of a metal table and metal chairs with gray plastic padded cushions. I think the table was gray and red if I correctly remember any ways the padded cushions became very wore after years of abuse by us kids. As they cracked over the years, they became perfect hiding places for food left on our plates.
We came to this desperate decision to hide food in our chairs after Dad made the ultimatum that we could not get down from the table until all our dinner had been consumed. Rather than stay and watch our misery Dad would leave the table himself and then quickly came the Peas, squash, and other unspeakable vegetables off our plates into hidden crevices in our chairs.
"Mom, can we get down now?" "Have you et all your dinner?" "Yes, come see." After Mom was satisfied, we got down and the girls cleaned off the table careful to also remove the remains from the chairs.
Inevitably Donna and Charline would begin the ritual fight over who was going to wash and who was going to dry the dishes. If the fighting became too severe or if Dad was more than usually agitated, he would take the belt to the both of them. Dad did not hesitate to use the belt on us if he was upset with us. Mom didn’t like it but didn’t interfere.
In Third grade I began to open up somewhat and not be so shy but as it would happen, I was stricken with tonsillitis and appendicitis within a two-month period. I was hospitalized again, and it took me w while to recover.
In November I had my tonsils taken out and a few weeks later I came down with appendicitis and had my appendix removed. I had my tonsils taken out right around Thanksgiving and barely was I home when in December I had my appendix removed.
In the 1950’s it was pretty well standard practice to have tonsils removed for any throat infection in children. All I remember about it was I was given 7-Up soda and ice cream for a very sore throat.
I remember coming home from school sometime after that with a severe stomach ache and mom took me to our family doctor, Dr. DeLille. He diagnosed that I had appendicitis and off to the hospital I went again where I had another operation. I was in a children’s ward with several other children who were in for a variety of reasons. I only remember that They used metal clamps to close the wound and I had a purple scar on my lower abdomen for years and years before it faded to pink and eventually hardly was noticeable.
I am positive that that those two operations affected my metabolism as that before this time I was a very active skinny child and afterwards I became inactive and inclined to get heavy and tow my mortification started to have to wear “husky” jeans which the label they but o pants for fat kids. I have been inclined to be overweight for the weight of my life except for a brief time in 7th and 8th grades probably because I had to walk at least a mile every day to school.
Anyway, after third grade I became withdrawn and physically inactive and hated playing any type of sport. Instead, I strengthened my artist talents and withdrew more and more into a fantasy world of my own. I began to realize I was different from other boys, kind of a “sissy” and I disliked any type of sport and shunned them in every incident. I hated especially running and playing baseball because I could not throw a ball.
Once dad too me into the back yard, probably at mom’s prompting and tried to teach me to play catch and throw. He was so frustrated with me and said I wasn’t even trying. It was then I was learning what a disappointment I was to my father that I wasn’t going to be athletic. At the time I should have been strengthen athletic skills and abilities I disposed of them all together and concentrated on reading and drawing. Being a non-athlete plagues me for the rest of my public-school life.
The 1960’s Welcome to the Sixties
My Adolescence
The Year 1960 ages 8 and 9 years old
I was still in third grade at Bryant elementary school with Mrs. Delaney as my teacher when I turned 9 years old in April. In September I started 4th grade at Bryant elementary with Miss Ruth V. Righter [1901-1987] as my teacher. She loved doing art in class and I was kind of her pet because I was artistic, and she took an interest in me and taught me some techniques. Actually, being a “sissy boy,” I was fond of older women and not a ruffian like many of the other boys.
I
was the best artist in her class and Loyd Davis was my best friend. We played
after school a lot on the playground but very little at his house on Poes
Street. I don’t think his dad want him bringing kids to the house. We didn’t
play normal games but had fantasy games like walking across the swings
pretending there was hot lava below us. We played pretend a lot.
I didn’t have the usual fights and wrestling
matches that most of the boys on mu block had
as fighting never interested me. I never wanted to hurt anyone or be
hurt myself. I was very conscious at an early age at how tender people’s
feelings are.
Once
while playing tether ball after school with Loyd Davis this bully older kid
came over and wanted us to leave. I stood up to him and said we were here
first, and he started hitting me. I didn’t fight back but felt humiliated to
have been beat up in front of my friend and I left and cried all the way home.
One of the highlights
of 4th grade was when we had an earthquake that shook the school,
and we had several aftershocks. I remember the overhead lights swinging back
and forth and we were evacuated into the school yard. As that aftershocks
continued, we were all just sent home early. Back in those days most kids had a
mother at home.
I remember once when
Charline was in the 8th grade [ 1960] she wanted to make some popcorn balls.
The recipe called for 4 cups of popped popcorn, but Charline thought it said 4
cups of Popcorn and had five huge pots on the stove popping popcorn. After the
corn started to pop it finally occurred to her that something was wrong but by
now it was too late. Yelling for Donna and me to come to the kitchen, we saw
her shaking five different overflowing pots filled with popcorn. Grabbing bowls
from every cupboard we managed to fill them all with popcorn. We had popcorn
everywhere. On the floor, in pots and bowls,
just all over the kitchen. This was typical of Charline's cooking
attempts.
The Year 1961 ages 9 and 10 years old
We all thought 1961 was a cool year because you
could flip the date over and it would still be 1961I was in 4th grade with Mrs.
Righter as my elementary school teacher when I turned 10 years old in April. I
entered 5th grade in September with Mrs. O’Reilly as my teacher. She was quite
a bit younger than Mrs. Richter probably in her early 30’s if not younger and
unfortunately, I did not have any of my friends like Jerry Smith or Loyd Davis
in my class. Most of the kids in her class I never really knew.
Mrs.
O’Reilly often wore a skirt and a tight white blouse, and he was my first view
of the “opposite sex.” Up until this
time my friends and I were too young, or the teachers were too old for us to even think of them as such. I was
veery fat in 5th grade and the Irish Mrs. O’Reilly was a sports nut and she would make us go
outside constantly to play soft ball or run around the field. She was probably
trying to burn off our energies, but I hated it because I was teased for being
a lousy player and always coming in last when running.
Once
I remember her calling up the kids one by one and accusing us of cheating on
our spelling tests that she allowed us to self-correct. I don’t think I
purposely would have done that but none the less I was humiliated by being
censored by the first time by a teacher.
In the early sixties Dad installed a dishwasher
and Charline and Donna would then fight over who was going to load and unload
the dishes.
I really don't remember
when I started to experiment in the kitchen, but I think it was after the third
grade when Mom went back to work for good. I had a sweet tooth that was rarely
satisfied, and Mom and Dad never had extra money for snacks, so we had to make
our own. I was making cookies from scratch and cakes from box mixes at an early
age because I craved sweets, but my sisters would never bake for me. In fact,
they rarely cooked at all that I can remember and usually when they did it
didn't turn out. Donna and Charline eventually went on to become good cooks,
but I don't think they had the interest in it as I did.
It wasn't until the
early sixties [1962] that we finally got to start eating in a typical
California style. Mom's best friend Jean Horan finally convinced Mom to grind
her left over pot roast into taco meat filling and we began to eat Tacos. Jean
also introduced us to burritos made from refried beans and ground hamburger
meat and Ortega chiles. I also think that mom and Dad's friendship with Frank
and Barb Welte had a lot with changing our style of eating. They
introduced us to pizza and spaghetti and
other new delights. Thus changed our eating habits from the bland fifties to
the exciting sixties.
In the 1960' s as mom
and dad began to make a little more money, we began to eat out more. We would
go to this pizza joint on Beach Blvd called “Me and Ed's Pizza,” and order two
large Pepperoni and Mushroom Pizzas. I really enjoyed these times. Dad seemed
more relaxed and less uptight. Probably the pitcher of beer he was drinking didn't hurt either. But it was fun
being with my family listening to the jukebox and eating pizza.
Often on Friday nights
Mom and Dad use to take us to the Drive-in movies usually at the Highway 39
Drive-in near Trask and Beach Blvd. These were fun times too especially before
the show would begin and we would go up to the playground at the front of the
screen. We'd play there until the show would begin and we' d find our way back
to the car and sit in the back seat peering over Mom and Dad’s shoulders. They
would usually buy us treats at the snack bar or would bring some along in the
car. Back then all the shows had cartoon features before the movie and that
usually was my favorite part. I remember seeing "North to Alaska” with
John Wayne and Stewart Granger with my folks at the Drive-In. I remember
laughing and having a good time. This feeling has always made that movie
special to me because of seeing my parents so happy then. I seldom saw my
parents really enjoying each other's company so this special to me.
Grandma and Grandpa Williams moved from Dinwiddie back to 8277 Cole Street still working as a Press operator for Conveyors.
The Year 1962 Ages 10 and 11 years old
I was in 5th grade and had Mrs. O’Reilly as my teacher when I turned 11
years old in April. She was the youngest
teacher I had to that time as she was probably in her late 20’s or early 30’s.
She often wore tight skirts with sweater blouses that was fashionable at the
time which accented her figure. It was in 5th grade that I actually
noticed my teachers as being people. Mrs. Riley was not interested in art, was
very sports minded making us run all the time and play softball which I learned
to hate. I also didn’t have any of my long time friends like Loyd Davis or
Jerry Smith in my class and I remember being bullied and teased a lot by other
boys in the class. I don’t think Mrs. Reilly particularly liked me if she gave
me any thought at all.
During Summer vacation
the family went back to Texas to see Grandma and Grandpa Johnson in a camper shell
that dad had built from scratch. It was the first time we returned to Texas
since the mid 1950’s.
I
remember later back in California while I was playing a pretend game in Jerry
Smith’s backyard, I heard the news that Marilyn Monroe having died on August 4th.
Her death really hit me hard because it was the first time that someone who was
larger than life had died. It kind of shook me up that someone that famous
could die.
I started 6th grade at
Bryant Elementary School in September. Mrs. Vanderpool was my teacher and she
became my favorite elementary school teacher. She was a tall woman and stout
and had been a former police woman. She made up for Mrs. O’Reilly as that all
of my childhood friends were in her class.
I remember distinctly
how all the adults were worried about the Cuban Crisis in October when there
was a possibility of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United
States. We had nuclear war drills where
we were told to hide below our school desks. The threat of war hung over us
from October to November and I remember adults talking about bomb shelters and
knew we didn’t have one.
Frank and Barb Welte had moved to Fullerton probably in 1962 where they bought a new home. When they had lived on Dale Street, they became Mom and Dad’s best friends although they were at least 10 years younger. I think they actually had a surprise birthday party for me when I was eight as I remember being in their house and they told me to go down the hall and there was a birthday cake for me.
Mom and Dad went fishing in the Pacific Ocean with Frank and Barb and we took several camping trips with them. Dad actually for a short period after quitting the Conveyor Company became partners with Frank in an Appliance Repair Business. It didn’t last as that dad was too insecure to be his own businessman. However, Dad and Frank were drinking buddies and I think Frank allowed dad to have a bit of youthful freedom as he was in his late thirties.
When Frank poured a concrete patio in their back yard, Dad prepared to build one in our back yard and laid down the gravel and frame, but he never got around to putting in the cement. I am not sure why. It may have been he ran out of money, or he lost interest in it after the Weltes moved away.
Dad’s next big project was building a camper shell to fit over the cab of the Ford Truck and in the bed. Dad built the entire thing which had a refrigerator, sink, a bed for us kids over the cab, and a bed for Mom and dad that went over the dinner table. It really was kind of remarkable that he had that skill. I know we took a trip back to Texas in 1962 in the camper.
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