Formative Years 1962-1968

As I stated in my previous post, my folks were good people trying to raise their family in an atmosphere of love and understanding. We spent lots of good times as I rememebr during my early formative years. In 1963 my brother was born and we moved to California, then we moved to New Mexico about a year or so later.

I remember having lots of fun in a sunny backyard and with family. We used to go visit my maternal grandparents pretty frequently. My sister was born in 1966 and since she was sick we had some struggles. She got better and the family was still very much focused on being loving and spending time with our relatives. I can still remember one Christmas when my dad came in to tuck us in and I was pretending to be asleep. As he left the room he said, "Ho Ho Ho you guys."

I remember every evening right before we would pray before dinner my dad would read a chapter from his bible. I got used to it and it became just a normal part of our life. As I got older, the aroma of mom's delicious dinners would get to me and I could hardly bear the droning of my dad reading things I did not understand. Once I asked mom to ask dad to turn off the Bible....LOL I guess I was hungrier than normal that night! We prayed, my dad read from God's Word, and we were happy even if we did not attend a church.

That all stopped pretty soon after I asked for dad to turn off the Bible. One morning when dad was at work, our stove exploded. Apparently the pilot light had gone out and my mom was trying to light it. Well, she had not vented the room before she struck the match and kaboom! I heard the noise and my mom and little brother scream. I went in and saw my mom nearly bald from the flame and my brother crying. She sent me for dad and I ran out the door and hopped a three foot picket fence without even touching it and O ran off to get him. This is relevant because it was that same week when the Jehovah's Witnesses came a knockin'.

All through my young childhood me and my family were very happy without a church in our lives. To be happy all we needed was God and His Word.

More Later........

My Beginnings 1959-1962

I was born in the middle of the winter of 1962 in the American Southwest. I am a mutt of sorts being that my Mom is part Jewish, Irish, Tewa Indian, Mescalero Apache, and Spanish. My Dad was part French, Dutch, and Spanish. They were both members of varying groups of Pentecostal Christians.

Turns out that once they met in the one church they both were attending back in 1959, they quit going. The pastor showed up at my dad's place and found them living together "in sin". When he exhorted them to repent and return to the flock, Mom asked why on earth she would return when she had aslready gotten what she wanted from his church. My Dad...LOL

They married in 1960 and were very happy. Neither of them had finished high school, but they earned good money. My Mom did any number jobs and my Dad was a self-taught engineer with a good background in electronics communications. My mom was told that she was barren and unable to have children, so when she found out she was pregnant with me they were very surprised.

They lived their life as Christians but did not attend a church. They mostly worked and worked and worked in order to make a good life for their new family. They even had this gorgeous solid gray cat named "CHOPO". After I was born they had to find him a new home because every time they left me alone, they would find him suffocating me under his weight by laying on my face. Evil kitty.....

During the early days leading up to my birth and throughout my infancy my folks were happy and they loved their little boy.

More later.......