i was terrified of the white van that would drive around my neighborhood.  i was positive there was a clown inside ready to kidnap me at any moment.  i also believed the scariest thing about that was that i would have to join the circus.

i later found out that we got an apartment because some old guy died in it…thank goodness it he died in my mother’s room and not mine.

tony & i were bored one day.  so, while my mother was taking a nap we decided to go ice skating. well, not actually ice skating, but more like fill up the kitchen floor with water and dish soap skating.  we had so much fun until my mother woke up from her nap.

not to get all stand by me, but the first and only time i knew someone that was murdered happened the summer i was seven.  i also went to my first concert that summer.  so, cyndi lauper and murder are two things that changed me that year.

i used to coordinate gymnastic competitions on my neighbor’s swing set.  i was a master on the rings.

my step-father (the first one) had a friend named artie and his wife was named chickie.  i never knew her real name, only that she was called chickie. she was white with an afro.

for a short time we had someone living in our attic;  it was super creepy up there.  this one time we found a bat up there, the guy living up in the attic came downstairs, grabbed a bat, and went upstairs and killed it.  i was more afraid of the guy from that point on than i was of any bat in the attic.

we lived with another family for a few years beginning at age 5 and they had a little boy, tony, who was a few years younger than me.  tony and i shared a room, bunk beds, and had star wars wallpaper.  it was the coolest room i ever had.

this one thanksgiving we went to my great grandparents house for thanksgiving.  i distinctly remember the smell of all the food, but the two things i remember the most are the rolls and jello.

i used to rollerskate around my house through the kitchen, to the dining room, to the living room, and through the front hall back to the kitchen.  i was convinced i was going to be the youngest roller derby skater in history.