I remember being surprised at how yellow and how red autumn really is. I remember chain letters. I remember Peter Pan collars. I remember mistletoe. I remember "the Ritz" movie theater. It was full of statues and the ceiling was like a sky at night with twinkling stars. I remember, wax paper. I remember what-not shelves of two overlapping squares. One higher than the other.
I remember Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (so sad) in "Meet Me In St. Louis." I remember Judy Garland's red shoes in "The 'Wizard Of Oz." I remember Christmas tree lights reflected on the ceiling. I remember Christmas cards arriving from people my parents forgot to send Christmas cards to. I remember the Millers who lived next door. Mrs. Miller was an Indian and Mr. Miller was a radio ham. I remember taking out the garbage. I remember chambray work shirts. And dirty tennis shoes with no socks. I remember opening jars that nobody else could open. I remember making home-made ice cream. I remember that I liked store bought ice cream better. I remember hospital supply store windows. I remember stories of what hot dogs are made of. I remember Davy Crockett hats. And Davy Crockett just about everything else. I remember not understanding why people on the other side of the world didn't fall off. I remember wondering why, if Jesus could cure sick people; why He didn't cure all sick people. I remember wondering why God didn't use his powers more to end wars and stop polio. And stuff like that I remember "Love Me Tender." I remember trying to realize how big the world really is. I remember trying to figure out what it's all about. (Life) I remember catching lightningbugs and putting them in a jar with holes in the lid and then letting them out the next day. I remember making dover blossom chains. I remember in Boston a portrait of Isabella Gardner by Whistler. I remember in Tulsa my first one-man show of brush and ink drawings of old fashioned children. They were so intricate and fine that nobody could believe that I did them with abrush. But I did. I remember winning a Peter Pan Coloring Contest and getting a free pass to the movies for a year. I remember Bunny Van Valkenberg. She had a little nose. A low hairline. And two big front teeth. She was my girl friend for several years when we were very young. Later on, in high school, she turned into quite a sex-pot. I remember Bunny vim Valkenburg's mother Betty. She was short and dumpy and bubbly and she wore giant earrings. Once she wallpapered her kitchen floor with wallpaper. Then shellacked it. I remember Bunny Van Valkenburg's father Doc. He was our family doctor. I remember him telling of a patient he had who got poison ivy inside his body. The man was in total misery but it healed very fast because there was no way that he could scratch it. I remember that the Van Valkenburgs had more money than we did. I remember eating tunnels and cities out of watermelon. I remember how sad "The Jane Froman Story" was. I remember George Evelyn who had a red and white face.