So after moving all over the place, I found out a little later in life that my dad was arrested. You see, as it turns out, he was a drug dealer and we were moving all around the country because he was running from the FBI. I to this day still don't know much about his dealing of drugs. I think it was just pot, but his running from the FBI tells me that he was either pushing large amounts or part of something bigger. It was just never talked about. I should probably ask now, but I probably won't. He was sentenced to three years in state prison in Pennsylvania. Oh, and I think it was at that point that he and my mom got married. I remember nothing about a wedding or anything else about it.
When he went to prison, we ended up staying with my Grandparents Bruni in Roulette PA. They were a typical Italian American family, I think only one generation removed from Italy. Very loud, arguing all the time big Italian family. I think that this was culture shock for my mother who hadn't been around that sort of thing very much, and to just move in with them. That had to be rough. I have a few fond memories of that time. I went to third grade at LL Smith Elementary School. I literally had to walk up hill both ways in the snow to school. It was down the road and over the bridge and down another road. I'm not too sure how far but it was a walk. My Grandfather Sam always had a garden and Sunflowers especially but of course every other kind of vegetables. My uncles Stevie and Dan would be there sometimes and would play with me and try to teach me man things like baseball, and working on cars, well maybe just washing cars, I'm not sure. Of course the Italian food every day all day was also great. It was really an Italian family just like you see in those gangster movies. Always food, always kitchen. My grandfather had a dog named Fuzzy. They would go to work together every day at the gas company which was very convenient because their shop was right behind my grandparent's house. I think we only stayed there for about six months. I'm sure that my mother couldn't handle it any more. I'm told that Grandma Bruni treated her and even me terribly. I of course don't remember that part. So we moved to the farm. My beloved farm.
The farm was my Grandparents Messinger's farm and was located in the middle of nowhere PA. It had a rural route address from the Bear Lake post office, so I guess Bear Lake? I loved living at the farm. I went to third grade at Pittsfield Elementary school. My great uncle Sam was my bus driver, my cousin Mark went to school with me. I had my first Girlfriend (Missy Taber). It seemed like that's where I should be. Of course I always loved my grandparents. they were my favorite people on earth. I would help my grandpa get the cows in the bard and feed and milk them. I would ride tractors with him in the fields. We had dogs and cats and different pets. It was really all a little boy could ever ask for. My aunts and uncles and cousins were all near by. We had fires at night. We would snowmobile in the winter. I would also go stay with my cousin Mark, or he would stay with us. I think it was the only place in my life that I felt like I really belonged. It seems sad I know in that small part of my life between 7 and 8 years old. Itv wasn't without tragedy though. My uncle Russel died when we were there in a car crash. He was a drinker and was drunk and crashed. As it turned out I guess he had a bad liver anyway. He was my mother's oldest sibling. I'm sure that my grandparents were crushed. I don't remember how I felt. I loved that guy. I am still reminded of him sometimes when I smell cigar smoke. I remember riding with him in his light brown Chevy pickup and him shifting the gears and smelling the cigar. I think his truck stands out because it was just like my grandpa's truck except grandpas was and automatic. It's funny the things you remember. I'm pretty sure that they were both 69 chevy custom 10 pickups. My grandmother baked all the time. I loved her chocolate chip cookies, and peach pie the best. I would go back to that farm every summer until I was 16. I loved it there.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Friday, October 21, 2016
1. The Beginning
I was born on October tenth nineteen hundred and seventy in Jamestown New York. My parents were Phyllis and Louis. I'm not really sure which house we lived in first. It may have been in Jamestown, It may have been in Columbus Pennsylvania. I consider myself to be from Pennsylvania even though we moved around my entire childhood. I have very few memories of anything before the forth grade. I was told things that I assume or assumed to be true about things, but you never know.
The first house that I remember living in was the one in Columbus PA, at the bottom of the hill. I mention "The Hill". On the very top of that hill was my Grandparent's farm. The farm was always the place that I considered to be home base. You will hear a lot about the farm. The farm was the only constant place that I really had in my childhood. That house though at the bottom of the hill was also owned by my grandparents. It was the house that my great grandparents (Stamn) moved in to when they moved from Cincinnati Ohio. My Grandmother Althea was raised there.
After that I don't remember much, like I said until the forth grade. I know that my mom left my father some time when I was around two. I was told that he treated she and I terribly. I was told that he threw things in rages, and screamed and yelled a lot. I was also told that he at some point pushed me down some stairs, and that while taking a bath I had my head under the water when my mom came in and he told her " Look, he's too stupid to raise his head out of the water". She told me that is when she knew that she had to leave.
We moved to Warren PA when I was about 3 or 4 and lived in the Conewango Apartments ( I have no idea why that name sticks in my head). I started Kindergarten there at 4 years old. My mom worked at the Warrren state hospital as a nurse. She was a registered nurse. I'm not sure when she completed college for that. Warren State hospital was an insane asylum. My father would come and pick me up sometimes, or maybe just once, I don't know. I have vague memories of him putting my bike in the back of his car and him driving to Jamestown. I am also told that I was very close to my Grandmother on his side, Laura. I have no memory of this, well except that she had a yellow type 2 Volkswagen.. I also have a vague memory and have seen pictures of a St Bernard.
At the Warren State hospital, my mother met Christopher Bruni. He is the man that I still call Dad. He was an orderly there. Dad was very young, probably 20 at the time, and my mom would have been about 26 I guess. He was very much a hippy,had hair down to his waste and did drugs. This was 1975 and he was the typical 70s character. He liked very loud music and smoking pot.I remember that my dad lived in a green trailor on the other side of Warren, and drove a red SuperBeetle. I can still remember the gasoline smell of that Volkswagon.
I also vaguely remember a family that would babysit me at their house. I was told that they were Mormons. That's all I know. My only memory of that was watching a fire of a refinery from the top of an overlook of some sort. I think the dad of that family either worked at that refinery, or was a firefighter, volunteer or otherwise. I think he had to go help with that. I just remember a huge fire, and a fireman announcing over a loud speaker that a certain tank was going to blow and everyone move back.
From there, my mom moved us to New Orleans. Again I don't remember much about this. Apparently, she was trying to get far away from both my father and my dad. (more on that next).
The first house that I remember living in was the one in Columbus PA, at the bottom of the hill. I mention "The Hill". On the very top of that hill was my Grandparent's farm. The farm was always the place that I considered to be home base. You will hear a lot about the farm. The farm was the only constant place that I really had in my childhood. That house though at the bottom of the hill was also owned by my grandparents. It was the house that my great grandparents (Stamn) moved in to when they moved from Cincinnati Ohio. My Grandmother Althea was raised there.
After that I don't remember much, like I said until the forth grade. I know that my mom left my father some time when I was around two. I was told that he treated she and I terribly. I was told that he threw things in rages, and screamed and yelled a lot. I was also told that he at some point pushed me down some stairs, and that while taking a bath I had my head under the water when my mom came in and he told her " Look, he's too stupid to raise his head out of the water". She told me that is when she knew that she had to leave.
We moved to Warren PA when I was about 3 or 4 and lived in the Conewango Apartments ( I have no idea why that name sticks in my head). I started Kindergarten there at 4 years old. My mom worked at the Warrren state hospital as a nurse. She was a registered nurse. I'm not sure when she completed college for that. Warren State hospital was an insane asylum. My father would come and pick me up sometimes, or maybe just once, I don't know. I have vague memories of him putting my bike in the back of his car and him driving to Jamestown. I am also told that I was very close to my Grandmother on his side, Laura. I have no memory of this, well except that she had a yellow type 2 Volkswagen.. I also have a vague memory and have seen pictures of a St Bernard.
At the Warren State hospital, my mother met Christopher Bruni. He is the man that I still call Dad. He was an orderly there. Dad was very young, probably 20 at the time, and my mom would have been about 26 I guess. He was very much a hippy,had hair down to his waste and did drugs. This was 1975 and he was the typical 70s character. He liked very loud music and smoking pot.I remember that my dad lived in a green trailor on the other side of Warren, and drove a red SuperBeetle. I can still remember the gasoline smell of that Volkswagon.
I also vaguely remember a family that would babysit me at their house. I was told that they were Mormons. That's all I know. My only memory of that was watching a fire of a refinery from the top of an overlook of some sort. I think the dad of that family either worked at that refinery, or was a firefighter, volunteer or otherwise. I think he had to go help with that. I just remember a huge fire, and a fireman announcing over a loud speaker that a certain tank was going to blow and everyone move back.
From there, my mom moved us to New Orleans. Again I don't remember much about this. Apparently, she was trying to get far away from both my father and my dad. (more on that next).
2. Second Grade / Moving all over the place
I have no memory of the first grade whatsoever. I know at some point, I thought it was second grade, my mom moved us to New Orleans, LA. It seems she moved there to escape both my father and my dad. He and my mom weren't yet married. The only memories that I have of New Orleans are having a girlfriend, having my first and only birthday party that I have had in my life, and watching a back door fall from a jet liner. I also remember the death of actor Bob Crane who played Col. Hogan in Hogan's Heroes.
I think that the girl that I called my girlfriend in second grade in NOLA went hand in hand with having a birthday party. I remember that she was my best friend in the entire world. I don't remember much else, only what I was told. The only thing that I remember about that birthday party was streamers. Pretty sure there were streamers.
I have no idea why the death of Bob Crane affected me at all, but it did, I loved that show, I know that, but I was sad that he died.
By the way, at that time, my mom drove a white Chevy Vega with red and blue racing stripes.
Now the bits and pieces that I have been told were that we moved there not knowing a soul, and that she moved there because some wealthy man said that he had a place that she could stay. She worked I think at a nursing home there, where she would work nights and would leave me at home in our apartment alone while she worked. She told me that I would get myself up in the morning with an alarm clock and get myself ready, make breakfast, eat and go catch the bus for school. All this by myself in second grade, 6 years old. That is very scary for me to think about today. But, like everything else, I have no memory of this.
I am told that after this wealthy man made unwanted advances toward my mom, she called my dad, and he drove down to get us. From there we moved around quite a bit that year. We lived in Newport RI, for a minute, and Virginia Beach, VA for a minute. This was all in second grade. Different schools, different school buses, Different people. We also made trips to Boston, and Washington DC, and countless other places. Somewhere in there, my parents got married. Again, I don't remember it. Also in that time, we, or at least I never heard from or saw Lou, my father. I'm also sure that there was no child support or anything like that.
When we were in Warren, I amassed a huge amount of toys. I had every thing that you could think of. During all of those moves, they were all lost.
I think that the girl that I called my girlfriend in second grade in NOLA went hand in hand with having a birthday party. I remember that she was my best friend in the entire world. I don't remember much else, only what I was told. The only thing that I remember about that birthday party was streamers. Pretty sure there were streamers.
I have no idea why the death of Bob Crane affected me at all, but it did, I loved that show, I know that, but I was sad that he died.
By the way, at that time, my mom drove a white Chevy Vega with red and blue racing stripes.
Now the bits and pieces that I have been told were that we moved there not knowing a soul, and that she moved there because some wealthy man said that he had a place that she could stay. She worked I think at a nursing home there, where she would work nights and would leave me at home in our apartment alone while she worked. She told me that I would get myself up in the morning with an alarm clock and get myself ready, make breakfast, eat and go catch the bus for school. All this by myself in second grade, 6 years old. That is very scary for me to think about today. But, like everything else, I have no memory of this.
I am told that after this wealthy man made unwanted advances toward my mom, she called my dad, and he drove down to get us. From there we moved around quite a bit that year. We lived in Newport RI, for a minute, and Virginia Beach, VA for a minute. This was all in second grade. Different schools, different school buses, Different people. We also made trips to Boston, and Washington DC, and countless other places. Somewhere in there, my parents got married. Again, I don't remember it. Also in that time, we, or at least I never heard from or saw Lou, my father. I'm also sure that there was no child support or anything like that.
When we were in Warren, I amassed a huge amount of toys. I had every thing that you could think of. During all of those moves, they were all lost.
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