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.
