Then and Now...a 52-Year Journey

Back at our duplex in Indy, we three older kids were usually in a constant state of "grubby". That was a result of getting outside and playing the typical kid games. Our favorite thing to do was to take our Matchbox cars out in the back yard and make a system of highways out of the dirt that was our back yard. Like a bunch of wallowing piglets, we worked that yard to the point where grass didn't stand much of a chance of growing. But boy, did we have a good time.

My brother Mike tended to drool and leak from every orifice he owned. Couple drool with dirt, and you have created mud--and it usually coated him on every wet spot. My youngest brother Mark could be seen on any given day with a circle of mud around his mouth. He must've been lacking a mineral or two (and a brain cell or two), because the kid ate dirt. I imagine his guts are still teeming with worms and parasites.

...and me? My drooling/leaking days were over. I was smart enough to NOT eat dirt, or chew sidewalk gum, or smoke discarded cigarettes. At this age, I was just happy to sport a pair of undies and run around topless in the back yard in front of the next-door neighbor kid Ricky.

Ricky is shown on the far right of the above photo. His mom Ginny was my mom's best buddy. I've written about Ricky in the past, so I won't go on about all the toys he had. Ricky and I were good friends--except for the time I set him up. He was in his side of the garage (we also had a duplex garage), and had gotten into a can of bright green Rustoleum paint. Ricky had just begun painting the center wall of the garage when I walked in. I said something to him about getting in trouble, and he just blew it off, saying he could do what he wanted.

So I decided to egg him on and test his claim about never getting into trouble. I bragged about how good the paint looked on the wall, and told him to keep going. When he got the wall about halfway done, I ran into his house and told his Mom. She came out and yelled at him real good. That was a good day, and I've never felt one speck of guilt for setting up Ricky.


The photo above is me, Mike, and Ricky--taken at Mike's surprise 50th birthday party nearly five years ago and standing in the same order as the first photo. We've grown up a lot since that first photo was taken. Ricky's toys are gone, and he no longer paints garages. I have quit running around topless, setting up people, swallowing nickels, and sticking my fingers in electric light sockets. Mike has quit smoking discarded cigarettes, drooling and leaking...

...well...ALMOST.