In this undated photo Mom (Doree) is holding me (David) on top of the slide – obviously for my safety. The strange thing is that this picture is taken indoors. Why was the slide in the house? My best guess is that it was brand-new, Dad and Mom had just finished putting it together, and I was trying it out for the first time before it was relocated to the back yard.

We’ve obviously just come home from church; that was the only place I’d be required to wear a tie at. And Aunt has her church hat on. The photo is undated, but based on Sue’s apparent age I’ll estimate that this was taken in 1958 or early 1959. It looks like we’re standing in the back yard of our house on Davista.

This is one of many “Aunt holding Sue” pictures from these years. This one was taken in the back yard of Grandma and Grandad’s house on Scenic Drive, in September 1959 – Sue is almost two years old.

Knott’s Berry Farm had a seal tank where you could stand and watch the seals. They were great! You could buy a little envelope full of fish for a quarter, and the seals would come right up to you to beg for a treat. That was the best. Here Grandma holds Sue up so that she can see the seals over the fence.

Grandma loved Hollywood, and she learned how to visit just about any show that was put on there. On this day in January 1959 she, Grandad, and Aunt took me to the studio to see one of my favorite TV programs live. I think it was called “The Button Man” or something like that. We had lunch out that day at Farmer’s Market, another of Grandma’s favorites.

We had a very close family. We kids all loved our parents and our grandparents, and they certainly loved us. Aunt Tirzah was part of the family; she was like another grandmother. We never had anything to worry about – we knew that any adult in our family would do anything for us. And they never did us any harm.

I’m sure that my parents had arguments, but I can’t remember anything specific that they argued about. My grandma (Mildred) always said that she and Grandad (Harold) never had an argument in their whole lives together. Hard to believe, but if it’s true, I know why: he always gave in to her!

We had discipline situations, sure. I had two sins that continued to beset me: I would read a book instead of doing whatever chore I was supposed to, and I would fight with my sister Peggy. I was always getting in trouble for those two things. In those days parents believed in spanking, and I got plenty of that. I don’t know that any lasting harm came from it. I know that I was never afraid of either parent.

One time that I remember, I needed to be spanked at Grandma and Grandad’s house. (My guess is that Peggy was there too.) This had never happened before, and it rocked my world. Grandma loved to tell this story in later years. Grandaddy administered the spanking, and afterwards I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I came up to Grandma (as she told it) and said, “Grandaddy didn’t mean to spank me, did he?”

They loved to take us places where we could all have fun together. You can see that in the pictures. The L.A. area and Orange County have always provided lots of places to go and have fun. And then we’d go out to eat. Grandma, Aunt, and Dad always argued about who would get to pick up the check. I generally kept my mouth shut.

Mom’s love for us kids shines through this picture. But look at me – see how nice I was to my sister? (taken in 1955)

Mom and Dad thought it was very important to teach each of us how to swim. We would go down to Annie and Grandpa’s (Mary and Herb Martin’s) place in Costa Mesa for swimming. It was an hour drive, but worth it – their trailer park had a wonderful pool. In this photo Mom is working with Peggy.

We all had fun in Annie & Grandpa’s pool. Dad would take each of us for rides on his back.

Here is a picture of Sue at Aunt Tirzah’s house – a place where she spent a lot of time as a child. Note the antique furniture, and the picture of my dad on the table.