I am the oldest child of Jack and Carol, married in 1958. My amazing son Mike was born in 1993 to my wife Michaline. I was the best man at his wedding to my beautiful daughter- in-law Morgan. My name is Michael, rather than Jack Junior, because I believe my father did not expect me to live and carry on his namesake. Jack Junior is my youngest brother. I also have a younger brother Steve and sister Shari. We lived together in at least 15 cities as we were growing up. Chicago, St. Louis and all parts in between even Tupelo Mississippi and Maysville Kentucky.
My father was a manager for Montgomery Wards and was often transferred to another store so I went to seven different schools as I was growing up, and I was always the tall, awkward, new kid and had the responsiblity of setting a good example for my younger siblings who were my best friends as we moved around and said goodbye to our neighborhood playmates and waved goodbye to our houses as we drove away.
When I was four we lived in Maysville Kentucky on a rural postal route next to a pigfarm. It smelled great when the wind blew in the right direction, and I actually saw a chicken get beheaded and run around with it's head chopped off flapping it's wings. (Maybe that's what screwed me up). On a lighter note: The milkman regularly delivered to our porch and picked up empty glass bottles in a metal box for a return refund. My mom always liked that.
My first girlfriend Shirley lived next door, and we would sit on a white, cattle fence together. There was a dangerous swimming hole closeby that we could never swim in. She always ate noodles with ketchup, and smelled like ketchup. I begged my mom to make it for me, but she never did. I guess cause she thought that's what poor people like Shirley ate.
One time I got scared when some rowdy teenagers started swerving in our lane as my dad drove us to the dump in our station wagon on some back roads because there was no garbage pickup. I remember seeing them laughing at us, and my dad was nervous and gripped the wheel tight.
We let a stray dog we saw roaming around there to jump up inside our station wagon with us. He became my first dog named Charlie after Shirley's dad who always caught huge catfish. I thought that was pretty cool.
We experienced together the fab four phenom called The Beatles magically appearing on our black and white television during the Ed Sullivan Show in our living room and my brother Jack was born in Maysville. My mom and dad let his hair grow long and curly, so they nicknamed him Ringo.
That was until he got sick in our kitchen sink when my mom was giving him a bath. It looked wierd to me and I asked my young self, "Why is my little brother taking a bath in cornflakes?" His new nickname soon became Pukie and was civilized over the years to become Pookie. I still sometimes refer to him as Puke, which he really appreciates. That's funny, right? Just checking.
I guess you had to be there. We were happy.
Then I went to Catholic school until I was 10, church everyday and catechism until 15. I even saw Jesus in a dream and heard angels sing being very close to God when I was very young, but no one fanned the flames and later things changed when I became a juvenille delinquent teenager.
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