But, Wait!

There is MORE! 

  My Third Grade year was a little rough, I guess. I did not realize it until  I looked back three moves in one school year. Let me explain. 

  My mom and dad and us living in the house my dad had, well, things did not always work the way we wanted and my mom packed us girls up and we moved to Las Vegas, sans dad. 

  I remember packing up my room and thinking... Dang, that was an awesome room. I was really sad. It seemed like we left really fast and it was about March or April. My new teacher in E. W. Griffith Elementary was actually really really nice. She was from Australia. Our room was decorated with Pictures of Kangaroos and Koalas you know, our room had an "Outback" theme to it. She was shorter than me, almost, which means she was shorter than 5'4". Yep you got it right. I was TALL. (For all my European or non- American readers, that is 1.62 meters, yes I had to find a converter because I do not know the metric system) 

  Anyway, I had a couple of friends. One friend of mine was Mexican. She seemed really nice. I was invited to her home for a birthday party. I was really excited to go. I bought her a present, and there was all kinds of music and it was a pool party. So, we were told to bring our swim suits. Of course her mom made Enchiladas and we had chips and salsa, it was fun. All the kids in the class came. The girls were to have a sleep over that evening when the boys left at 9:00 pm. All the girls were to go put their swim suits on and the boys too. I went in the bathroom and put mine on. We came out and for some reason, her mother spoke in Spanish about me pointed and me and was really really upset that I was there. To the point that Her mom told me I could not eat at the birthday. I do not know why, I look back and think that this woman had a big problem with white people, because once I thought about it, again. my sisters and I were the only white kids in a neighborhood with many many Blacks and Mexicans. There were three black girls that were nice to me and they laughed when I asked them if they were from Fiji, because I first thought they were from Fiji. They said... Fiji? WHAT IS THAT? So, We laughed and played on the play ground. But I was never invited over to anyone's house. I invited girls to come over all the time, but they always declined. My uncle T moved eventually down the street and around the corner from us and so I would go to my cousins house all the time. 

 My aunts I had two, One R and one named R were also home and my aunt and I shared a room with my older sister and my Guinea Pig. 

 My Grandpa frequently told me, "It is a good thing you are so beautiful because you sure are a brat". My mom would tell him that that was mean and to never say that to my me. My uncles would play the guitar and they were always so nice to have around. I had one uncle who had went on an L.D.S. Mission to Idaho. This is where he met my  aunt and after his Mission he went back to get to know her as a normal kid off his Mission. He married her. My second Uncle,S went on a Mission to Spain. I believe he was in the Madrid area. He might have not been married but barely coming back from his Mission and my third uncle went on a Mission to Sacramento, California. This was most fortuitous. I say this because the Mission covered a lot of Northern California and at the time my Aunt who lived with us in California was living there with her son, and she was not always there. Her son ended up having to be cared for by her ex-husband, his father, who was not a really nice guy and I would even go far as to say he was a drunk. So, my uncle would be able to drop in on him if he was in the area. This area is a small town called Gridley, California.  That city is also the birth place of my own mother. 

  So, my uncle, Ray, was getting off his Mission while my fourth uncle and last uncle was going on a Mission to Indiana. My grandpa worked hard as did my grandma. They worked as gardeners for a man that is very famous in the Vegas area, who would sing live and do Vegas Shows on the Strip while people watched and ate dinner. The Strip in those days ended at "The Frontier Hotel" and further down teh street was "The Flamingo" which is still famous and one of the few that did not get the axe when reconstructing the Strip to what is is today. 

My mom found a job working as an on call babysitter. This means that she qualified for a babysitting license in the State of Nevada and she would work for hotels being a babysitter for people that wanted to come to Vegas to gamble, and needed a babysitter. My mom also got accepted to UNLV. In the Psychology Department. My mom had a teacher in Hawaii she just adored. This Professor of hers renewed her love to study the English Language, and Poetry. But om wanted to be a Child Psychologist or something along those lines. 

 Mom worked her tail off supporting us kids and worked lots of hours. She studied hard and went to school and worked. Us kids were with her family and it was nice for us to all be together. I would sometimes got ot work with Grandma and Grandpa at the house that they were Gardeners for. The famous person that they worked for was really nice and let me play in the swimming pool. He said he sang and so I would ask him to sing me a song. He would sing me a song and I would say... You should sing this song, I mean... Everyone knows it because it is on the radio" he would laugh and say "touché babe". I look back at those conversations and think... Why did I not appreciate this man singing to me? DAAAANG!!! And I think ı might have a picture of me with him tucked away somewhere. but, you know, I was not raised to be that way. I was raised that everyone is normal. That Fame is nothing if you are not a good kind person. I was taught that really it all comes down to is we are all people. That his fame was a job, but really in the whole grand scheme of things, it is what YOU are... Not your occupation. So, I did not understand at the time who he really was. Now, I think... Wow... I was raised to not think of it as a big deal. Mind you he was not always home, but, from time to time he was there. He had a big beautiful house but no one home to share it with. That to me struck me as sad. I would ask him that, if he was lonely. He would smile and tell me to go enjoy his pool. I did. It was so hot in Las Vegas, I loved swimming in the pool. He had a couple of horses, a Loganberry Tree, hardly any neighbors for miles, lots of land and my grandparents were really good at caring for it. My Grandpa built him a shed or two, a nice garage, made his fence surrounding his property, did all kinds of work on his property. My Grandma made him dinners and cleaned his house. My grandma for a gift for him being so kind made him a quilt too. Grandpa took care of his animals. They worked hard for this man and he was a good employee. 

  I think it was a great Summer that year. I look back fondly. 

(Looking for a picture to stick here... Sigh... I lost a file somewhere. My pictures need to be filed better)