The 70s
(insert dream fade-in effect here...)
I was born in mid-1970 in Nome, Alaska. I don't remember anything before age four, when I was in pre-school. Of pre-school, I remember my cousin was in the same class and we played together a lot. I remember drawing a large face on a round circle of paper. It had two large "circles" for eyes, a large smile, and a small dot in between the eyes for a nose. When I was done, one of the two teachers asked if I wanted to draw some designs on it, so I did. We gave them our circles and some weeks later, got plates with our circle drawings on them. It was used as a dinner plate for years. Mom still has it somewhere, I believe.
I remember a pre-school classmate, a boy, drawing a picture of a butt and laughing at the boy next to him, saying, "this is your butt!" I thought it was well-drawn and tried to copy it from memory, but my drawings always looked like the letter W. To this day, I can't draw much better than a stick-figure.
I remember my mom giving me a bunch of egg shells to give to my teacher for the plants in the classroom. Something about them helping the plants grow... Anyway, apparently my teacher had never heard of this and put them in a bowl for the students to glue onto paper. My mother couldn't believe the teacher had never heard eggshells are used for fertilizer.
I remember my mom had donated some of my father's old shirts to the preschool so that we'd have something to wear over our nice clothes when we painted.
I remember students had to take turns bringing snacks. I don't remember what I ever brought, but I do remember one kid bringing life savers, which was pretty cool.
I remember showing my beachcombing treasures during show and tell. The summer after preschool, I turned 5, and a month and a half later, my baby brother was born. He was 10 lbs. and the cutest baby I'd ever seen.
My kindergarten teacher was Mrs. McQuorquodale. I hope I spelled her name right! I remember a girl named Kristy Gologergen writing on the chalkboard with orange crayon and getting in trouble for it. I remember learning to play duck duck goose and heads up seven up. I remember a boy named Sterling Buffas asking me one day, "Can I be your boss?" I thought it was an odd question so I told him to ask me "tomorrow," hoping he'd forget. He didn't. He asked again, and I said yes. He then started telling me what to do all the time. Figures, he has four older sisters! He needed somebody to boss around! I remember a boy named Donald Karmun being able to speak like Donald Duck and being jealous that I couldn't do it. Later, Donnie, as we called him, broke his leg somehow. I remember needing the "special" scissors because I was left-handed. I remember the teacher warning us to be careful with the electric stapler. I remember there being a potluck with the other kindergarten classes where we were served reindeer soup, Tang, and ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins). I still love ants on a log to this day. I remember learning to read. I remember I had a snowsuit that was a burden to put on. One day, the teacher told me to start getting ready for recess early. While I was getting ready, all the other kids and teacher went outside for recess. The teacher told me to go outside when I was ready, I said okay. When I was finally ready and heading for the door, everybody was coming back in from recess! I had missed the whole thing!
My first grade teacher was Mrs. Kunnuk. Of first grade, I remember being able to read, but not being sure of my abilities, therefore avoiding reading. I liked math though. I remember learning to tell time. I remember learning about roman numerals. I remember poking my teacher in the shoulder (poke poke poke poke...) to get her attention and her not liking it.
The summer after first grade, I turned seven. My father decided to go to Oklahoma City to learn how to be an Air Traffic Control Specialist. Before we could leave for Oklahoma, however, I developed Meningococcal Meningitis and had to be flown to Anchorage to stay in the hospital for a couple weeks (seemed like forever!). But because meningitis is contagious, I couldn't fly on a commercial jet. A pilot friend of my father's flew Dad, Mom, a nurse, and me down in a small pilot plane. They were all wearing medical masks. An ambulance picked us up at the airport and drove us to the hospital. The disease affected my right knee, which swelled up like a balloon filled with fluid. One day, two doctors came into my room with a syringe and drained the fluid. I remember other patients in the children's ward. One was four years old, cross-eyed, and very much like a baby. One girl hated me for whatever reason. I remember my mom leaving my room one day and I cried until she came back what seemed like hours later. I remember my aunt and cousin showing up with McDonald's food one day and going outside to eat with them. I think that was the first time I ever had McDonald's. When I arrived back home in Nome, the family was in full-fledged packing mode to go to Oklahoma.
We were in Oklahoma for four months. I hated it. I hated the two schools I went to, Greenvale and Apollo Elementaries. It was such a foreign place to me. It didn't snow at all while we were there, though it was late in the year. It was hot, dry, and there were bugs everywhere. We got our first microwave while in Oklahoma. One night, my parents went out and called a babysitter other than our usual one. She called some friends over and sent us up to our rooms. I had to leave my room to go to the bathroom and smelled something sickly sweet in the air. I learned years later it was marijuana. It was while we were in Oklahoma that Elvis died. Just a month or so before, my parents watched a concert of his on TV.
We left Oklahoma and drove back to Alaska for my father to work in Fairbanks. At the US-Canadian border, the officials weren't going to let us continue because it was middle of winter, dangerous, etc. They eventually let us go. At some point along the way, Dad pulled into a gas station. When we left, I noticed he was going back the same way we came from. I didn't say anything though, being just seven years old and figuring they knew what they were doing. Mom eventually figured it out, two hours later! Boy was she mad at Dad! I just kept my mouth shut. For the first month or so after arriving in Fairbanks, we lived in a motel. It was late December, the middle of winter, dark, and cold. One night, Dad went to the store to get something. He came home a while later saying the truck had been stolen. All of our household stuff was in it. Mom was pissed. He had left the engine running because it was cold while he went inside. The cops eventually found it, abandoned, empty tank, on a frozen lake. Everything was still in it. Apparently a couple kids stole it for joyriding. The parents were relieved to have it back, intact. My mother found a job with Alaska Airlines. My sister and I started school, where I was in 2nd grade. I remember my teacher not liking my handwriting. I remember everyone else knowing what a paragraph was and I didn't, and I felt like I'd be ridiculed if I asked. I remember my teacher having imprints on her nose from her glasses. I remember she occasionally wore a white blouse that had KOOL written all over it in green, ala KOOL cigarettes. I remember I sat near the back of the class and the chalkboard started looking blurry. The teacher noticed I was squinting and told my mother about it. I started wearing glasses in second grade. I remember going to see Star Wars in the theater and being blown away by it. It was that Christmas when I found out there's no Santa Claus. I found out by grabbing a gift from under the tree, reading the tag that said, "To Peggy From Santa," in my dad's handwriting! I was heartbroken. My parents tried convincing me Santa's handwriting was like Dad's, or that Dad helped Santa...each excuse just made the situation worse. I wasn't convinced.
My third grade teacher was Miss Mount. She taught us cursive, about dinosaurs, and the times tables. I remember we had an 8-track player.
In fourth grade, I fell in love with a boy named Kevin Huntsman. *dreamy sigh* He was so cute, and I know he liked me too. I wonder what ever became of him. Midyear, my parents decided to move back to Nome. My father bought an air-taxi service in Nome. I joined my fourth grade class in learning fractions and such. I met two girls who would later become my best friends at different times in my life, Liz Osborne and Clara Zepeda. Liz now lives in California, and God only knows where Clara is.
Next time: The 80's!!!
since 2/25/2001
Hair
Wednesday, Oct. 06, 2004
Hair
Wednesday, Oct. 06, 2004
JFC!
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004
Fuck!
Monday, Sept. 13, 2004
Moving In
Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004
all rights reserved