The Terrible Catsafterme

The only thing I remember about early 1977 was that it was cold. Actually I don’t even remember that. But considering that this particular year began in January, it’s a pretty safe bet. In truth, I’m sure I have many memories stored away from the first part of the year, it’s just that I certainly can’t truthfully assign any of them to this period because I have no idea when they actually occurred. All I know for absolute certainty is that I learned to tie my shoes in January… and on an unrelated note, my Mom set the pup tent that I got for Christmas up in my room and there it stayed for a good while. This was where my friend Andrea and I first began playing doctor and it went on from there…

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Hot on the heals of a relatively early Easter, Denise had her first birthday on Friday, April 8, 1977. This would be her only birthday celebration in our house on Echo Hill. From the pictures, it was clear that we had a party for her at our house with many members of Dad’s family present. Whether we had a similar gathering for Mom’s side of the family I cannot say for certain. As a couple of photos indicate, I surely made an attempt or two to steal her thunder by shoving my face into the spotlight…of which she had more than her share during this festive event, hence the unending array of photos of her and her cute little self.

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Although my acting career has been brief, relegated to one college comedy film and a failed local TV pilot filmed in Dayton…well, and also my most recent Kroger instructional video, it actually began way back in the Fall of 1975 with a little three minute opus called “Brad’s Magic.” The project was a joint effort partially directed by my Dad and partially by my Mom. It was never released theatrically, but simply developed and placed on one Super 8 film spool, currently housed in my basement. The following is a synopsis of the six key scenes of the film… Read the rest of this entry »

Most likely because this was our first Christmas with Denise, my parents decided to take over the duties of hosting Christmas Eve. For the previous six years of my parents’ marriage and the first five years of my life, it had been held at Carl and Arline’s house, but now the torch was passed on to us. From here on in, as long as my parents were together, Christmas Eve would be at our place. Surprisingly Dad did not take any home movies of Denise’s first Christmas. Read the rest of this entry »

The Fall of 1976 is virtually lost to the ages. There appears to be no recorded evidence of my fifth birthday, Halloween, or Thanksgiving. I’m sure that having a new child roaming around stirred up enough excitement and picture-taking opportunities for everyone. Just so Denise doesn’t get too cocky in thinking that she is much younger than me, this proves that there existed black and white snapshots of her as a baby as well. Read the rest of this entry »