Comments:
LIFE
I was born in 1950 and you know I look back into my life and remember the days of my childhood and the way I was raised up.........It was good!!! My parents were good and they did very well raising my two Sisters and I. My Sisters are Debra and Edith, of us three I was the oldest. We did have another Sister, she had heart problems and passed away one month before I was born. Mom and Dad struggled some raising us kids and all Dad asked from us kids is that we graduate from high school. All three of us graduated from Palo Verde High School. Neat, huh?
Well about my life, I had the greatest friends a person can have all through my school years. Man in my neighborhood I had a lot of friends and we would play baseball in a vacant lot or at Alamo Park. Going to Corbett Elementary School we had summer programs to go to also. Since 2nd grade I always hung around with Dale Mow a lot because we had a lot in common. We have been buddies all that time and to this day we are still buddies. But if Dale wouldn't like what I wanted to do, well I would go see Jeff Smith and we would we would hang out to read all of his comic books. (Boy if we only knew how much those comics would be worth now!!!) Or I would hang out with Tiny Townsend or with Roger Norton, Mike Murtaugh or Richard Gilman in which he lived down the street from me, or Danny Jo Smith or Danny Scott, Bucky Simonson, Gary Carender, Eddie Argraves, Lynn Morrow, Steve Alcorn, Conrad Lewis, Danny Armour, Charles Qualls, Jay Gerstel, Charles Elder and many more. I didn't have to worry about being bored to death at all. Great neighborhood!!! I sure miss those days.
My first girl friend was Bonnie and this was in my first grade too. She walked me home a lot of times from school. We only lived one block from the school and she lived down the street on 30th on the southwest side on the corner of Sahuaro.......I know, I know, it should have been the other way around, me walk her home instead.........Gads we were only in first grade.....Gee Whiz!!! That was the school year of '56 and '57. You know she moved and I never saw her again until 50 years later, March 2006 in Tombstone, Arizona. Living in the same town and not know it. Crazy, huh?
Well grade school was over and now it was Jr. High. Naylor Jr. High, colors Green and white. We were the Naylor "Spartans". Us guys started in sports and our lives started to change....growing up I guess. This is the time of the English invasion......."The Beatles", "Rolling Stones", "Herman Hermits". Man did things change, we lost President Kennedy, what a down fall for everyone. If I remember right between 8th grade and 9th grade Bill Hudson and Danny Huggins wore a lot of black like the Beatles, pointed shoes, also black coats and we called them the "Hoods". Those two years of Naylor was still good and all was still friends.
Now our time, School year '64 and '65, Freshman year at Palo Verde High School. We all started to grow up and body changes. A lot of stories of lives started during this period but not with this story. My real life started September 7, 1965 on the first day of school in my sophmore year in my Algebra class with Mr. Baldwin as our teacher. In comes the most beautiful girl in my life, Lin Nihof. I made sure I sat behind her in class and I did for the whole year. After so many months of school I finally asked her out on a date and she said yes. My first date ever.....We went to the Rolla-Rama to go roller skating. Of course my Mom drove us there, we were only 15 and not old enough to drive yet. After this I walked her home many times and held her books for her and walking with her too was her friend Gene Rose. I dated Lin one more time and then she moved and went to Catalina the next year and then moved to San Jose, California. Well her and Gene Rose came to the yearbook party and Lin signed my yearbook and wrote down her address in California, from there on we wrote to each other.
After high School I signed up and joined the U.S.Navy in April of '69, infact it was April Fools Day. I went to bootcamp in San Diego then for B school in electronics, didn't do to well there so I was transfered to U.S.N.S.Midway Island for a year in 1970. That summer of '70 I took a 30 day leave, but I went for the first week to see my High School Sweetheart Lin Nihof in San Jose. Lin also went with my Mom, Dad and I to Colorado. I purposed to Lin and she said YES! We were planning to get married after I got out of the Navy and would give her more time in College. After 1970 I was transfered to the USS Coral Sea CVA-43. In '71 I was able to see Lin more often because the ship was docked in San Francisco. Lin and I went to a Prom like dance at her college. Man I felt like I was in Heaven, it was a great night! I felt like I was truly alive.
We had orders to go to Vietnam and before that Lin gave me bad news.....She told me that She had another guy. My life died then. That was the worst pain I ever had. From that time on I never seen or heard from Lin again.
The USS Coral Sea CVA-43 was an Aircraft Carrier and on November 12, 1971 the Ship and Crew went under the Golden Gate Bridge One More Time and Headed for Hawaii, then to Vietnam. At that time our home port was in Subic Bay in the Phillipines. From December '71 to July of '72 we were on the coast of Vietnam. It was exciting on the ship. I took a lot of movies of the whole cruise. I had the Movies Transferred to Two DVD's, 3 1/2 hours of Filming of my time on ship. Just before we left for Nam the ship was in San Diego and I was able to see Rene Rodriguez, he was from a squadron in San Diego, didn't have liberty together but did visit while he was on ship. I also ran into Ted Holcomb, he was assigned to the Coral Sea also. I remember him in grade school and Naylor. Ted and Gary Muehlbauer were close friends then. During the cruise there were many exciting moments, but that can be another story. I got out of the Navy in January of '73.
I went back to work at Globe Supermarket on Broadway, then went to work for Carnation as a route driver.
In 1974 I started to study the Bible. I was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses and became an Ordained Minister. At a convention I met Jeanelle Croft in December of '74 thought she was my type of girl, she was nutty as I was and I enjoyed her company. I was seeing her almost every day, purposed to her and she said yes, then we got married in April of '75. From 1975 to 1982 every summer at our Bible Conventions both of us were invlolved with 1 hour Bible Dramas that we put on during the Convention...either as Bible Charactors or doing Props or Make-up. A couple times we were together in the background. I had more charactor parts....at the Covention Center and in 1976 we put the Drama on in Phoenix and then in Tucson and that was the JOSIAH Drama and my charactor part was King Josiah and Jeanelle as my Wife Zebidah. At those times at the Convention Center all lights would be out....just the Stage Lights on until after 1982. During within that time too in November 1980 Brock was born. In December 1983 Bret was born. From 1979 to 1989 I worked at Gates Learjet, went through 5 lay-offs, lost our home... worked for Wal-Mart when they first came into Tucson and then Phar-Mor for two more years and Laid-off in December 1992, all that time living in Tucson till January of '93 and moved to Tombstone. After living in Tombstone for a year my wife left me and went back to Tucson. From that time on my life was just living and bringing up my two Sons with the help of friends and my Mom. I was still alive because of my two Sons was still with me, but still I had that lonely feeling and partially alive.
In June of 2003 I got a computer and started to check websites and one was Classmates. I checked it out and found Lin Nihof. Lin and I connected again and she told me what happened when we broke up, She actually was on Classmates for three years....as long as the Website was online.....She waited for me to get online all that time and now We connected. We wanted to get back together and we talked on the phone and chatted on the computers, my life was alive again. Lin had been fighting cancer, breast cancer. She was clean for 7 years and then in 2004 she got it again. January 22, 2006 she past away. Her daughter called me and told me the bad news....my life again died.
But I know my life is alive as I said before, because from my marriage in 1975 we have two of the greatest Sons, Brock and Bret. When their Mom left me and the guys wanted to stay in Tombstone with me, that kept me alive and had great times with my Sons. Basically I grew-up with my Sons. We got involved in the Bicycle Racing.....first it was Brock and when we went to His first race and that was the El Tour De Tucson.....something I noticed.......it was like a Big Cross Country Meet and many People with different ages.....Young and Older, different Sizes, Short and Tall and they all wore uniforms for the Race.....So all three of us was involved with that.....Brock also ran in some Cross Country Races here in Tombstone and other places....never joined the Cross Country Team for Tombstone High. Bret was involved in the Band playing the Saxaphone and GOOD and was Best in His Class and recieved the the John Philip Sousa Award. I'm Very Much Proud of Both of My Sons, Brock and Bret.
You know I think about how life has been for the past 46 some years, I have seen a lot and done a lot, many different jobs..I have been a bagger for a grocery store, Milkman for Carnation, sales merchandiser for Associated Grocers which don't exist anymore, Leadman at Gates Learjet for 10 years with 5 lay-offs, 6 months Driving School Buses at TUSD #1 in Tucson, sales at Wal-Mart, went to Phar-Mor when they moved into Tucson and I was Department Manager for the Home & Office...after two years it went out of business and layed off again...6 times now, then moved to Tombstone. Then in Tombstone met a neighbor that was on movie sets and he was able to get me on the Movie Sets as Backgroud positions and those Movies were: "TOMBSTONE", TNT "GERONIMO", "LIGHTNING JACK", Showtime "ROSWELL", Showtime "RUBY JEAN AND JOE" and the TV Series on UPN "LEGEND", the Pilot Movie and 8 episodes, One More as a Production Assistant with a CBS Movie Shot here in Tombstone Called "Wyatt Earp Returns To Tombstone".....This was With Hugh O'Brian from the TV Series in the 50's "Wyatt Earp".....The Real Wyatt Earp Never Came Back to Tombstone. Then I started to Drive School Buses for TUSD #1 in Tombstone for 16 years and also working Grounds and Maintenance at Walter J. Meyer Elementary School for 18 years and now RETIERED as of April 26, 2013. WOW!!! What a Life!!!
I think about it more........Besides My Son's Brock and Bret keeping me alive, even though I have had My ups and downs and Shortcomings, trying to Live by the Bible and Following what My Heavenly Father Jehovah God and His Son Jesus tells US in the Scriptures........."You Obey My Commands....I will Always Be With You". 40 some Years I have Leaned on Jehovah God. I'm Not Rich as of Income......but being Retired and working to extend My Ministry and other Productive things.....I think I've done alright.
In June of 2013 I spent 3 weeks with My Son Brock on Long Island, New York and was able to get to know my Daughter-in-Law and Her Sons and my New Granddaughter Dahlia. A lot of Pictures being taken and Video. I had a great time.....I plan on every year in the Summer to Fly to New York and visit Brock and His Family. I Posted some Pictures of my visit.
And Now as of July 2014 I spent 4 Weeks with My Son Brock and His Family....Now My Granddaughter Dahlia Knows My Name....Poppa Dan. I have Again a lot of Pictures and Video. Still Great Times. I will be Posting some Pictures soon.
