April 6, 2001
I was born at home in Fillmore. The
house is still there but I don't know who lives there
now. At one time Ross and Marlene lived
there. I attended Patrick Henry Elementary School
and Millikan High School, both in Long Beach,
California, Long Beach City College and UC
Irvine for my teaching
credentials.
My favorite subjects were Drama and
English. I have liked reading as long as I can remember
and thought I would grow up to be a language
translator for the United Nations or an actor.
I was a brownie, a Girl Scout, 4-H
member and in the riding club. In church I was a member of
primary, and then
mutual.
When mom had Sherill and then Patti
and then Eddie I had chores after school every day it
seemed like. I remember folding diapers
in all the different folds needed for the different
sizes and I ironed, beginning much younger
than that with handkerchiefs. At Grandma
Penney's the ironing had to be done in the
early morning and mostly in the basement because
of the heat. Learning to iron allowed me to
trade ironing for piano lessons in elementary
school with Maxine Perkins, who lived down
the street from Mom, and at home I was paid five
cents a piece for it from Mom. Susan
and I also took turns doing the dishes after dinner
and at grandma Penney's I picked vegetables (
but not peas because I ate them all before
they got in the house)
My first job was working at the pool
in Fillmore. I got free admission for that. We also
hauled hay where I learned to drive and
collected eggs for Safeway markets. Those were done
so that my friends could finish faster so we
could go riding.
I got an allowance at home but spent
it all on doughnuts from the bakery man that came down
our street every day.
My first love was the guy across the
street (very much older) who never even looked at me
but he had his picture in a surfing
magazine. Some of my most memorable events include
being in a play with Betty White; Daddy
teaching me to drive a car at 16 (the first time
out I hit a Parked car) and riding a horse
across the desert in the rain.
Jim and I got married in Catalina on
the top of a hill overlooking the harbor. He wore a
suit and I wore a purple hippie
dress. The pastor who married us was also the lifeguard in
the arena and wore a Hawaiian print
shirt.
I had lots of jobs. I managed
a dog kennel, worked in a bar, was a beautician, cleaned fish
tanks, was a dispatcher for a
trucking company, flocked Christmas trees, made men's shirts
and stuffed and sold animals in
ports of call. The jobs I was most proud of were teaching
and representing people as a
lobbyist in California. I think I did some good things in both
of those jobs. Teaching is
self-explanatory but while lobbying, I helped ban DDT, put
protective screens on computer
screens, fought right to work legislation in New Mexico and
got elevators on cranes. I
also met so many people that either were famous at the time or
later became famous for one reason
or another, especially women, some who have definitely
changed my life.
Jim and I bought our first house
when I was teaching. I made $600 dollars a month and rent
was 125 but he already had a good
job in the harbor so we could buy a house that cost
$29,000 dollars. The first car I bought was
also when teaching but before I met Jim. It
cost $100 dollars in 1972 and was a 65
Plymouth, the one they used for Batman with the giant
fins on the back.
I was born a Mormon and never
thought of changing. My first dance was a Mutual dance at
church. My mother made me
wear a striped blouse with a plaid skirt (something just not
done then). I was so
embarrassed, I stayed in the corner until a boy finally came and
talked to me. His name was Roy and
he was blind. We danced all night. I hate to admit how
shallow I feel now about this but at the time
I thought that skirt and blouse would wreck my
whole life. When I got home and told my mom
what happened she said "see it's the person that
counts, not the clothes".