I was three years old in 1941

We lived on a farm, down in the country, and I was living outside by myself. We had this dog named pookie, and one day, he was scratching the door while I was was trying to open it, but I was so small I couldn’t do it, and my mom wouldn’t open it, thinking it was just the dog.

My mother and dad’s bed was in the basement, it was a big king size bed and I remember her nursing me on that bed…

I grew up with horses and cattles, and when I was 3 or 4, my dad and I went to check in the cattles, he put me on a horse, and told me to "be a man."

My mom had bipolar disorder, which made her very spontaneous. For example, one night she woke my sister and I in the middle of the night, we got in the truck and drove to the lake where they gave us hot chocolate.

My oldest memory is sitting with my father every week watching the Sonny & Cher Show. We would sit together in a chair, I would sit on his lap and we would watch the entire show from beginning to end, and we would always sing the opening song together…

My father and my uncle used to go to junkyards to work on old cars…

Probably my oldest memory is when I was four years old. I can remember my dad teaching me how to ride my bike. I was on my bike and I remember him grabbing the bike and kind of jogging with me…

My oldest memory is back when I was four years old, and I was home alone around 11pm. I was really scared because outside it was raining and there was thunderstorms and my heart was beating so fast. I think my little body couldn’t understand the stress…

So when I was two years old, my whole extended family was vacationing by the ocean, and I remember this moment of wonder while stepping into the waves, and an immediate moment of fear because my hand was immediately stung by a jelly fish...