January 2, 2012 - Part 1 - newborn -10 (1966-1976)

This is my 1st journal from ages Newborn to 10. 
I was born on January 31, 1966 at 5:50am.  From what my mother has told me, I was born in a blizzard.  2 weeks early.  They were staying with my grandparents for a few days before I was born because of the weather.  My father was bowling with my grandfather in the Village of Angola.  The weather started to get worse and worse by the minute.  Mom went into labor (dad and grandpa came home), because the weather was so bad - an ambulance was called to the house.  They got my mother in the ambulance and proceeded to head toward the hospital closest to where we lived.  On the way to the hospital (snowplow in front of the ambulance) the ambulance hit a snowbank and got stuck.  It was decided to wait for another ambulance going the other direction and put my mother in there.  We traveled 3-4 hrs to another hospital toward the city of buffalo (the weather was so bad that it took them that long).  I was born 10 minutes after we arrived in the hospital.  The article was in the paper.  I have that article somewhere.  I was a happy baby, my great aunt constantly babysitting me (we lived in an apartment right on the lake for a few years and my great aunt lived next door).  My sister came 11 months later, of course mom was worried and went into "premature" labor because she was so nervous that the weather would repeat itself.  So, I had a sibling very close in age.  We grew up together like any sisters can be.  Fought, lived in the same bedroom, loved eachother, played with eachother.  My brother came 3 years later in 1969.  He was all boy growing up.  Constantly getting scraped and hurt.  Always Dirty from playing outside.  We also had a dog growing up (we had 2 dogs - the 1st George lived only to about 3 until I was about 4).  The 2nd George was everything to us and did just about everything with us.  More about him later.
I started kindergarden at age 4, in 1972.  Mrs Poland seemed so old to me.  did alot of playing in school.  Back in the day, Kindergarden was just 1 daylong playtime.  Not like it is now.  Made lots of friends.  Sure, I missed my family and sister most of all (because she was starting kindergarden the next year).  I was in first grade in 1973 and that was my 1st taste of actual classroom instruction.  Not sure what happened there.  I guess I couldn't apply myself in school.   Many of the kids in my classroom didn't like me because I didn't try hard at all.  My parents sent me for tests at children's hospital because they thought I was having some sort of mental difficulties.  I remember laying down with the techs putting some kind of wires on my head and the 1st time I screamed because I couldn't understand then they repeated it the next month and I was fine.  It was really scarry to be in a hospital at 6 years old.  Then it was decided that I needed a school psychologist.  I remember his name - Mr Buchholz.  Nice man, had me draw pictures all the time.  He was trying to get me inside my head or something.  My parents and my 1st grade teacher decided that they would hold me back a grade so...I wound up going to school with my sister.  My 2nd 1st grade teacher was much more kinder and I was able apply myself much better.  Today - I wouldn't have been held back but given extra instruction.  I went through school with no difficulties acedemically.  I was put into remedial reading and math.   I was a "C" average person.  When I was 7 years old, I started getting these red, bumplike cysts on my face.  It was so severe that kids would tease me relentlessly.  I had a few students bully me.  They would call me "wart face" "pimple nose" "witch".  I had one large on on the tip of my nose that sometimes it would be scratched and I would bleed.  I spent my elementary years very quiet, shy and timid.  I most certainly wouldn't want to relive those years.  They were very hard, much harder than any child would endure.  In the 2nd grade, we hung out with the kids down the street (to this day I am still friends with one of them - some 38 years later).  We decided to go into the woods and clear a few branches because we thought it was fun to have a clearing to call it our "fort".   In 1974, we were back there with our hoes cutting trees and all of the sudden, Wanda - who was friends of mine and Kelly's.  I was too close to where Wanda was using the hoe, she  got me in the head and I ran out screaming bloody murder and my mother got me to the doctor (he xrayed it and put a clamp on - If I shaved my head today - there would be 2 little holes).  Needless to say a week later, the property owners came to talk to my parents and our little "fort" clearing was overwith.  Not too long afterwards, we stopped hanging around with the kids down the street.  I spent a good many years getting my hearing checked by the audiologist (when I was held back in the 1st grade it was thought that my hearing wasn't sufficient enough and had a learning disability).  Every year I had to go to the nursing office and get it checked.  I also had to see Mr Buchholtz the school psychologist.  In the 4th grade age 9, in 1975, my sister approached my parents about playing an instrument.  I thought it would be fun too.  The music teacher gave us instruments according to our grade pt average.  A - Violin, B - Flute, C - Clarinet, D or any grade pt - Trumpet.  Of course, with my sisters stellar grade average she got to play violin and I got the clarinet because of my "C" average.  I remember the last time I saw Mr Buchholtz, I was in a middle of a "drawing"session and told him I needed to get to a lesson.  He almost wouldn't let me go.  He did - he let me go forever.  Thank god that was it!  Whew!  I really didn't need him, I think I could think for myself.  Anyways, I really didn't do very well on the clarinet at first.   My parents got me music lessons during the summer of 1975 so I can play better when I got to the intermediate school in the village of Angola (the 1st time they would bring my whole class together - including my cousins grade in the village).  In the fall of 1975, I started the 5th grade - there were all sorts of different faces from other elementary schools.  Most of the people in class were very nice but this one girl Angela (she went to a different elementary school in Brant) was such a bully to me.  I constantly felt threatened by her and didn't know what to do about it.  She tormented me and ailienated me the whole year.  I didn't have a single person to call my friend (I think they were afraid if they befriended me that they too would be bullied).  She was the worst kind of person.  I didn't fair well in band, I was the 2nd to last player in band.  I did like being in the group.  Then all of the sudden, the spring of 1976, I started to get better.  Pretty soon I was 1st chair 2nd clarinet and all the anxieties of playing erased.  Clarinet was my salvage in my small tiny world.  It gave me a sense of purpose.  For the 1st time, I had something that gave me hope.  Family, School officials seen that it made a difference in my school work.   I was finally happy with myself, even though I wasn't happy with my overall looks and still was extremely timid.  Not the way I played clarinet, I played like I had great deal of confidence.  There was this science project that we had to do - the teacher thought it would be interesting to have my parents help me with it.  My father got this cardboard from his job and we made a solar system cut out.  Big sun - and the 9 planets.  This thing was huge and they had to take me to school so I can bring it in.  The teacher was thrilled with it so she took a picture of it and I got in the evans journal for the week.  Funny, after getting this science project and gotten the "A" I still scored very low in science that quarter.  It really stung but I was granted in the 6th grade. 
More about 6th-9th grade tomorrow (1976-1980).  Hope you enjoyed this segment.