Dad the Flipper

Today Jerry would have been eighty-one, It has been a day of reflection of what I know of his life before and after we met. As far as I have found out he was always in the middle of all the fun. When the guys put the Volkswagen's of the science teacher in the top of the tree in the middle of the grounds at the high school. The time He and his brother went screaming into the house telling their mom there was a snake in a burlap sack.  When we were kids all the school rooms had the ABC's pasted on to the wall so the kids could learn the alphabet.  Jerry learned it backward.  Yes he learned it ZXY.  He even sent a letter to our friends while he was in Nigeria--it was all in backwards and on bathroom paper. Barbara still has that paper.

Chapter One

I've about decided that my dad was a house flipper. I remember lots lf houses over lots of years. The house I remember best is the one in Los Angeles in the area that was Culver City at that time but now it is Universal City. Down the street from our house was a lot. At that time a lot was just open land waiting for a house to be built. This lot had LOTS of weeds and LOTS of concrete walkways. Something new and exciting. Something for a lonely young girl to keep her imagination going. The stories I would make up about why the concrete walkways were there. Millions of reasons. Why would someone put this amazing  puzzle so close to out house? It was a wonderful place for me to be. Did I even think that this was someone else's? No of  course not. It never even occurred to me that I could get into trouble, until the day the man came into sight. Someone began hollering: I began to get scared. He walked to where I was and told me that those walkways were for foundations for new homes. I was not supposed to be there as I could get hurt---I had to go home---but I didn't have to like it.

Those twists and turns were a lot like a maze. Twist here and then they go a little way--twist again and go the other way. Dead ends. Weeds. Trash. Those concrete  walkways had grabbed hold of my imagination and would not let me go.

After a week or two, of course--- back I went. The concrete walkways were calling my name. 

That day I went back, there were four boys picking up pieces of concrete and throwing them at each other.  I was watching them just like I watched Phil and his friends. Little did I know or suspect what was coming. One of them saw me and said," what are you doing in our fort? Go home, now ?"

More Tomorrow

LINDA