This Is My Life

Happy Birthday Mom.

2011-12-12T07:51:00.002-06:00

December 13, 1903 was the day my mom was born in Alta Loma, Texas. She was born in a house built from driftwood from the 1900 Storm in Galveston. For more about my Mother click here.

These pictures were taken in here late 70's when she was still managing the apartments where she lived. I think that if you knew my mother this is how you remember her best with a loving smile on her face. Or maybe laughing, but I don't have any pictures of her laughing.

Home for Christmas

2011-12-06T07:33:00.002-06:00

I have been thinking a lot about life now and life when I was young. The picture below is a repeat and the story I am going to tell is a repeat, but some times context changes the story.

We are on the precipice of a calamity that was completely avoidable, a financial collapse, or maybe just a deep and dark recession or depression again. We are told that there is a debt crisis. There is not, there is a character crisis. Money is now the God of the US and we have chosen the Golden Calf. That God is a heartless God and we are about to reap the coldness of that heartlessness.

I told the story of how my mother would bake cookies and wrap my sisters and I up and visit Shut-ins to bring them Christmas Cheer a few Carols.

Moms stayed home in the 50's. They were not useless. They cared for Children, and served in the community. They managed their home, as important a task as managing any of our current Fast Food places that do not provide the balanced diet that I grew up with.

We have sold our homes for TV's in every room and everyone with a cell phone. We allow strangers in the house via the internet to reach our children who are Home Alone. Then there is that food that has processed out the nutrients and now is in danger of having all other ills due to the rising cry against Regulation.

Our God Money exacts a terrible price.

So I thought about the way it was when I was young and safe. I am a realist. We had segregation back then where the bounty of our blessings were not bestowed upon all people. Mexicans and Blacks were both segregated from the opportunities the rest of us had by all measures. Our future masters were going across the world establishing dictatorships under the guise of protecting us from the boogieman of Communism. From those countries with our dictators we took resources that gave us our Lifestyle that we boasted was given to us by God as we were superior.

But at home were still a people naive enough to believe God provided for us because we, as individuals were doing our best to live as we each believed that God wanted us to live.

My mind wandered from the bankruptcy of empty homes, where mothers (or maybe fathers) stayed home so the kids had a safe place to come to.

It was not perfect, we are not supposed to be perfect, but we are supposed to move toward perfection, or as our Governing Document says "more perfect".

My life is far more behind me than ahead. I just wanted to suggest to anyone who reads this that there is way out of our current enslavement to the Golden Calf. I pray at this time we seek back to a time where there was promise of a better future and find that promise for all this time, all colors, all faiths, all genders. I also pray that in that freedom and exclusivity we remember, that it is not about number one or having it all, but about being Guided by God of Love, in all the forms people find Him.

Mom, Thanks for being the heart of our home and providing me a safe and loving place to grow up. I miss you very much.

Christmas With The Gerlachs

2011-12-03T11:18:00.004-06:00

I do not remember what year this was,but it was from 1999 or 2000 I think. First we have food. The Turkey was fried and it was really Good.

The Turkey

Sweet Potatoes, Ham, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes in teh COvered Pot, and rolls. Yum.

The Cornbread Dressing.

Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, Rod spent the day putting up Christmas Decorations. They were really nice at night.

Rod and Carol in the kitchen with Cara ducking to get out of the picture.

Cheryl and her sister-in-law.

Rod's Brother-in-law, Don.

Cheryl and I Did the inside decorations. I made the Decorations over the fire place.

Cheryl did most of the other decorations.

Just for the Record, I lived with Rod, Cheryl, and Cara for several years. Rod in my opinion is one of the nicest most honorable men I know. We did not always see things eye to eye, but we were always able to work though it.

I hope that he is happy now. If he ever decided to play for the other team, I can not think of anyone who I would want to live the rest of my life with. Alas, taht will never be the situation. Happy Holidays Rod and the rest of the Gerlachs and Arneys.

Last of Julia and James

2011-09-29T11:18:00.002-05:00

I guess I am a non-person to James, the younger, and Julia. Funny thing about just ignoring people, there are so many questions unanswered. When I left, the status of things were that Julia was scared that James, the older, would take James the younger away from her and commit her to an institution.

For all I know that happened. Maybe my friend is out there in an institution somewhere. But, such is life.

So here are the last of the pictures I have of Julia and James. Update: I found a few more items from James' birth. The are added at bottom

The picture above is me. It was taken by Julia at the duplex on Harral Street just up from Pease Park. It was a great little duplex. I really do not do drag and when I have done it, it was comic drag. Julia left me alone while she attended to James and this is what happened.

In June of 1982, Julia and the Jameses came down to Houston for a Wedding. My friend Debbie, who was visiting from San Antonio, and I picked up James, the younger, and took him to the Houston Zoo during the wedding.

This is Debbie at her home in San Antonio. Debbie and Julia's mothers knew each other. Both were of Polish decent. Small world.

The day was typical Texas Summer heat. James was miserable. We did our best to keep him cool.

I am not sure if this was at the Zoo or at the Church where the wedding was, but it was Zoo Day!

Goats at the petting zoo. James was not quite sure about the goats but they liked him.

So this is all I have of my friendship with Julia that lasted from about 1976 to 1987. I was able to understand Julia's actions in 1987, but not so much now. It is sad how people's minds narrow with age.

James birth announcement and Thank You note:

A pebble gently tossed in a pond creates small waves that changes things all around the pond as they radiate outward. The many tiny waves that we rise and fall on are not always perceived and we take it that our ups and downs are our own. That is a false notion. What is ours is what we do with those ups and downs. It is a wise person who accepts with grace and thanks for the lifting and accepts with resolve and forgiveness for the falling. No man, even in the midst of great separation, is every alone as he is in the constant company of his memories, be they good or bad, and the shadows of forces that act unseen and unknown.

Nathan 1985

2011-09-26T12:11:00.008-05:00

In 1985 my niece, Cheryl, ran away from home in southeast Houston. She had good reason, but at the time I did not know that. She came to Austin with boyfriend Todd in tow and on the Ides of March, she knocked on my from door. My life was changed for ever. One of those changes was Nathan.

Below is Nathan in my favorite photo of him.

I a not sure when this photo was taken. Nathan and I lived together four times. The first time was 1985. I am fairly sure this was taken then. We are at Pease Park in Austin. There is a hike and bike trail and at the north end the trail crosses over Shoal Creek and the trail ends about a half block later.

Austin sits on a fault, the Balcones fault. It runs from Downtown Austin at the corner of San Antonio and 7th street all the way up to about Hwy 183. The terrain is sharply ripped apart. Pease Park runs between Shoal Creek and the Fault. at the spot this was taken there is a pond formed by some large rocks and the cliff of the fault. I am on a rock looking down at Nathan. Nathan is on a rock and has a rock in his hand. He is looking up at me. The look on his face makes me wonder if he was not contemplating throwing the rock at me.

The next picture is probably in 1988. One Purpose of this blog is to get my dates and stories straight.

It is taken in the same place, but there are frequent floods of Shoal Creek and the natural furniture changes. Nathan is on the same rock as above but the surroundings had changed. This is my second favorite picture of Nathan.

After my Cheryl and Todd were allowed to stay with me, her younger sister, Lisa, decided that it was time to leave home as well. An alcoholic for a father and a mother that was pressed to beyond her limits made home a very bad place to be. Lisa also brought a boy friend, Nathan.

They however could not find me. Carol and the kids had lived in Austin for about two years before moving down to Houston in January of 1985. When they moved the Son of a friend of Carol, Betty moved into their house and finished out the lease. Betty and my sister had worked together at a "Christian" Book Store Betty Owned.

Lisa and Nathan went to the house and they let the two wanderers stay there. Very soon the younger niece left and left Nathan there.

I got a call from Betty telling me that Lisa had dumped Nathan at her kids house. Betty told me that Nathan was at her son and daughter-in-law and was a pot smoker and I needed to come get him. I was just finding out that Lisa was in Austin and that she also had brought a boyfriend.

I told Betty I would go over and see what I could do.

I went over to meet Nathan. My first impression was not a positive one. I told Nathan that I would drive him to Houston the following Sunday. He said he was fine where he was. I said OK.

In less than 24 hours Betty took Nathan and dropped him off at my house. She did not get out of the car, she just showed him the house and told him to get out. Nice Christian behavior. By this time Cheryl and Todd had moved to their own place (shared flop apartment) so Nathan stayed with me while I figured out what to do. There was no pot at my place so in a few days Nathan began to sober up.

Nathan went with me where ever I went and we began to get to know each other. I soon began to fall in love with Nathan. I was very clear about the fact that I was more than twice his age and that the boy was not interested in men. Love is an odd thing, it flows along many paths. Once again I moved in to my father figure mode and Nathan and I forged a friendship.

Origins 1946 - 1949

2011-09-19T19:57:00.005-05:00

I was born on August 14, 1946. I have no idea who my birth parents are. I was given up for adoption at birth. Then about a year later Mom decided to come back and get me, Or so I am told. It appears that I was discharged to my Mother August 12, 1947.

My Real Mother, the one who raised me, said that the case worker for my adoption said that My Birth Maternal Grandmother pushed my Birth Mother to come get me back at a time when there was a man in her life. I do not know what happened, but the man left and after while I was taken from my birth mother.

I was readmitted to De Pelchin on March 16, 1949.

I was discharged to be adopted on June 17th 1949. I have some memories of this formative period but have no memories at all of my Birth Mother. I remember looking out a window from De Pelchin and seeing kids playing in a playground surrounded by buildings. When years later I described this memory to my Mother she said it sounded like De Pelchin. I also remember a visit, probably the day they took me from my mother, from what must have been a case worker. She took me downstairs to a grocery store very close to where I lived, and she bought me an ice cream.

I also remember being at a foster home in Alvin and the foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sellars. It was a happy place.

I moved in with my Real Parents John and Sally Pearson later in 1949, sometime before my birthday. My parents had this made to send to relatives to announce my "birth" into their Family. I was Home. The only real home I have ever known.

This was taken in 1950 in May. My Adoption papers were just being finalized at this point. I was legally Roy Edward Pearson. An Orphan no more.

After I left Home, I lived as a nomad, each residence a temporary place to rest my head. Until my 60's I never lived in one place more than a year. I moved on an average of every 6 months.

My Biggest Mistake, Loosing Carter.

2011-09-19T08:16:00.002-05:00

I met Carter in 1976. I was at one of many junctures in my life where I was lost, adrift. I had moved to a small campus dorm called "The Brownlee".

That's Carter, the most beautiful man I had seen up to that point. Well, I thought he was a man, but as it turns out he was only 18, but by then he had lived a lot more than his years.

It took a while for me to get to actually meet Carter, and a little longer to get him to trust me. When I first moved into the Brownlee, I had noticed Carter in the laundry room. My heart seemed to stop whenever I saw him.

One day I was coming home and saw Carter at the back of the Brownlee leaning against his car smoking. Rather than go inside, I walked toward the end of the building. It seemed clear that Carter was looking at me as I approached, but I got scared as I got near and turned away and went in the back door.

As soon as I got inside, I told myself I needed to go out and talk to Carter. I did. It was kind of funny to him, he said later. We talked and he invited me up to his room for a "beer". I went with him. When we got to the room, he offered me a beer and I told him I did not drink. I blurted out that I was in love with him and wanted to be his friend. He said no way and I left.

He avoided me for a while then one day I saw him again in the laundry room and I stopped and said hi to him. He responded and we slowly became friends.

By the end of the year I had lost Carter's trust and lost him as a friend, forever. That is my biggest mistake in my life. It is probable I would have lost him along the way in any case, but I can't imagine any other way would have been as bad as the way it happened.

This is the cast of characters. The guy on the left that looks a bit like he is melting, is me. I was melting to have Carter's arm around me. So that is Carter, again, next to me. Next to him is a fellow I barely knew. He worked at a Mexican Restaurant. He and the next fellow, Mark, worked together. Mark is the other character in the loss of Carter.

The picture was taken by my friend Debbie. It is in my room at the Brownlee. Carter, Mark, and Debbie lived in the Brownlee and I was the manager by this time.

The next few pictures were of Carter, in his room. I had assumed my usual role of man servant. Carter had a lot going for him he had just not had a lot of constructive guidance.

He had been on the streets since he was 14, making a living as best he could. Given his looks you can figure the rest. As a result he held himself in a very defensive stance. That was not productive for regular life. I helped him relax his stance and learn some of the people skills he needed, but Carter was plenty smart and needed only a point in the right direction.

He got a job as a waiter at a famous cafe on the "Drag" near the campus. He did well and was soon offered a job as a shift manager.

My best buddy, Michelle and Carter, both Scorpios had an immediate attraction but Carter was young and Michelle was in a relationship. The picture above and the next five were taken at the duplex that Michelle and Holly lived in. Michelle took the pictures.

There was an event that I do not want to go too much into detail about, but we had a very innocent bonding moment that might have taken us in a path that neither of us wanted. It is the difficult part of being Gay and not really liking the gay lifestyle. Carter was straight and when he was around women that was very clear.

I once asked Carter if in his days on the street if I had paid to be with him, would he have let me just be with him without any physical activity. He said no. I guess when you engange in that kind of activity it has to remain detached not anything like a real relationship.

So we had the moment that built a trust between us.

I was frustrated. The greater part of me wanted to have a close friendship with Carter, but I was a normal male (sorry even homosexuals have normal sex drives typical of men. So Carter and I decided that we both needed mates and if we had that it would relieve the tensions.

So being a Leo, I immediately began to find a mate so I could have the friendship I wanted with Carter. Emotionally, I was just as immature as Carter and this seemed like a good idea. It was not.

I was, and still am, at my core a pretty conservative person. That was in my personal life, not my politics. I wanted a relationship with one person for the rest of my life.

What happened, next was my second biggest mistake and that story will not be completely told here, but I made a bad choice for "mate". It is a long story and it consumed much of my life in late 1976 and 1977. Heck, I was 29 and would be thirty in August. My generation, the baby boomers, had as our mantra "never trust anyone over thirty". I do not know what we thought we would do when we reached 30, but such is youth. I went bonkers for my thirtieth Birthday.

I was also trying real hard about this time to be gay. By that I mean in my outer presence. The picture above is representative of that period where I was trying to be someone I was not. Oh, I was and am very homosexual, but I have never really been gay. The two things are not the same, or at least not in my life.

Gays really do not like people like me, Homosexual but not gay. I am not willing to buy into that whole lifestyle, from bar hopping to living life as performance art.

The problem with this blog, is that it is not chronological. I had begun my nomadic life moving on average every six months. I had moved to Austin in the fall of 1971. I lived with Bruce on Clawson, lived alone at 704 San Antonio street, moved to Enfield with Pat and then out on Parker. After that I moved to 1206 West and then to 1400 Rio Grande. Back to the 700 San Antonio block, then back to 1400 Rio Grande. Lived in two apartments there and then out to the Riverside area with Rick. Moved from the Riverside Apartment to Oltorf and then to the Brownlee. In less that 5 years I had lived in 13 different places.

As one might see in this picture, I was happy at Apartment 201, 2502 Nueces. I had friends that lived in the Brownlee, Cater, Debbie, and Mark. I had friends in the Campus area, Michelle, Julia, Gayle. The campus area was freeing for me. Carter had pierced my ear and I wore a stud. The piercing and stud were kind of a bonding ritual and outward sign of a close relationship. Rick would visit me here and borrow my Army Uniform with my Purple Heart attached for a Halloween costume. He moved to New York shortly afterward and I have never seen him or my Purple Heart since, but he got a role on the Soap "Another World" as Larry.

I think I was still a 30" or 32" waist here. I had a pair of green stovepipe leg pants that I loved to go dancing in. Debbie and I would walk down to the sixth street area and dance at the gay bars there. The pants actually came up to my official waist and covered the fact that I had a long waist (more torso, less leg). People always called me long-legged because I was tall, but it was not true. I am somewhere between a 30 and 32" inseam which for 6'2" is short.

And then there was Mark. I suppose I should have been interested in Mark, but Mark was really strange. Not necessarily bad strange, but just real uneven, disconcerting. About a year or so after this I had another interaction with Mark, and it confirms what I should have known, that Mark wanted some attention like Carter got. . I do not remember all the details. For some reason I was at a house talking to a woman on some matter of business - porbably related to an Entertainment Project I was working on. By coincidence she was sleeping with Mark. She went off to do something and in walks Mark stark naked and clearly in a post-state of arousal.

He acted as if there was nothing unusual, put on some shorts and I finished what ever it was I was doing there and left. The only reason I remember the event was the interaction with Mark.

Mark was very well endowed, though this picture does not really show that.

These pictures were not taken by me. So on to the Big Mistake. One day Mark and I were talking. I am pretty sure it was after things started to get bad. All of my friends were trying to tell me that the direction I was going was a disaster, but I guess it was like quicksand, once you got so deep it was hard to pull yourself out.

The subject got around to Carter and why I had taken this other course to begin with. I expressed the feeling that Carter and I were really close and Mark questioned it. He said in effect that not only was Carter not interested in guys, which he wasn't, but that he would never be interested in me.

I should have kept my mouth shut, but I told him about Carter and my moment together, which was nothing really, two guys completely clothed with no touching in any sensitive places, but an opportunity given that was never taken.

Needless to say, Mark went straight to Carter and asked about the story. Carter never spoke to me civilly again.

Only Carter and I knew what that moment meant. That was 35 years ago. I kept trying to make contact with Carter for a couple of years, kind of halfheartedly stalked him.

Then probably in 1978, I was living back at the Brownlee. I walked to a neighborhood grocery store. I saw Carter was on his balcony of an apartment not more that a block from me. I was too afraid to try to talk to him.

My friend John from Houston was up visiting as I was fixing to move from the Brownlee again and we stopped by Carters. John went to see him. I told John I did not want to see Carter, I just wanted to know how he was. John and Carter had spent time together when John would visit I was at work. John is a romantic fairy and loves happy endings so when Carter asked if I was with him, John said yes. I knew Carter well enough that he would never speak kindly to me again, but John did not think I knew what I was talking about.

Carter came up to the car and told me to leave him alone. The irony was that I had by that time put him out of my immediate life and if I had not lived a block from him - unintentionally - this interaction would not have happened.

I was crushed immediately but it was what I needed to close this chapter with Carter. I have never stopped loving him.

The biggest mistake of my life was loosing Carter, I wish that one day he would be back around 6.

The Day I Met Bruce

2011-09-19T08:14:00.001-05:00

I met Bruce in the Old Methodist Church in June of 1964.

My friend Wineva and I had started a Community Theater in the Old Methodist Church. Wineva and I were both directing a play, and we were rehearsing. I was running through the play I was directing. When we took a break, I walked over to where Wineva was. She was with a couple of people I did not know. Wineva introduced me to Bruce and Mary Sue LeGrand.

June was the Month when Preachers of the Methodist Church are moved from one Church to another. Bruce and Mary Sue were the children of Rev. Leslie LeGrand, who had been assigned to the Church in Alvin.

When I saw Bruce, it was one of those Love at First Sight moments. Bruce was 14 and I was 18. The picture above is of Bruce in 1966. Bruce was my first real Love.

We became friends. After we had been friends for a while, I told Bruce of my emotional feelings for him and it put a temporary block between us, but soon we were OK. At that time, I did not know why Bruce reacted the way he did. Later I found out that there was a secret that Bruce probably kept from most every one else but me. That is another story, that I will tell here, but not now.

Below is a card I out together to carry with me in Vietnam.

Things got complicated, but Bruce was one of the four people I could have lived my life with.

Something Old, Nothing New

2011-05-01T11:27:00.003-05:00

Last month I posted pictures from about 25 years ago of my friend Julia. Like many of my friends, I got to know them when they are experiencing some bad times. The details of those bad times are unimportant, but our friendship centered around our ability to have fun no matter what we did.

The wedding invitation.

The envelope. I had moved to Lutcher, Louisiana, to run a Sonic Restaurant.

Julia got married to a local lawyer, James. He seemed like a decent guy. Julia was happy.

They had a son in 1981 and I was "Uncle Roy" for a while. I lived in Houston and got up to see them when I could. The Pictures from last month were from this period.

They moved to Chicago, where James got his MBA. I do not remember the exact time of the move, but when I moved back to Austin in 1983, they were in Chicago.

By 1985 my world had changed and so had Julia's. She and her husband James were separated. I visited her in January with the idea of moving up to Chicago, but there were several reasons that I decided not to, the cold was one. It was one of the coldest winters on record. I had no winter clothes. She was late to pick me up at the train station because her gas had turned to sludge due to the cold.

I had seen billboards on the way up in the train for "Heat". In Texas gas does not "freeze" so I had no idea it could. Neither did Julia.

It was a wonderland with snow everywhere. I walked Julia's son James to school (kindergarten, he was 4 years old.) in the snow. We threw snowballs and had a great time. I realized that as nice as it was this was not a lifestyle I could easily adjust to.

There were other considerations on Julia's part.

Boy Scouts - Old Methodist Church

2011-02-09T09:34:00.001-06:00

I was a member of the Troop 487 that met at the Old Methodist Church until we moved. Below are some newspaper clippings my Mother saved. The clippings are mostly from the Alvin Sun.

Mom always circled our names in the paper. The crutches were made at Alvin Building Materials which was just north of the Railroad Tracks and diagonally across from the Old Train Depot. I had forgotten how much taller I was at that age than the other kids my age.

My only real memories of this project was that it was cold. There was a heater in the shop where we worked but it did not really make the place that warm. Of course, I was skinny as a rail so the cold may have affected me more than everyone else.

On the south side of the Railroad Tracks was Roark Auto Supply. It was operated by the Roark boys family. Ted Shaw, our Scout Master, was a harsh man, but he held the prevailing values of the time. They are the values that I still fall back on.

To read the articles that were published with these photos click HERE and HERE. The articles give a glimpse into who people thought in the late 1950's. It was the era of "Anti-Communism" a hysteria. The United States was taking its leading role in World Affairs. We as a people where still very naive.

I do not think we use the words "Juvenile Delinquent" today but Mr. Shaw is quoted using it in these articles.

If you can stomach it, Back Stories has more of my memories of feelings that I could never have expressed back then and am not real comfortable with now.

See the Disclaimer on the left under "Back Stories".

Friends Past - Julia and James

2011-02-08T01:29:00.000-06:00

I forget exactly how I met Julia. It was through my friend Gayle, I am pretty sure. Gayle and my relationship was complicated as Gayle wanted to be more than friends. There was no such problem with Julia.

Julia got married, and as is the pattern, our friendship went dark. Men do not like their wives having friendships with other men, even homosexuals. Men are such fragile creatures.

Below are a few pictures of my Friend Julia and her son James. The last three are James and I.

The picture above was taken in Pease Park in Austin, Texas. Julia, James and I were having a picnic. Julia was a beautiful woman, and I think this picture displays that.

The picture above was taken when Julia was living on Harrell Street in a duplex. The duplex was right up a hill from Pease Park. I attempted to mater black and white but never did. This is one of my better shots.

I am not sure exactly when this picture was taken, or where. It is probably at the Harrell Street duplex. This was James and my first meeting.

The above picture is in front of the Harrell Street duplex. For some reason kids like me, and I think you can tell that I like kids. Things are real simple with kids.

Julia and her husband came to Houston for a wedding. My friend Debbie from San Antonio was visiting me in Houston and I got to babysit with James. Debbie and I took him to the zoo. This picture is taken after going to the zoo. James was a very hot and tired little boy. Debbie took the picture.

More on Old Methodist Chruch

2011-02-05T06:27:00.004-06:00

Found a picture from a trip taken by the Methodist Youth Group to the Methodist Home in Waco. I am not sure when this trip was. I doubt it was after 1953.

At this time we were still in the Old First Methodist Church. In the picture are (front left) Earle, Diane, and Versa Pearson, and me. Allan Pearson is two rows up and slightly tot he right. Moving to the Right and all the way in back are the Greens. Mrs. Green was the church secretary. My Dad and Mother are labeled, John and Sally. Directly below Mom, two row down, is Janette Pearson. Some of the other people look familiar to me but I can not put names to them.

Once we moved to the new church we tried to find ways to use the empty building. My oldest sister, Geneva and her husband ran a youth club in the basement of the church. They called it the Purple Pit, on weekend night it was open with music, games, and Hamburgers. It didn't last long. I am not sure all the complications, but something went wrong.

Then in June of 1964, my friend Wineva and I started a Community Theater in the Sanctuary. Below are some clippings from the Alvin Sun, the Alvin newspaper, about the Community Theater. Note: click on the photo's for the full clipping.

The Church had one 90 degree corner, which is what the picture is of. This was the pulpit are. The doors in back were to the Preacher's study. There is a chair and table with a flat behind it made from wood and burlap.

A Manvel Theater Group joined us for the night of One-Acts. The full clipping from the Alvin Sun can be read by clicking on the picture above. The Article is in two parts. Click HERE for the second part.

For more about the Old Methodist Church and My Life, see Back Stories.

See the Disclaimer on the left under "Back Stories".

My Home Town

2011-01-13T05:12:00.015-06:00

I grew up in Alvin, Texas. I have made reference to Alvin from time to time. I returned to Alvin about 6 years ago for my 40th High School Reunion. I do not have a lot of good things to say about Alvin today, but when I grew up here it was a different place. I have sorted this through and have realized that it was different for several reasons. For a few posts I will explore the Alvin I grew up in, in pictures. What is it is today is for another venue.

One of the centers of my early life in Alvin was the Church. I went to the First Methodist Church in Alvin.

The Church Building was a marvelous place for me. First there was the majestic steps that led up to the sanctuary. I am sure it was one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" thing. In 1962 a new Church Building was built because many of the older members could not climb the stairs. It is has been a problem for the building ever since.

Above is a side view of the Church. The Church had a basement. With Alvin being only 30 feet above sea level, basements were not a common thing. So to keep the "basement" from being the first floor, a small hill was built all around the Church. I and other children gleefully rolled down the mountain when ever we could.

Above is the side of the Church that bordered Sidnor. Across the street on the Sidnor side of the Church was the Parsonage. One of the magical things to me as a child was the stairways and balconies. There was an outside balcony at the half-floor level and a balcony in the Sanctuary. When one entered on the "ground" level one went down a half flight of steps to the "basement". From there one went up the main stairwell. At the half floor there was an outside balcony, the on the one floor level one went into the sanctuary. Up one more half level was a second outside balcony, and then up one more half level was the Sanctuary Balcony. I used to have dreams that there was another outside balcony and sanctuary balcony. The stairway for me was a vertical hall of many doors.

This building deserves to be restored. It was a unique architectural style. If I had money it would be restored as a Cultural Center. Alas I have no money and the building will deteriorate and be torn down. It is just a building but it will always have a place in my heart. When the Church moved to the new Building on South Street, the Church changed. To me the Old Church was warm place. It did not have Air Conditioning until the mid-1950's. I remember getting a hand held fan along with the Bulletin from the Ushers each Sunday.

Above is a picture of the Church about 1962. The windows of the basement were not yet sealed up nor is the lower outside balconies.

The new Church (above) was more formal, cold. It was beautiful, but distant. I fought the formality in my late teens. Eventually I left the Church. Most of my fond memories of my Church are from the Old Church. It could be that I was a small child in the Old Church and a rebellious teen in the New Church, but I don't think so.

A Church is supposed to be the House of God. I felt that in the Old Church, the New Church was more a House of Man's Pride and desire for position on Earth. Today the New Church, not new any more, has been opened up. It is more accessible. The Services are not so formal. It of course is no longer my Church, has not been for over 40 years.

More Cousins

2010-12-03T00:30:00.003-06:00

More pictures of Cousins. Nan and Jim are the children of George and Geneva Pearson. These pictures were taken at my home. First is Jim alone, well with a cat. This picture does not have a larger version - yet.

Next are two pictures of Nan,Jim, and me. Again at my home in Alvin.

Allen and Janette were a bit older that Nan, Jim and I. Here is Ann, daughter of Fritz and Mildred Pearson, with Allen and Janette at Earle Pearson's home.

I am not sure when Grandma Pearson moved down to Alvin. It was before we adopted the girls in 1953. She lived in two different houses while in Alvin, both houses Uncle George had as rent houses. Allen and his wife Wanda lived in the House on Willis that Grandmother Pearson first lived in. She moved to a duplex on West Foley.
This is probably one of the better pictures of my Grandmother Pearson. (Ola Martin Pearson) This is taken in my home. The date on the Good Housekeeping was 1956.

Last is another picture of my Dad's Feed Store when it was in "Downtown" Alvin. From the viewer's perspective Pearson Chevrolet and Oldsmobile was to the left of the store and across the street (Sidnor) To the right is the old Parks Restaurant. There was an old gas station across the street and across from George's Dealership was the used car lot. (pictured previously in another post)

At the time of these pictures, George, John, and Earle Pearson all worked at the corner of Sidnor and Gordon.

New Cousins, Now and Then

2010-11-29T11:07:00.005-06:00

The Holidays are considered Family Time. Families take the time to visit each other at this time of year when they may rarely see each other for the rest of the year.

In this post I remember family in days past and celebrate getting to know a cousin I did not know I had. The cousin I did not know I had I had actually met when I was 6 and she and her twin brother were 3 or 4. To see those pictures, go over to My Parents lives in Pictures.

The Cousins from the past, are still cousins and from all indications still living and kicking around. In these pictures however they are young and in the year 1949, June to be precise.

I had just been adopted and was getting to meet my New Family.

Allen, Janette, and Diane were Earle and Versa Brown Pearson's children. This is at my house.

Mom and Dad did the rounds to let me meet my new family.

I never really got to know Allen. Janette got married when I was about 10. Diane was a year younger than me so she was the one I git to know best.

I guess I was averting my eyes to save the lady's honor!!

Summer, Summer, Wherfore Art Thou?

2010-09-08T07:55:00.002-05:00

I had intended to post these pictures in August. These are Summer pictures.

We had huge clover patches in our lawn in the Summer. Bees would hover over them to harvest the pollens and eat the nectar from the little white balls that were the flowers of the Clover. I would lie in the clover with the Hot Summer Sun beaming down upon me. I would drift off in to singular place not asleep but calm and seduced by the buzzing of the bees. Warm breezes rushed across my face as if Mother nature was stroking my face and lulling me off to lazy detachment from the realities of mowing the lawn and doing my chores.

That is Summer to me.

This is also Summer. At this point in life I was an only child. July 4th, Mom, Dad, and I went to Surfside Beach in Freeport, Texas. This in one of the few pictures I have of Dad and me.

Another maker of Summer, at least the end of Summer, is my birthday. Here is a photo of me at my 4th birthday party. I do not remember this, so I am assuming that the little baskets with candy in them were for the out of picture guests at my party. I had been with Mom and Dad for just over a year.

In the window in back of me is my Grandmother on my Mother's side, Nana. That window was my first TV. Nana used to sit with me and talk about all the things she saw out that window, none of which were really there.

Here I am in July 1950 on my tricycle.

Last is not a summer picture at all. It is however one more of the very few pictures I had taken with my Dad. Dad most always took the pictures. I miss him very much. Wish I had gotten to really know him and his stories.

Happy Birthday, Max.

2010-07-06T18:37:00.003-05:00

A Picture is worth...

Carltons Redux

2010-06-15T19:59:00.005-05:00

I have gone back and cleaned up some of the pictures from a previous post on my cousins the Carltons (Bruce's daughter and sons.) Betty Gayle married Bab Carton.

The original post was from October 10, 2008, Changing Gears. I added a couple of pictures there and made the existing photos bigger.

I feel a great loss in that I have no contact with these people. I feel very connected for some reason to this part of my mother's family. Mother always told me I reminded her of her brother Bruce and I am pretty sure my Grandmother mistook me for Bruce Junior as she slipped in to senility.

Here are a few more pictures. Brad if you look at these some day, contact me. I need to pass these pictures on to someone in your family line - if anyone wants then. I am not just referring to the ones of you but also the ones of Uncle Bruce and Bruce Jr.

Betty Gayle had a son from a previous marriage named Larkin. I have really neglected Larkin.

I posted a couple of pictures on June 7, 2008, of Larkin and I from a visit to where ever they lived after I was first adopted. These pictures are from about the same time as the visit.

A boy and his dog. I really never got to know Larkin. When they visited he and Carol spent a lot of time together and I spent time with Bruce and Brad. I really never got to know them either.

Last is a picture of the boys with their Grandmother, my Aunt Verna.

Moving Right Along

2010-06-05T16:57:00.004-05:00

(An Update of April 7, 2009 post)
Most of my posts have been about my Childhood. There is still more to post there, but it is time to move along to my dysfunctional Adulthood. I have few regrets, but I would not want my life to be the same as it was the first time if I had a second time around .

So I am going to talk about the Men in My Life. I fall in love very easily. Just having some one that might really like me is generally enough if they are attractive to me.

I could start at the beginning, but I am not going to. I am going to start with Bill W. I learned a lot from this relationship. Mainly, I learned that just because they say they want something does not mean they are really ready or willing to put forth the effort to do something about it. I met Bill at work at Fluor in 1982. I was the lead in the Power Group for a project and bill was one the people on the project.

At work no one knew that I was a Homosexual. Bill did not. In fact, he thought that I was quite a ladies man. I passed for straight and I had learned early on that if you did not talk about sex, men just assumed you were having a lot of it and just didn't talk about it.

This is a picture of me at the time.

Most of my friends are women. As a result most guys who have known me and not known that I like guys instead of girls have assumed that I was having a relation with at least one of the women.

When my friend Debbie visited me from San Antonio, she stayed with me. Then Michelle, probably the best friend I have ever had, stayed with me for a month or so. I was also friends with and had lived next to Paula. Bill assumed that that they were all conquests of mine.

I think when I finally told him I was homosexual, he was more devastated that I was not living his dream than the fact I might possible want in his pants. I did, but then he was married, and I am very particular about the sanctity of marriage. Not that Bill would have been interested anyway.

In the next picture is Ken, Michelle, and Bill, all going to a Halloween party. I had helped Bill with his costume and Michelle was kind of staying with me.

The only part of Bill's costume I did not create was that slight bulge.

The next picture is of Bill in the Army. He was hanging out with buddies in the barracks. Bill, without his beard, is in back on the right. Purple underwear. Purple Underwear??!!

The other guy in the Halloween picture is Ken. He worked with Bill and I at Fluor. It has been my curse that every time that I find a guy that I like - straight, of course - that I can just be friends with, they have a best buddy. So as much as they like the attention of being the center of someone - even a guy - giving them their full attention it just does not compete with a buddy.

As you can see, Ken enjoyed pushing his sexuality. Bill was shy and he liked the confidence that Ken showed with women. Skunk was a good character for Ken, but as much as I did not like his ways, I was very attracted to him.

He needed a head shot for something he was doing and I was trying to learn how to do photography so I offered to do the pictures and he accepted. These are two of the pictures. I also asked him to let me take pictures of him shirtless and he was fine with that.

He was a good looking kid, and had I been a less repressed person maybe...but then my life was full of maybes that never came to anything.

And a parting picture. I took a picture of Bill and his wife and then they took one of me. This is it. Neither picture was that great because of the lighting. I tried to find the picture that I too, but I guess I gave it to them. Probably have the negative somewhere but am too poor to take film to be printed. :)

It was my relationship with Bill that made me realize that I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. It was with him that I first seriously began to consider how to end my life. Yet, about 28 years later, I am still here. Sigh.

My Parents Lives in Pictures

2010-05-29T22:18:00.003-05:00

I have started a companion Blog called My Parent's Lives in Pictures. I have a considerable number of photos from about 1905 to the late 1930's of my Mother's family. So I am scanning and posting those pictures before I give them to a historical Museum.

I am also going ahead and building a Family Tree through Ancestry.com and in just one afternoon have found a lot of material. I sound like the commercial, but I never knew that my Grandfather immigrated from Canada and his father immigrated from Ireland.

Here is a picture of some the Wilson Family. I have started the 14 day trial with Ancestry.com and have found a lot about my parents family tree. Traced my Dad's side of the family all the way to England in the early 1700's. My Mother's side of the family is purportedly suppose to go back to King John of England, but I have serious doubts about that. But that is another story for another Blog.

Check it out: http://parentspictures.blogspot.com/

Ghosts of Christmas Past, Part II

2009-12-14T16:12:00.002-06:00

One more post on Christmas Past. The Ghosts are the people now gone, my Mom and Dad, and the relationships and hopes that are gone. My Oldest Sister, Geneva, lives in Colorado. Carol lives in Bellaire, Texas only 26 very long miles from where I live.

The picture above is from 1955. Mom, Geneva, Carol, and me. Amazingly I was not preforming for the camera.

This is from 1956. Christmas morning and as usual I am goofing around. Remember Slinkys?

With a roll of the eyes. I am not sure where this is taken. It is the Living Room but I am not sure which corner. Same cast of characters.

1957. Here I am looking at Christmas Presents. I am the only one in these pictures. Carol is 13, Geneva 15, and I am 11.

We did not have a fire place to hang stockings so our stockings hung on a chest of drawers in the Living room. Mom kept linens and the like there. If you look at the other pictures you will see space heaters. That is how we heated our house. I really prefer that to any other form of heat I have ever had.

Still 1957 and here is the Christmas Tree again without me.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

2009-12-03T17:02:00.010-06:00

Under 20 shopping days to Christmas. Me, I do not shop. Got no money and really do want people to give me anything for Christmas. I miss Christmas' when I had family that cared about me and whom I cared about. The fun was decorating and cooking with and for people with whom I had a caring relationship.

Alas, those were days past. This year there are only a couple of people that fall into that category and I will spend Christmas with none of them. We will not decorate or cook. But that is OK, they have people that they will be happy to spend time with for the Holidays, and Christmas is only a day.

So back to the past.

1953 was the first Christmas with my new sisters. This room was the "family room" where we watched TV as a family. The Light on top cast light up to the ceiling. I still have and use that light. It is about 56 years old.

Below 1954. Same room smaller tree and it rests on a marvelous Oak Square table.

I should have been in the theater. Here is a nativity scene with my room as the stage. In the back in the wall is a mural of Christmas. To the right is a black plastic curtain with stars on it. That was my door to my room. I think that the plan was that when my Nana passed on, that I would move into her room and the room that became my room permanently when we got the girls would have been a play room.

Now we move to 1955 and we find Christmas in the Living Room. Not sure why we moved it but we did. Not sure who all was there because Mom and I are looking at the camera and Carol and Geneva are looking to the side.

Do not remember the drums. I guess they were for me. This is 1956.

I have more pictures that I will put up. I remember some others but I think I gave them to my cousin Nan for safe keeping. I guess I will never see them again.

Family is iffy enough when you are linked by genetics. Legal family hardly has a chance.

Art of Life

2009-09-14T21:36:00.003-05:00

Herein Find what passes as art in my life, and a bit about Elvis.

First three pieces from High School Art, I think. Cherry Simpson was my teacher, but I had her for art in College also. Many of the Teachers at Alvin High also Taught at Alvin Junior College. (Now Alvin Community College)

My impressions of how industry has polluted our country, and an abstract of a Fish Monger or more accurately a Fishwife.

Then there is the Target that I had above my bed when I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. I was surprised that I was allowed my little Anti-War collection.

Then there is some computer art from 1982, by Coyne Gibson. Where ever you are Coyne, I really did like you. Probably too much.

Last is my bit on Elvis. A picture I cut out of the Paper. The cause of death on his Death Certificate is said to be "Straining Stool", meaning that he was struggling to expel waste. The juxtaposition of this photo of Elvis and the stool is just good. Sorry, but it is what it is.

Back to School

2009-09-03T00:59:00.003-05:00

Well, it is another school year. My graduating class of 1964 is celebrating 45 years of post graduate life. For me, my God-son Mathias starts Pre-Kindergarden. I get to take him to school some days. That is cool.

So time to look back to see my first day of school, 1st Grade.

I have no idea about the broomstick "horse". I guess I was going to ride it to school. The only schools I had been to were Mrs. Mabel's Playschool and a Kindergarden at the High School Home Economics Cottage. There is picture of Mrs. Mabel's but neither my cousin or Kathy that I graduated with will let me have an electronic copy. Hope they do not get thrown away when they die. Pretty petty and selfish if you ask me, but then no one does.

Then there is the cat being forced to kiss me good-bye as I sink into the world of Education. Miss Wilson was my first grade teacher. I guess she survived me. I remember her, she was a tall pretty woman (of course everyone was tall to me, but she was a little taller.

My First Grade picture. I have a web site that no one pays any attention to. People just don't get that they are going to die and places like my web site can be a place where people of the future will be able to see who we were. The site is http://alvinhigh1964.repearworld.net/yeartoyear.html. It is a year to year annual. I have a few pictures that I can thank the very generous Barbara and Margaret for. Some people learned to share and play nicely with others.
So my 45th reunion is coming up and I am not going. I spent a lot of my life feeling that I had a pretty rotten School Life, then I began to realize that I was probably a difficult kid to get to know. Now, I am reverting back to my first notion. I can't say about those who escaped and stayed away, but for most of those who stayed in Alvin are really pretty miserable and reactionary people.

They could have cared less about me during my school years and I am returning the favor now.

Happy Birthday From the Past

2009-08-14T10:55:00.003-05:00

A few of the pictures from early birthdays. I was born August 14, 1946. I think it was in Houston but I was given up for adoption. I was taken back by my birth mother when I was and I think I was taken away from her at 2-and-a-half. I was adopted in summer 1949 and lived happily ever after. Well, not really, but I had really great parents.

1951 Five Years Old

From left to right Nan, I think the baby is Martha, Ronnie, Ebbie, Diane, Mary Ann, Jim, Me with my hand over my eyes and Donna. I do not know who the boys is next to me. The girl looking down at the ground might be Bev and the notes my mother wrote say that the girl holding Jim's hand is Jennie. That leaves one girl covered up and I don't know who she is, possibly Deborah.

1952 Six Years Old

Left to right from the corner of the table going back, Bev, Orville, Danny, Ebbie, Wineva, Me, Many Ann, Mary Jane, Nan,(Jim may have been between Nan and Laura Jane, see second picture) Laura Jane, Deborah, and I think Martha.

Ready to eat?

1953 Seven Years Old

Just me. What is the difference? In 1953 I got two sisters and my life changed. I almost never got far from home. The girls, though no fault of their own were like wild animals at the beginning and I guess that is why no guests.

Such is life. Or as my little poem goes:

"C'est la vie

"C'est la amour

"C'est la guerre

"Say no more."

My Father

2009-06-21T07:30:00.003-05:00

I have written often of my Father. This is my tribute to him from Father's Day 2005. This time with pictures. Some of these pictures may be repeats. Sadly my father was always behind camera. I have pictures of my life mostly because of Him.

Character - the inherent complex of attributes that determine a persons moral and ethical actions and reactions; good repute.

A Man of Character

John Alvis Pearson

May 5, 1904 to January 21, 1965

My Father was a simple man. He rose early in the morning. He loved the solitude of the morning, my mother and the three of us kids still asleep. He would make his breakfast and wake whoever needed to be awakened and head to work at the Feed Store he owned and operated.

The morning of January 21, 1965, my father woke me up to get ready for work, and left for work. That was the last time I would ever see him alive. I was 18 and had no idea how old 61 was. I had no idea he could just fall over and die, like he did. I was 18, I had no idea how much I loved and needed him. Today, forty years later, I still need him and realize how much I miss and love him.

My Dad and Me in Biloxi

He was a simple man. Simple values. He had a family to support. It was a family that he got late in life because he and my mother had taken care of both of her parents in their home. At 45 they adopted me, and then four years later adopted two girls, my older sisters.

He worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. I got to know my father as much as I did by working with him. He had an employee to help him run the store but until the day he died, there in his store, he worked waiting on customers and hauling feed. He taught me the honor of honest work, with both his words and his actions.

Reopening of the Feed Store after Move

He told me that any honest work was honorable. I learned to enjoy work. He said that a job worth doing was worth doing right. He said those things and he lived those things.

He taught me how a businessman should be. He showed me how to weight bulk feed, always in exact measures and always round up fractional charges. That is what he tried to teach me, but I watched him put a little extra in the sack because the customer was going to loose some in the bottom, and he never rounded up charges. I learned what he did, not what he said, and am glad of it. We ate not because he was a good businessman, but because he was a good man.

When customers couldn’t pay for feed he bartered so they could keep their dignity and continue feeding their animals. He would take chickens, calves, or produce for feed. We had fresh eggs from the Chickens, Fresh Beef from the calves he raised to cows, and fresh vegetables. I learned how when people work together as a community all people fare better.

At work in Houston in the 20's

On Sunday we would take county drives from time to time. Dad liked to see all the livestock. When he would see an animal poorly taken care of, he would get so upset. When I was a teen my Father bought me registered Angus heifer calf for me to raise. I mostly took care of it and learned to clean out a barn after a cow. We bred the cow and she had a male calf. In all this I learned to respect all life and to love the stages of life. Farm country on a summer morning is one of my favorite things. I learned to tell the smells of different animals as I drive through that country.

When I wanted to do what “all the other kids were doing” he taught me that right is what is right not what is popular. He taught me honesty is always the best policy, even when no one knew if you were being dishonest. He taught me that being honest with ones self is where honesty begins.

In the 1950’s Alvin was a segregated town. On Saturdays the black people would walk down the railroad track to do their shopping in town. They would then walk back. In the heat of the summer they would come by my fathers feed store and rest on his side feed dock. It was one of the few places that they could rest. One of these Saturdays my Dad took me in the office and gave me money to take next door to the local café to buy some cigarettes.

Now today that might not seem much, but my Father did not smoke, nor did my mother, or any one I knew. I knew that my parents did not want me smoking, so the look on my face when my Dad asked me to do this must have been of one of question. My dad told me to just go buy them and he would explain later. Later he explained that one of his black customers who was resting waiting to go walk home could not go into the café and buy the cigarettes. He taught me what even benign racism was. He also taught me that one could respect people of all colors and faiths, by just not giving into racism or bigotry. The “N” word was never used in our house.

Also he taught me not to judge others. Just because a person does something that I do not believe in does not mean that I have to enforce my values on them. So cigarettes were purchased, I understood our values not to smoke, and learned that others have rights to make their own choice.

My father was the Treasurer of our Church. We went to Church every Sunday. He taught Sunday School from time to time. He slept during the sermon with regularity. He loved to sing, but could not carry a tune. The first Sunday after his death people who always sat in the area my dad did remarked how they missed his joyous off key singing.

I do not know how he felt about Jesus and God. We never talked about it. I just knew we never ate with out a blessing. We always prayed before we went on a car trip. I knew he rarely cursed (he said “Damn it” once when he hit his finger with a hammer, and for some reason said “Piss” once.). He did not drink Alcohol. He did not smoke. He was faithful to my mother in such a physical and emotional way that even when he was not around her you felt it. He adored her and placed a protective zone around her.

For years after he died people would come to me when they realized I was his son and tell me a kindness that he had done them that no one but he and they knew about. I saw some of that but most was done in secret. Allowing people to keep their dignity was a priority for my father.

When he died there was standing room only in the Church during the funeral. Our Church sat 1100. The procession of cars to the Cemetery stretched at least three miles. A separate memorial service was held at the Black Church in Alvin.

My Father was not the only man of Character in his time. That was how men were measured back then, at least in Alvin. While he was unusual in his humility and kindness, his values were the norm.

Forty years later, few people remember my father. Alvin has grown and two generations have past into twilight. It is the Age of "Me". How I miss my Dad.

The Divine Miss M

2009-06-13T00:02:00.005-05:00

I stumbled on some videos on U-Tube of the tours or stage shows of Bette Midler. Took me back. I had the distinct pleasure of see her in live shows twice. First time was in Austin, Texas, at the Armadillo World Headquarters (1970-1980). It was the intersection of one Legendary Place and beginning of a Legendary Performer. It was March 24, 1973 and she was on a tour to promote her album, "The Divine Miss M". Her first Album and probably her greatest.

I found out that she was coming to Austin and got tickets for myself and several friends. I had just come out, kinda, and had several gay friends. I bought the Album and my new life had its soundtrack.

I am not a concert person, but I was young then (27) and the Armadillo was a relatively small venue(1400). It was a great informal venue.

These are a couple of pictures I have borrowed from the Armadillo web site (click on either picture to go there). In the interior picture I stood along the wall on the right side with a great view of the stage which was about 25 feet away. We went to see Bette, but on the piano was, little know at the time, Barry Manilow. OK groans all around for the straight people, but if you are gay and you dance, Barry is great.

From 1971 when I moved to Austin until my last moved from there in 2002, Austin has really changed. It, is still a great place to live, but it is expensive now and it has lost the folksy look. The picture above brings back a lot of memories. If memory serves Sandy's and ice cream place is just to the right across the street from the Skating place. This would then be at the corner of South First and Barton Springs Road.

Then in October of 1973, I went to Houston to the Concert at Hofheinz Pavilion at the campus of the University of Houston. Same concert but a very different venue. I was way back, good seats, but a huge auditorium, but Bette filled it and then some. Bette is an incredible performer. Such energy and emotion.

I stayed with a friend who I carelessly neglected to ask if he wanted to go as well. I was 28 then and still pretty occupied with myself. I just assumed that since he lived in Houston, that he would have made arrangements if he wanted to go. Duh. We survived that. I found some old negatives of John and when I get them printed, I will write more.

The two photos of me above are just before I went to the concert. For the 70's and for going to a Bette Midler Concert, this is pretty conservative.

From that first concert in Austin, I knew that this was one of those extra-ordinary talents that transcend label or category. In every video and movie of her concerts there are so many moments where you can see on her face and in her eyes, she loves the stage and the audience.

Wars: Past and Present

2009-06-07T01:41:00.004-05:00

D-Day. One of the Bloodiest Days in United States History. A good war? Maybe just and unavoidable war, for the US. When the groundwork was laid by France and Britain the US was just becoming a power on the World Stage. After D-Day and the end of the war in Europe and Japan subsequent Wars have not been Good or Unavoidable.

Christmas in Vietnam 1967. I had shipped out for Vietnam on December 1, 1967. I was a Conscientious Objector, which means I did not carry a gun. My faith then and now tells me that it is wrong to kill. Life is given by God and can be taken only by God.

A nation that could send soldiers half way around the world and give them a full Christmas dinner, complete with shrimp cocktail and fresh fruits was laying waste to their land, pocking their landscape with bomb craters.

Yet opposite the menu of that opulent meal they posted a Prayer about "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men" and asks that fear and hate be removed and BY FAITH we would know God's Peace which passes all understanding. I am sure it was beyond the author of that prayer's understanding that a celebration of the birth of Jesus who taught Love and Peace could be celebrated in one breath while without any just cause or Command of Deity destroying the lives of both Vietnamese and American lives was a distortion of reality and failure of faith.

But then a delusional message from General Westmoreland about the Gift we were giving the Vietnamese of death and destruction was in "fact" a chance to "secure their Independence, their individual safety, and their future freedom". It is no wonder that he could not understand that the light at the end of the tunnel that he kept saying was Peace around he corner was in fact the steaming locomotive of reality.

We were about a month and a half from Tet 1968 when the delusions of a victory, one that had never really been clearly defined, became apparent. It took another seven years and death in Vietnam and the streets and campuses of the United States before we ended one of the most disgraceful periods of US History.

Disgraceful not because of the men and women who served in that war, but because of the leaders and citizens of the US who allowed war to be used as policy rather than a last option response to physical attack upon our country.

It is sadly a lesson not learned or taught.

Cows. A Peaceful, Humble Beast.

2009-06-05T23:30:00.002-05:00

I love Cows. The team manager in the movie "The Natural" played by Wilford Brimley said he should have been a farmer. I should have been a farmer, too. I love cows.

I guess I could be a rancher, but I do not want that much land going to just raising beef. I want to plant things and grow things. I want chickens and and fresh eggs. I want have fresh milk and butter and cheese. Should have been a farmer.

Driving out in the country north of Austin, Texas in 1987, I came across these cows. I moo at cows from the road. I do a mean moo. Cows turn to see what strange Cow is bothering them. Mother and calf turned in response to my Moo, and this is the result.

Right after the picture they turned back to their grass brunch. I am sure that the Mama Cow told her calf not to humor us.

More First Years - 1949

2009-05-31T08:05:00.003-05:00

In these pictures I am standing in space between the main house and the gargage. This space will very soon become a family room and a my room.

I do not really remember this dog. As I have said before Pogo is the first dog I really remember. The door behind me is to the laundry room. In the back you can see the garage of the house across the street.

Above is the garage and the side door to the garage. It was a two car garage and the driveway to the garage was the place most pictures were taken. For several years I was the only child.

I am three-years-old here.

J. Gerald Cole

2009-05-22T14:16:00.005-05:00

In 1973 I met J. Gerald Cole. It was a strange set of circumstances that led to my meeting him. We was one of the most facinating people I have ever known and I was fortunate to have him as a friend.

I had moved to Austin in 1971 to live with Bruce, my friend that I knew from Alvin. Bruce was supposed to stay in Austin over the summer but his family insisted he come home. That left me alone in Austin and I moved in to an old rat-trap building in downtown Austin. The reason I moved there was it was cheap and right next to the block that had Historic Houses. (7th Street between Guadelupe and San Antonio.)

On one side of the building I lived in was another old builing but to the north was terrace and then a well maintained Historic Building that was three stories with the top floor access from San Antonio. All the rest of the building was built along the Balcones Fault. Mr. Cole lived in this building on one of the lower floors.

In my building I entered from San Antonio and went down one level to my appartment. In the back there was a stairwell that went down a couple of flights to the ground and access to 7th Street.

Some time in early 1972 I met Patrick. Patrick had just moved into the building. We soon began to spend time together. His uncle lived in Smithville and he had hired Patrick to sell hearing aids with him. Patricks Uncle was a friend of Mr. Cole and took him on a regular basis to the grocery store. He got Patrick to assume this task. Hence the reason that Patrick moved into the building where I was.

Patrick soon tired of taking Mr. Cole to the store so he asked me to do it and I said yes. One of the best decisions of my life. Mr Cole would take me to supper after we went to the grocery store, soon we began to play chess.

We became very good friends and I catered his 80th Birthday Party. I ahd invited him to have Thanksgiving Dinner with me and some friends. He was so impressed with my cooking he asked me to do the food for his Birthday Party.

In 1974 Mr Cole went to the VA Hospital in Temple, Texas and he passed away there. An article was written about him in the Temple paper

Friends of the Past

2009-05-21T21:42:00.004-05:00

Here are two of my best friends prior to 1985, and their husbands. First is Michelle, know as Michelle 1 in the rest of this blog, and her husband John. I met Michelle in the summer of 1974 in a University of Texas Drama Department acting class.

I had done as our opening Monologue assignment the closing speech from The Glass Menagerie. There was a part where the speaker talks about whenever he sees glass figurines in a Jewelry Store window he thinks of his sister. The teacher liked the way I "saw" the figurines and assigned my first scene to be Orpheus Descending. There is a speech in this scene where the male role talks about birds who have no wings. Michelle was cast opposite me as an Italian woman. Type casting.

We became best friends quickly.

Julia and I met through mutual friend, Gayle. I worked with Gayle. Julia was an amazing person, resourceful and creative. I do not even remember the circumstances of our meeting, but we became good friends. She was one of the people I could call and say "Hey!, lets go play." Playing could be as simple as going to the grocery store or taking a walk in Pease Park or along the trail along Towne Lake.

In 1985 my Niece ran away from home. She knocked on my door on March 15, 1985. It changed my life in many ways. She wanted to stay with me, and after consulting with her mother, I agreed to let her and her boyfriend Todd stay.

It is a long and twisted story, but my life was turned upside down and rather than support me, my Friends abandoned me. Happens a lot in my life, guess it does in other people's lives as well. You think that you are friends that can survive anything, but you aren't. People have their limits. Both Michelle and Julia had seemingly good reasons. Both at one time or another had been in circumstances where they needed someone to stand by them like I was doing for my Niece and the tribe that followed. I had stood by Michelle and Julia, but in fairness all I had to loose was me. Julia had a young son and Michelle did, too. I was taking care of my kids and they were taking care of theirs.

It was sad, still is, but there you are.

One Thousand Hits

2009-05-19T22:57:00.002-05:00

At about 9:45 pm central time, a visitor using sbcglobal in or around Houston, Texas became my 1000th visitor. The visitor spent about 17 minutes on the site.

Thank you, Now on to 3000 by this time next year.

Roy

Lutcher, Louisiana Part 2

2009-05-16T00:01:00.003-05:00

When I left Lutcher, I just pretty much up and left. I had grown really close to the kids there. I saw so much potential in them, but there expectations of life were not great. I tried to teach them that anything was possible if they just set their mind to it, but they were trapped being their parents children. I could not argue with that.

Some of the kids got it, however. I took a lot of pictures. There were several who were my close friends.

Doug, Jerry, and a friend of theirs that I should know his name. I spent a lot of time at Jerry's house. His Mom Rita was an excellent cook and his Dad, also Jerry, was as good a man as you get. Rita worked for me at the Sonic on the day shift.

Rita made the best roast beef I have ever eaten and her field peas were unbelievable.

Doug at the pavilion at the sports park. I was coach of the St. Joseph CYO Softball Team. This is where we practiced. I know little about sports except that I was not much good at them. Some of the kids came to me and asked that I be coach. What they really wanted was someone to drive them to games. I made only one condition, that everyone who came out to play be allowed to play. It was their team and I let them make most of the decisions, but I had been one of the kids that was always last to be picked for a team and never allowed to play.

When I started they were in last place in their league. When we finished, we played for the championship. That game was too important, so the team decided that only the "best" players would play that game. They lost.

It was a good game, but they had made it to that game with the whole team and I will always believe that if they had played the whole team they might have won. Up until then they were just having a good time. They choked because they wanted to win too much. Good kids all.

Poche, Brian, a friend, and Byron. One of the forces in Lutcher was FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It is a very Protestant organization that was sponsored unofficially thought the school. Lutcher was overwhelmingly Catholic. Made for an interesting dynamic.

One problem in Lutcher was there was nothing to do. I had allowed my Sonic to become the De Facto Youth Center. I also pushed to have the High School Gym open for kids to use on Saturday so the kids could play sports. This picture is the only picture I know of that was ever taken of me in Lutcher (I am standing between the bleachers). Having the Gym open was very successful. Calvin Vicknair came in to act as referee. In this picture he is on the bottom left corner.

I think that this is Eric. I substitute taught at the High School and Eric was one of my students. A lot of problems there. It really bothered be that there were so many kids with such great potential that never had a chance. Eric still haunts me. It was like walking in a river, some currents were just too strong to overcome.

My Mother, Jennie Salome Wilson Pearson

2009-05-10T03:18:00.004-05:00

I do so miss my dear Mother. She was a beautiful person. In her eighties she grabbed the arm of the Preacher at Alvin First United Methodist Church and skipped down the hall with him between Sunday School and Church. No she was not senile, she was just young at heart and in spirit.

These next two pictures are during the years that she managed the apartments on Cleveland street across from the High School (Old Elementary Building - now gone)

By this time she was the sole survivor of her generation in her family and the generation before. She had lost her beloved husband. Yet she forged on with her devout faith in God leading her forward. Her Faith was not a theology, it was a way of life - living as much as she could like Christ.

She had a good friend, Ruth, upstairs at the apartments and these pictures, I believe were taken at Ruth's daughter's house.

Here she is with a friend of mine, John. John was, as I am, gay, but John was so gay. Flaming is a word that comes to mind, but John was a good person and a good friend. I took all sorts of people home to meet my mom, my best friend, and she treated them all with acceptance and love. A true mark of a mature Christian.

Here is a picture probably taken in 1983, more or less, on a trip my sister, Carol, and I took to Alvin from Austin.

One last parting Picture, for now, of Mom and Dad in love and having fun.

I was spoiled. I lived in an environment at home of total Love all the time. What you saw of my parents in public life was no different than what I saw at home. Humble, Giving, Hard Working, and Selfless were my parents. I never heard them argue or disagree in front of me or my sisters.

When I left home I had a cold bucket of reality splashed on me. I had to learn that not all people were as real or loving as my Parents.

All that I am that is any good, I owe to my Mother and my Father, but today is Mother's Day, and Mom, I love you and I miss you very much.

My Mother, Part 2

2009-05-09T03:46:00.002-05:00

My Mom was born 13 years after the previous child. She was an unexpected gift.

My Mom with family and a friend. My Grandmother, Nana, is first from the left, then Mom's Brother Ed, two friends, Mom's Sister Zilpha, and Mom.

Mom lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas for a time after graduating from High School. There she taught school. This is that school and students.

Here Mom and Nana posed all dresed up. Mother was always a clown for the camera. She thought herself to be homely. While she did have awkward features as a youth, age gave my mother a simple beauty.

What ever her looks my Dad John fell for my Mom and this is their Honeymoon Picture. Mother was In Love with My Dad till the day she died 51 years later.

How they met was one of those movie type stories. Dad and his older Brother George were living together in Houston. George had met Mom and had asked her out on a double date with Dad. Mom asked a lady, Geneva, at work to go on a blind double date. So George and Mom and Dad and Geneva all went out. When George and Dad Got home George asked Dad about how he liked his date. Dad was rather noncommital, so George told Dad that he would like to ask Geneva out. Dad said fine if he could do the same with Mom. Geneva and George married and Mom and Dad married.

Still in that "can't keep away from you" phase Mom and Dad pose with the rest of the family. I guess by 1930 the Victorian distance in relationships had begun to fade away.

This is Mom and Dad at the first house they lived in at Alvin. It was on Blum Street and that house still stands.

Mother and I in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1949 right after I was adopted. All I remember of that trip was napping in the bungelow in the afternoon. It was hot with only a fan to cool us and I could hear the water lapping up agaist the Peir wall.

Mom and I on a quick trip to Galveston in 1950.

In 1950 again I get some coaching from Mom on Softball. Looks like I was having trouble keeping the bat up. My Mother approached Parenthood as an occupation. She read about what foods to eat and other things I needed to grow strong and healthy. She also instilled in me a distain for violence and killing.

Mom and Dad in the Living Room of the house I grew up in. I grew up in an environment of Love and Acceptance. I never heard my parents fight aobut anything, not even disagree. I am sure they did, but they did away from me and my Sisters.

Mom, Dad, and I in the driveway in about 1961. No Idea why we took this picture. I think that Geneva (my sister) had left home by this time. I guess Carol is taking the Picture.

Tuesday in the Yard With Shannon

2009-05-07T19:51:00.004-05:00

I have no idea if this is Tuesday or not, but had to choose a day other than Sunday. On Sunday we always went to Church and did family things.

I also have no idea who took this picture, maybe my Mom, maybe Shannon's. It is probably Summer because I am barefooted and in the summer I never wore shoes - something I miss.

Facebook has united Shannon and I again, hence the post. I have had this picture for a while and was looking for something to put it with. I rarely just post with one picture. However, events warrant a very special posting.

I had no male friends. Still do not have many and those are surrogate sons. Just do not understand men. Talking about anything but Cars, Guns, and Sports, just scares them away.

Well, Fred, what do you think about the Somalia Pirates? Fred responds, "We should shoot them, run them over with something, or whoop their ..." I did not ask about what we should do, but how do you feel, Fred. Fred looks puzzled and then says, "Well I feel we should shoot them, run them over with something, or whoop their ..."

So, I have had friends who were female (and most of them still are female). Them I understand. Shannon for all too short a time was my buddy. We would get out the lawn chairs and talk about, well pretty much everything that kids our age talked about. Shannon's Mom was always in the know (a trait that sems to have been passed down to Shannon from some of the comments on FB). I got grilled regularly about my family who at the time was embarassed by a social scandal of which I will not speak; but, I loved it.

So there you are. Why that cat is in my lap is a mystery to me. Maybe Shannon can shed some light. Not much on cats, but it gives me a chance to "recite" a poem about cats:

You infer
That because you pat,
I purr.

Because I purr
You pat,
Remember I am the Cat.

Shannon, I am sure that my Mom is quite happy to have her Mother's Day Memorial Post "interupted" by this post about you.

My Mother, Part One

2009-05-03T07:08:00.004-05:00

Sunday is Mother's Day. My Mother was born on December 13, 1903. She was born in Alta Loma, Texas in a house built out of driftwood from the 1900 storm in Galveston, Texas.

Above is a picture from 1905, hard to see, of my Mother at 1 year-old.

This is a picture of her brother Bruce who was about 15 and my Mom who as 3. She always called this "Orphans of the Storm" because they looked in such desperate need. In fact, this is kind of the way people lived in 1905 when the picture was taken.

I am not sure where this was taken. Maybe the front of the House she was born in. The sunlight is right for the southern exposure of that house.

I am not sure where this was taken. The siding of the house looks like the type Aunt Jen's and Uncle Cliff's house. The House still stands today but this part of the house is now enclosed. Jen was my grandmother's sister. She married Cliff Platzer.

I think my Mother is 8 in the picture above. Her hair is as she wore it most of her life.

My mother was always self effacing and loved to laugh.

In 1930 she married John A. Pearson. They moved to Almeda, Texas. She took care of both of her parents in their last years. In the 1940's they moved to Alvin, Texas. In 1949, they adopted me at the age of 2.

My Mother was a giving person. She was involved in the Church. She was raised a Baptist. In Almeda there were no churches and my Mother and Father joined with other people in Almeda to form a non-denominational church. After the group grew they petitioned Churches to send them a Preacher. Only the Methodist Church would send them a Preacher so the Non-denominational church became a Methodist Church and my Mother became a Methodist also.

In Alvin she remained a Methodist as my Father had been a Methodist all along.

In 1953 my parents adopted two more children, Carol and Geneva who were 8 and 10 respectively. At 49 years my Mother took on the task of raising three children all of home had some real issues.

In 1965, My Father died. After a period of adjustment and a stroke, my Mother began a new life of service to others. In the 1990's she moved to an assisted living facility and on February 18, 2002 she returned home to the God she had loved for so long and so faithfully.

That is my Mother's story. But that is not who she was. Simply put she was one of the most tolerant, loving, giving, selfless people I have ever known.

Lutcher, Louisiana, 1979, Part One

2009-05-02T23:39:00.004-05:00

In early 1979, I went to Lutcher, Loisiana, to manage a Sonic Resturant. Sonics were at that time strictly Drive-Ins and the Business model placed them on busy highways in small towns. The idea was to get business travelers and workers in the Lunch period and at night Travelers and Families.

The problem with Lutcher and Sonic was that there was no busy highway and there was no family business. The Store I took over was making about 10,000 a month when it took 20,000 to break even.

Lutcher was a hard place to get accepted as a member of the Community. There were people who had lived there for 20 years that were still considered as outsiders. Sonic hired people from the outside to manage their resturants and they never really became part of the Community. The man I was replacing was leaving and going back to where he came from.

The experience in Lutcher was unique to say the least, but part of my heart is still there. One place my heart still lingers is around Terry. Terry was a kid that worked for me at the sonic(at the grill above). He was a big guy who acted goofy which endeared people to him, but I soon saw the person who lurked behind the act. I saw Terry as very beautiful person, kind and gentle.

He wore glasses with thick lens and that made him look a bit goofy, and kids can be cruel, so I guess he became as goofy as others thought he looked as a defence. I soon realized he was one of the most important employees I had.

Last night, I looked him up on the internet and found he and Christine at an address in Paulina, La. I wondered if my contact with him was positive or if I had failed him by just leaving. I did everything I could to build up the kid and gave him a lot of responsibility and authority at work. He never failed me. I also really loved the kid.

Terry looked a lot like his Dad. His Dad was a good man, or tried to be. In a little backwater town it is not always easy to know what a good man is. I don't think that his Dad ever really trusted me. I think his Dad tried to protect Terry and I wanted to push Terry to find the limits of who he could be.

Just living in Luthcer was limitation enough. I knew that Terry could be anything he decided to be, but then are we really happy being what we can be rather than what we want to be.

April Showers Water

2009-04-25T14:36:00.003-05:00

Boys will be boys. These are pictures taken at the apartments my Mother managed in Alvin, Texas. This is early 80's. The Apartments were on Cleveland Street next to the High School (Old Primary Building). A lot of rain had left a lot of water on the vacant lot next to the apartments.

I was on a kick about Black and White photography. Never did get it, but I really never spent the time studying it or actually doing it.

A person with some camera sense could have gotten the same subject matter by the water spray would have been much more magical.

Then there was this little girl.

I guess the responce to standing water tells us about the difference between boys and girls beyond sugar and spice vs puppy dog tails.

Road Blocks

2009-04-22T17:08:00.003-05:00

You go along in life and suddenly you hit a road block you just can't get over or around. Most people have a number of these, I am no exception. Eventually time wears away at these roadblocks and you move on down the road now diminished by time and pain. The blockage is gone from the road, but does it really ever leave your heart.

If your are bored enough to view the Nathan Alan Evans blog linked above, you will find the really large roadblock in my life, but you really need to be very, very bored.

Max was a much smaller Road Block, but when it comes to road blocks size is not an issue. In fact, for me size is not an issue in a lot of ways. But back to road blocks.

I have a lot of flaws, being a ho-mo-sex-uuuu-al is not one of them. Liking straight guys is one of them. In fact, it is dumb, but that is who I am attracted to. If you want to know why, ask God. I have. I have asked Him a lot, and sometimes - OK most of the time - without the proper awe and reverence!

But that is how we talk. How can I have a close relationship with some multidimensional, creational, relational being if there is all this awe and fear between us.

Back to those small roadblocks. Take a look at Max in the first picture. That cocked eyebrow and grin. No that is not at all what I am attracted to but the girls all were. It was more than that I got hung up on. Max is a social con-artist, but in real life he was kind and gentle, and as real as a young person can be. We talked. We never touched and we were intimate. Of course we never touched. That was not what we were.

Now what we are is nothing. Well, I am heart broken and that break will never heal. The roadblock is slowly withering away, but the pain still persists.

Fort Hood Again -2009

2009-04-17T02:44:00.005-05:00

This Blog is mainly for things of the past. Often though, the past and the present collide. I was at Darnell Army Hospital at Fort Hood, Texas, in 1968 and 1969, as I have posted here. Now a friend is also at assigned to Fort Hood as well 40 years later.

It is an friendship gone bad, not from my side but from his. More to the point from people close to him. I have kept this site featuring the the past and past friends. It appears that this post is within that tradition.

When he was in Iraq, he asked me to send him things. As I was in Vietnam, I understood the need for support from home. I sent him cookies and brownies and some reading material he had asked me for. I never got the courtesy of a reply as to whether he even got them or not. All communication just stopped, as it had in the past.

Alvin, Texas, Where is...? 1951-1955

2009-04-12T21:23:00.006-05:00

Jerry Woodard sent me a list of questions he will have at the 2009 45th reunion of our graduating class at Ole Alvin High. (suggested question: there were two parodies of songs that we sang about our school. What were they and what were the lyrics. One is a standard that is know pretty much nationally.)

The list is available at the Reunion Blog. Alvin High 1964 Blog

One Question was where was Pearson Chevrolet. Well, it was right next to Pearson Feed Store. To the left of the picture below is Pearson Chevrolet, and to the right out of the frame is Parks Restaurant.

In the Flood of 1979, my mother's apartment had about three feet of water in it and this one of the many pictures that got wet and damaged. We lost a lot of them.

Easter 1951, Alvin, Texas

2009-04-10T15:27:00.002-05:00

Here again is Donna and myself. We are spiffed up and ready to go to Sunday School and Church. I remember Donna, but not much of what actually went on. Odd it seems I was so close to her, but maybe the loss of a close friend so shortly after loosing my birth mother caused me to block out a lot of that too. In April 1951, it was just a little over two years since I was removed from my birth mother. March 15, 1949 is when I re-entered care at DePelchin Faith Home.

But Easter is about new Beginnings and life with John and Sally Pearson was good. Below I am with Donna and Mom.

City of Austin

2009-04-02T02:30:00.003-05:00

In March of 1972 I went to work for the City of Austin as a Draftsman. Water and Wastewater Department. I had taken drafting in High School and that was apparently enough. Austin was just beginning to boom. A fellow had bought up a lot of "useless" land along the Balcones fault for something like 1 dollar an acre, probably a myth but it makes a good story. He got the land darn cheap and in the 70's started building subdivisions on that "useless" land. He made a fortune. I think his name was John Byram. All the growth that followed gave me a job putting all those subdivisions on plat maps. That is here I met Don.

He was a youngster and worked in the print room running blueprints among other things. Don as a great kid. I was only 26 and he was not that much younger than me, but at that I age I seemed so very old and mature.

Anyway I saw right away that Don had great potential. He probably had more potential than he ever lived up to, as most of do. He is one of the people in my life that I never really got that involved in their life but cared for very much.

Joyce was the office Secretary. She and I became good friends. The picture is of her and her husband, Buddy. Buddy became an Austin policeman. He was another really fine person that I wish I had gotten to know better, but he was a man. I just don't get along with men. Nothing to say, don't do sports and talking about mechaical things just freezes my brain.

Joyce and I spent a lot of time together.

And then there was Ronnie.

One of the difficulties of my life was a wanted a close guy friend, but I just didn't do guy things. Guys were always attracted to me and I figured out later than it was my Dad's influence on me that made me a "dad" figures. As I was pretty open and emotional and guys often don't get along with their dads. I was an attractive figure as I was truly interested in these guys.

The problem was there was always another guy that had the relationship I wanted to have. With Ronnie it was Joe. I mean they had common interest and, as was almost always the case, the "other guy" was a ladies man or at least appeared to be.

This next picture is taken at La Tapitia in East Austin. It was originally on 7th street in an old house. Great Food. It was a new kind of Mexican Food for me. Don and his then girlfriend, soon to be wife, are at the center of the picture.

The other Joe was an engineer and eventually became head of the Wastewater department. Nice guy and a good looking guy, but never had the ethical standards that I feel a good man needs. With him is Kathy. I never really got to know Kathy. I don't think she talked a lot in her relationships. In truth I was a bit intimidated by her and her breasts. She really enjoyed being the only woman in an office of men. She did not work in the Design office and I am not sure exactly where she did work.

Another picture of Joe.

When I went to Austin they were in a dry spell and 1972 was a drought year. I remember thinking it odd that when there was finally some rain everyone left there desks and went to the window to watch it. Being form the humid gulf coast I didn't get it. After living there for a few years it made more sense. I loved the lack of humidity.

The table next to Joe on his right was the table I worked at when I first started this job. That was the Records department and my job was to draw the location of water taps. I was soon moved to Design where I got to do more exciting things. At one point I was the liaison to Contractors bidding on Water and Wastewater Projects. Loved that job.

Random Pictures

2009-03-28T09:29:00.002-05:00

When I think of my Mother I think of her in a 1950's Sun Dress, as she called them. Here she is walking back toward the house from the Clothes Line or the Chicken Yard. You can see the Chickens gathered so Mom probably just threw some delicious refrigerator trash over the fence.

That's Pogo I am torturing. He was a good dog. We kids thought he was our dog, but really he was Dad's dog. We called him Pogo because as a puppy he was white like the Possum in the Comic Strip. Pogo uttered the immortal word, "We have seen the enemy and they is us". I think our Pogo was just as wise. He is the one we told our troubles to.

There are a lot of things I blew in my life. One was not going into the Theater as a profession. I was always putting on plays as a kid. This is Christmas 1954. My Parents built two rooms onto their house so I could have my own room. The other room was a family room. For some reason rather than having a regular door they put in a double wide open door. I guess they figured that when my Grandmother passed on I would move into the room she was staying in and then the back rooms would not need to be private. My Parents never imagined at that time that there would have three children.

Anyway, I by default had a Proscenium to work with and work with it I did. The curtain that was put up to give me some privacy made the stage complete. The curtain can be seen to the right side of the Nativity Scene. The two rooms were the same size and for my productions the outer room was where the audience sat and my room was the stage. Very appropriate as most of my life as a child was lived in a fantasy.

Before my sisters, there was Donna. She has appeared here a number of times. I have no one to ask now, but it dawned on me that Donna moved before my parents adopted my sisters. I wonder now if the absence in my life of Donna caused me to ask for a sister - one that mine so she would not move away. At the young age of 6 I had so many people leave from my life.

I wish I could remember why I wore those boots. This was the period that I called myself Rawls.

Michelle 1

2009-03-22T01:27:00.002-05:00

I get down in March and October. Don't know why. It is March and I have been missing people long lost. Michelle 1, as I call her as there is now a Michelle 2, and I met at the UT Drama Department. We became fast friends immediately.

This picture was taken at one of the few New Year's Partys that I have ever gone to. As you might guess it is Michelle 1 and I.

In 1981 we were both at a place where we just wanted to take off, so we went to the East Coast on a 9 day vacation. We left Houston on Memorial Day weekend. We went through Lutcher, Louisiana, to see people I knew there. Then on to Tallahassee, Florida where my sister lived.

We left my sister's late at night and drove up through Georgia until we had to stop to sleep. It was dark and we did not find any camps to stay in. We finnaly found a small Park that crashed there.

We woke up to find this pretty little place. That is Michelle and my Chevette. From there we drove North to Black Rock Mountain. It is a steep climb driving up that mountain, but once we were at the top it was great.

I am grinning ear to ear as I plan out the next leg of out trip. It was so cool I put on my flannel shirt. I love wearing flannel. We had to descend back down into the warmer temperatures but for the moment it was great.

The Great Smokey Mountains were our next objective. We landed in a small town called Cherokee in North Carolina, again at night. It was an Indian reservation. This reservation was the place from which the Cherokees were taken forcibly to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. My Father's family came from Cherokee.

The picture above is our "camper". We had decided to take the trip as cheap as we could. So as my car was a hatchback, I made a "bridge" between the back seat and the Front seats so we could stretch out in the car. We took and Ice Chest, several days clothes and photo gear. We bought food along the way to make sandwiches and did wash along the way as well.

This is the office for the camp we stayed out in Cherokee. The camp was on the river that runs down the Smokey Mountains. It runs beside the Great Smokey Mountain Parkway most of the way and then veers off at the bottom. We slept to the sounds of rushing water. This is one of the places where I have truly been happy. It was so calming that we stayed there an extra night before heading to Virginia Beach and then up to Washington DC.

This last picture is along the trip somewhere. This trip changed both Michelle and my life. Rough time were ahead for me and the knowledge that I could live on so little was very liberating and needed. Michelle later took an extended trip to England and lived there for six months.

Frontier Day, Alvin, Texas 2009

2009-03-21T00:36:00.007-05:00

This year Frontier Day is going to be on April 25, 2009. It is sponsored by Alvin Rotary Club. Among the events in the array of events is the Parade. That is what I remember from my youth - the parades!! So I thought a thought a few pics of Parades past. All but one of these pictures are Frontier Day Parades.

The time of year and route of the parade has changed. In 1954 the Parade started at the City Park on Sealy and went up Sealy to Gordon and then on to House street. Alvin Street Names are of Confederate Generals.

This picture is taken in front of Pearson Chevrolet. My grandmother (in the light coat) and a friend wait for the Parade in November 1954.

The next picture is from November 1955. I have no recollection of this at all, but my mother labeled this picture "the John Pearson family". The girl on top of the Coach looks like my older cousin Janette Pearson, and it is possible that I am on the back bumper. Not putting any money on any of that.

The next Parade is the 1956 July 4th Parade. That is my Dad's Feed Truck. I do not know if I am on or in the truck or not.

The last picture is another Frontier Day Parade and I am prepared in my get up to supposedly be a Western Businessman. I vaguely remember this. Should have gone into theater as much I liked to create and put on costumes. Of interest in these photos are the styles of the cars from year to year. In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled for desegregation. The space age was beginning as well. In 1954 the International Council of Scientific Unions adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth's surface. By 1958 the cars were reflecting the swept back look of rockets.

Shane 1987 - 1989

2009-03-19T21:33:00.011-05:00

Shane. He went back to Califorina via one of the small towns between Houston and Galveston. He had an Uncle that was a Ex-Con who became an Ex-Catholic Priest. He had a wife, who was a religious finatic who never read the "judge not" scripture. Unfortunately he was not an ex-uncle.

Anyway, he went back to live with his mother, and left my life. It was strange. I felt an absolute emptyness. No great pain like when I had lost people I loved before. A certain numbness like when my fahter died.

I felt that on some level Shane loved me. I sure loved Shane. This is a long story and I am sure I will get back to it some where along the way but here is the short version. Shane was a son to me. He was 15 and needed a father.

He had a biological father. Bob. I moved in with Shane and Bob after Bob's brother knocked up Bob's wife and the two got married and moved away. Tells you a lot about Bob. Bob was a real nice guy, and not real swift. Not that by any means he was stupid, just a whole lot naive and a bit clueless. People can be smart in some ways and oblivious in others.

I have no idea how Shane really felt, deep down. He was dependant, and I allowed him to be dependant on me. The picture above was taken at a professional photographer's studio. In this picture he was looking at me. The two of us looking at each other. We knew he was leaving.

It may have been stockholm syndrone, but it looks like Love in his eyes to me. Not romantic Love, but the love of family - even if it is not blood family and just for a short time.

Adventures in Memory

2009-03-12T16:23:00.007-05:00

Offered here is a mix of pictures. First are pictures of Halloween 1976. I was working at as a dishwasher at a gay bar in Austin, Friends and Lovers. My dancing partner, Debbie, and I decided to go to the club in extreme makeup. I am supposed to be a conservative version of Frankenfurter from Rocky Horror Picture Show (which means I did not have the nerve to go in Leather) and Debbie is an extreme version of Bette Midler - the early years (ala the cover of her Friends album). So here goes....

"And I am all alone.
There is no one here beside me.
And my problems have all gone.
There is no one to deride me.

But you got to have friends.
The feelings oh so strong.
You got to have friends
To make that day last long"

OK!

Next is a couple of pictures of me in my graduation gown. I did not actually graduate with my class of 64. On paper I did, but I failed English, both semesters, in my senior year and had to go to summer school and then one class in the Fall. That is a whole other story with a grand conflict with the unduly sainted Bessie Mae Key.

These pictures are an editorial of how a graduation is a time of looking forward and looking back.

Looking back, just last week was Texas Independence Day, March 2nd. This is a picture of my Mother and I at monument at the San Jacinto Battleground. Dad is taking the picture and you can see his hat thus his presence on the lower right. Behind the Monument is the Battleship Texas. You can barely see it. Back in my school years 7th grade kiddo's got a Field Trip on March 2nd to the battleground. &th Grade was the year we had to take Texas History. As a 7th grader I was all over the Battleship.

Then in the late 50's our family, expanded by two adopted sisters, went on a road trip to San Antonio and Austin. Here are my sisters and me at the State Capitol. I could get specific about the year because it was a year that Texas was going though a severe drought, late 50's will do. It was very hot and you can imagine the dynamics of three kids in the back seat of a 1951 Chevy with no AC. My Parents must have had great fun. We never went on another vacation.

The last two pictures are of me at different stages of life. The first one is right after I was adopted, maybe three months. I appear to be very reflective here. Mom said that several times within the first couple of years I was with them that I retreated and curled up in a ball and just shivered. She never knew why. Here I am not withdrawn, but I am not the bouncing around kid I was most of the time. Wish I could remember what was going through my head.

The last picture in this series is taken around 1982. I was working at Fluor in Houston and was in Love with Bill. Michelle had gone to Europe and was back for a short stay that turned in to a permanent stay. Michelle stayed with me and we had a great time. I was visited by Debbie, mentioned above and palled around with another girlfriend, Paula.

Bill thought I was a god because he thought I was sleeping with all of them. Of course the more I denied it the more sure he was. He was so deflated when he found out it was him I wanted to sleep with (as with most of my love-interests he was straight and we never did). This picture neither evokes or displays any of that information except in my head; but it is much more interesting of a caption than "Me in 1982".

Scouting

2009-03-04T11:20:00.005-06:00

I was in the Cub Scouts, Webelos, and Boy Scouts. Scouting was good for me on the whole. I have some good memories.

First Picture is of me in my scout uniform. In Alvin we got our uniforms from Bates Clothing. It was on Gordon and was a wonderful old store that had a disordered Order about it. There was a smell that was a blend of new clothes and new shoes mixed with a little dust and age. I guess Mr. Bates ran the place and you asked for what you wanted and he knew right where it was. On top top of that pile or under this pile. Quite a place to start the first adventure where I had costumes, I mean uniforms.

A salute. All these pictures come from a scrapbook I made for a merit badge or something. This picture is from October 1954, I was 6. Probably just starting Scouts. My Den Mothers were Mrs Howard, Tommy Howard's Mother, and Ivy Lee, Terry Lee's mother.

I remember this Indian costume, it was for scouting, and I am sure it was totally inappropriate. I was hardly the average boy. I was going to go to summer scout camp and my mother made a huge canvas TeePee for me. We painted Indian Symdols ont he sides of the Teepee. I wish I could find a picture of it. This was taken in February of 1955 (as was the first picture).

Finally, I got to camp. It was August 1955. I got sun-burned as usual. This is the picture of my den. Kneeling are Larry Dewitt, and Walter Todd. Standing is Wayne Lynch, an unidentified kid, Tommy Howard, Me, Mrs Howard, Franklin Ball and another kid with his face covered.

The camp was Camp Mohawk on Chocolate Bayou. There was a lake in the middle of the camp and it seemed to be a pretty large lake. It wasn't. There was a Webelo Ceremony. A burning arrow was shot across the water and that lit (or so we were to believe) a large burning arrow. Then the Chief Aleka brought back from the Indian Beyond to preside over the Ceremony. Jim Briscoe played Akela. TO a seven year old it was pretty impressive stuff.

Akela arriving.

The Burning Arrow.

Camp Mohawk is now a County Park. It had been run down but now the County has been upgrading it. It has overnight facilities as well as day use of hiking trails and play areas.

Darnell Army Hospital,Fort Hood, Texas

2008-11-20T08:16:00.005-06:00

On April 1, 1968, I was injured by "Friendly Fire". My left leg was broken and I was sent home. It was a slow and eventful trip, for just laying on my back. From LZ Sharon I went to a Mobile Surgical Hospital. Then I was flown to Qui Nhon to what I guess was the 67th Evacuation Hospital.

From there I went to the Philippines. I was on April 8th when Martin Luther King was killed. That in itself was disturbing enough, but the racist reaction of many of the other wounded there was equally disturbing.

From there I went to Japan for final surgery. The day before my surgery I broke out with red spots. I had been pumped full of so much penicillin to keep away infection that I developed an allergy to the penicillin. I had to wait until the spots went away to have my surgery so I was there about a week.

On the way back to the states, my flight on a Hospital ship left on Thursday afternoon and landed at Edwards Air Force Base on Thursday Morning. Then it was on to Fort Hood in Texas.

At Fort Hood I had my leg put in a full leg cast and was sent home for the first of 6 months of convalescence at home. I have never been a person who could stay still for long, but the full leg cast pretty much limited my movement.

In Alvin, my friend Wineva gave me a copy of the Trilogy of the Rings. I was stuck in bed so I read the whole thing.

Once I was in a "knee high cast" I was mobile again. At Darnell Army Hospital I was not about to just sit in bed, so I asked the Ward Sergeant, a fellow of the last name of Cotton, if there was not something I could do. He was a bit taken back, you don't volunteer in the military. He said I could clean up the Linen Room. For me that was great fun. From then on when I was back at the Hospital Sgt. Cotton gave things to do.

After I was released to active duty I was stationed at Darnell Army Hospital in the Cast Room as an Orthopedic Tech. The hospital had new barracks and it was a great place to finish out my Army Career.

Above is the bed unit I stayed in when I was in Medical Holding.

Here I am in front of the Barracks fully recovered and on Active Duty. We ate at the Hospital Cafeteria which had great food because the Doctors and Hospital Administrators ate there.

Veteran's Day

2008-11-11T15:25:00.004-06:00

US Army from June 15,1967 to June 13, 1969.
Vietnam from December 7, 1967 to April 1, 1968.
15th Medical, 1st Air Cav.

This is a very young me in An Khe, Vietnam.

From there I went to LZ Uplift and then on to LZ Sharon outside of Quang Tri. In January of 1968 we landed in Da Nang and headed to Quang Tri. We convoyed to Phu Bi where we stayed over night at LZ Jane. We had a Medical Pod dropped there. We then went on through Hue and then to Quang Tri and LZ Sharon. In February Hue, one of the oldest sities in VietNam and a Provincial Capital was destroyed in the Tet Offensive. If you have ever seen Full Metal Jacket the Convoy from Da Nang to Hue was almost exactly as I remember it - except that version was a rebuild in England. Kubrick did an outstanding job.

So Long at the Fair

2008-10-14T06:32:00.004-05:00

Well it turns out that this week is actually the week of the Brazoria County Fair. A few more pictures.

I guess Mom got the dates wrong when she labeled these photos. I think the 1951 date is probably right. In 1952 I would have been in school. Also note the suspenders I am wearing. It is sad but it appears that I quit wearing suspenders after I started school. Dad wore suspenders and I imagine that I wore them because Dad did.

If you look at other kids in the pictures, no suspenders. In the picture below I have a hat like my Dad and suspenders like Dad. I can only imaging that when I started school that I stopped wearing them because they were not in "fashion".

I must not have learned to blow the rest of the world off till later. I could never have lost being like my Dad.

Fair Season

2008-10-10T21:26:00.005-05:00

The Brazoria County Fair was held in October. Many of Dad's customers had livestock shown shown at the fair. He would go to the Fair and take pictures of the livestock and display them on a bulletin board at the store. For me it was great because he took me to the fair. Great Fun. This first picture is an ironic picture for me. I am on a boat ride at the fair, going around and around. The shadow is of Dad. I am still in Dad's shadow. Much of me that is good is from my Dad.

Another picture from October 1952. I have no idea where this is. I imagine it is somewhere I went with Dad.

This one was taken at the Feedstore. Dad bartered a lot to help his customers. Cash was not always readily available so Dad took livestock and produce for the feed and supplies that his customers needed. We were not poor by any means but we did not have a lot extra, but we ate well.

Changing Gears

2008-10-03T23:07:00.009-05:00

I have rethought this page and think I got burned out trying to stay chronological. My mind is certainly not that orderly, or maybe my mind is better called random.

Here are pictures of my Mother's grand-nephews. They are the grandsons of Willard Bruce Wilson and his wife Verna. They are the sons of Betty Gayle Wilson Paris Carlton.

1959

The Oldest is Larkin. He is in pictures below. I do not know why, but I have always felt very close to Bruce Junior, these boy's Uncle who died before any of us were born. It may have been that I spent a lot of time when I was first adopted with Nana, my adoptive Grandmother. She was so proud of Bruce Junior. She and I used to set at her window and she would tell me about things she saw that were not there. She may have also told me a lot about Bruce Junior (pictured below).

Bruce Junior was an Army Pilot. I am told he was sent on a poorly planned training exercise and died in a crash. I guess that is what happened. I belabor the point because Bruce, pictured below favors Bruce Junior. He has softer features but you can see the line from Grandfather (pictured below) to Grandson (picture that follows) if you look. At least I see it.

Brad, the youngest followed his Uncles footsteps and went to West Point. I have spent very little time around these people but I have always felt close to them. Brad, as you can see in the pictures had a glint of mischief in his eye and I suspect. I wish I would have had the chance to get to know these guys.

It is one of the consequences of not having any actual family that one attaches to non related people in search of connection and identity.

More Girls

2008-06-22T12:10:00.004-05:00

Looks like the same day as below. My new sister Geneva is in this picture.

This last picture is in the corner of the yard. Behind us is a rose bush that Dad Called Jimmy Roses. One of the young men that worked for Dad, Jimmy Sosa, gave them to Dad. They were a climbing rose and bloomed in bunches. Light Pink flowers made perfect corsages for the girls.

My Gang of Girls

2008-06-21T12:01:00.001-05:00

I was surrounded by girls. I ahve said tha before and will probably say it again. Never really got along well with boys. Ed "Ebby" Frasier was the only boy my age (or near) that I spent a lot of time with. I have no pictue of him and I.

Here we have me, Kathy Smith, Bev, Wineva Hankamer, and maybe Laura Jane Foster. That is who mother had written on the photo. The only other girl in the neighborhood that I played with was Martha Andrews but I think she would have been about 2 in 1954.

Two Lots

2008-06-20T11:55:00.002-05:00

I think we had two lots. House was on one and the other was for pasture and chickens. It appears we had some ducks as well.

Overtime the pasture, as I called it, had horses and cows. It was overgrown in the summer - to our delight becasue it became our jumgle and we were shorter than the weeds. We made trails in the weeds which was great for all sorts of play.

The Swing Tower

2008-06-19T11:45:00.002-05:00

Ah yes the Swing set. It was huge for a kid to have such a big play thing. I had qquite an imagination and the swing tower could be just about anything.

It did not take too long for me to get up the nerve to scoot across the top of the swingset. Mother was beside her self.

Dad with Pup

2008-06-18T05:38:00.004-05:00

Dad with the pup.

Dad's Work - Pearson Feed Store

2008-06-17T09:00:00.003-05:00

These pictures are from when Dad's Feed Store was Downtown at Sidnor and Gordon. The first picture is of the cash register counter. Unfortunately it is not a good picture.

The person taking the picture was just outside of the Large Room where all the "small" Feed and Farm supplies were. If you were to enter this room, Dad's office was immediately to the right. Just past it was the paint room. Dad was a Sherwin-Williams dealer. The in the right front corner was the Chick Room. Dad sold chicks and at Easter he sold colored chicks. On the left behind the Cash Register was the bulk feed area where dad sold small amounts of feed. The rest of the area was a mixture of medications for animals, supplies (you can see the brooms), tools, seed, and a miltitude of other farm related items. Dad sold barbed Wire and Fencing.

Across the front of the store was a porch and there were windows. The picture above was taken looking out of the Feed Store to the Used Car lot of my Uncle George. The Pearson Chrevrolet and Oldsmobile Dealership Was on the northeast corner of Sidnor and Gordon. The Used Car Lot was on the Northwest corner.

Pearson Feed Store Truck.

2008-06-16T11:31:00.001-05:00

Me and the pup. All the animals really loved Dad. We could always tell when Dad was coming home, as soon as he got within 2 blocks of the house all the animals would run to meet him as he turned the corner at Sealy and 5th street.

It is funny that we think of our pets as childres as being ours, but the pets knew who really took care of them. The dog I do remember, Pogo, would always set right by Dad when he would set outside. We never had animals in the house.

I lived this truck. I liked the design - it was bold. When I finally learned to drive it I felt like a man. It was in this truck in 1963 we went Christmas Caroling, but that is a story for another time.

Father's Day

2008-06-15T10:50:00.004-05:00

It is had to completely appreciate how much other people affect one's life. I really did not spend that much time with my father. What time I did spend was mostly at work. Most of my relationships with men have been with strong work ethic men, and mostly at work.

In this series of posts I will talk at lot about the people and events that shaped my life, but today is Father's day and I have held this picture for today. I do not remember at lot of my time between 3 and 6. I guess that is normal. It was just me then. I got all the attention. Mom told me that Dad and I spent a lot of time together then. I wish I could remember that.

Regardless, I like this picture. There he is in the background backing me up. No clue as to whether I will hit or miss, but there he is. I always knew that I was acceptable to my parents no matter what I did, they loved me. What a great gift.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad.

Beverly

2008-06-14T11:26:00.002-05:00

Donna Legg lived across the street (Sidnor) from me. Behind us lived Beverly Muma. This is Bev and Me.

Donna was older that I was and when she moved Bev and I started playing together.

And Cat Makes Three

2008-06-13T05:44:00.002-05:00

A cat and puppy. I guess I was pretty spoiled, wish I could remember it.

Dad loved animals, mostly large animals, but he was also fond of the pets.

Mom and Dad had for so long wanted a child I guess they just poured all of their Love and resources upon me. I am sure I needed it. I was a neurotic little snot.

Dressing Up Again

2008-06-12T11:21:00.001-05:00

WEll I am not dressed as a girl here at least. I think I was just meant for the stgage and theater. I am with Donna Legg here.

Donna moved to Angleton. I missed her. We had great times playing dress up.

The World is a Stage

2008-06-11T06:18:00.003-05:00

Well, I don't know. I have quite a few pictures of me dressed up like a girl. It also seems that I was pretty much surrounded by girls. Mom wrote that these were not my clothes. I guess she wanted all to know that she did not dress me this way.

Here I am with Donna Legg, my across the street neighbor with whom I spent a lot of time. She was older than I was. Makes one wonder about clothes making the man, or woman. I suppose if I had wanted to play war or sports, I would have found boys to play with. There were boys a block away.

Oh well. Who knows. I am 61, it is a bit late to worry about it.

Pansy

2008-06-10T08:32:00.004-05:00

In 1950, there were a lot of farmers that did not have cash all the time. Their income was dependent upon there crops or animals so to make it between market times my Father would accept payment in goods. If a farmer had chickens he would "sell" them to my father and then "buy" feed and seed or what ever he needed. As a result our family ate well with plenty of fresh produce and meat.

We kept some of the chickens for eggs and ate the rest. On one occasion when Dad brought home chickens, while he was making ready to wring their necks and pluck them so Mother could cut them up, I befriended a brown chicken. I guess that this was my first time being around the Wring and Pluck event and did not understand what was happening. As Dad took this brown chicken to kill, I ran screaming to save it. Dad was exasperated but he and Mom decided that I would soon tire of the chicken and then we could eat it.

I do not know how long that took because Pansy, as I named her, and I became friends. I would hold her and smile and she would peck at my teeth. Here I am with my friend Pansy. I think ultimately a switch had to be made where Pansy went to a "good home" and another chicken took her place on the platter. For all I know that is how and why I got the puppy shown in previous posts.

Just Me

2008-06-09T10:50:00.002-05:00

All dressed up with suspenders and all. Dad wore suspenders. I suppose I should today as well to keep my pants up where they need to be.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub just me in a Tub

2008-06-08T08:41:00.003-05:00

Ah yes, this is the life. Summer and my own private water hole. The near shadow behind me is from the garage and the next shadow back is of the house. The house across the street (Sidnor) is the Andrews' house. Martha Andrews was just a few years younger than I. We interacted at various points throughout our lives.

The swing set just behind me was amazing. It had a swing, rings, and trapeze. The greatest thing about it was that it was tall and had climb space. This was the frame around which we built all kind of play scenarios.

Larkin and Me

2008-06-07T08:20:00.001-05:00

Here I am with my cousin Larkin. He was the grandson of Mother's brother Bruce. I think this was taken in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Both of Mother's brothers lived there. I do not remember this trip.

Larkin's mother was Betty Gayle. I do not know a lot about the story of Betty Gayle's first marraige.

I never really got to know Larkin or the family from Arkansas. Family is a funny thing. We talk today a lot about family values but aside from the core family, Mother, Father, and children, family does not seem to mean much. Since the 50's American's have been mobile and that allowed families to disperse. With that great dispersal went our sense of identity.

Maybe for me that connection is more important becasue I have no blood family. There is no one in my life that I am genetically connected to. Truly this man is an island.

Mom and Me

2008-06-06T07:34:00.001-05:00

As you will see over time if you follow this blog, my mom and I became good friends when I grew up. I can thank my mom for a lot. I notice in these early pictures that Mom always a worried look on her face. She was so glad to have a child she did worry that she would not measure up.

It was a false worry. At 61 I am very healthy and I give her credit for that health. She approached Motherhood as a job. She studied and worked to provide me, and later my sisters with a diet and environment of health.

Mom had read that we needed grains in our diet, but we would no eat cream of wheat or any cereal grans. We would eat pancakes however, so she put the grains in the pancakes. She put All-Bran, Wheat Germ, Malt-o-Meal, and Cream of Wheat in our pancakes and we gobbled them down. The flavor of those pancakes was rich. When I left home I wondered why no other pancakes were so good.

Puppy and Me

2008-06-05T03:21:00.006-05:00

I have no memory of this dog at all. In the first picture I have such a pained look on my face. The puppy is pretty small, and probably is no more comfortable than I look. Don't know the dogs name. I just do not remember anything about it.

Later when the dog is larger, I seem to be a bit more comfortable with it.

Note in the first picture that there are clothes hanging in the background (just the bottom edges are visible). We did not have a dryer at this time. In fact the washer my mother used was a old wringer washer. Too bad I do not have a photo of that. It was an open topped washing tub with a machine driven agitator. Below is a picture I got off the internet that us similar to the machine we had.

There was no spin cycle so you took the clothers and squeezed the water out with a "wringer". Then you refilled the tub and rinsed the clothes and wrung them out again. Then you took the clothes out to the "Clothes Line" and hung them up. That was a geat advancement, a marvel of the then "Modern World".

Granddad Pearson

2008-06-04T06:27:00.002-05:00

Nana was my Mother's Mother. This is my Father's Father. I really do not know a lot about him. They (he and Mother Pearson) lived in Clarmore. Oklahoma. I remember that we made three trips there. This picture must be the summer of 1949. We were there for a Christmas and for Granddad's death.

I really do not remember this visit and is in my knowledge only in that I have pictures of it. IT is my understanding that Granddad ran a general store. When my father was young they lived on a farm in Talalah. It was on land Mother Pearson had inherited, and was part of the Cherokee Reservation there. They raised six children there.

I am not sure when they move to Clarmore was made.

Of note here is that when my father was born, Oklahoma was not a state, it was a territory.

Happy Anniversary

2008-06-03T19:32:00.001-05:00

Today, June 3, 2008 is my parents 78th wedding Anniversary. They were married in 1930. This picture is at my mother's cousin Catherine's apartment. That apartment still stands on Montrose across from the Plaza Hotel. It is a shop now.

So we see the 27-year-old newly weds as they begin their honeymoon. It is also just after the 1929 stock market crash and the early days of the Great Depression. But on this day they are smiling and looking forward to a happy life together. They will be married for almost 35 years, and in my mother's mind the 38 years she lived after his death. She was received a proposal several years after my father's death but turned it down saying that she was still married to John A Pearson.

My Nana

2008-06-02T17:39:00.004-05:00

Nana was my mother's mother. My parents were in their mid-forties when I was adopted. One reason they had waited so long was that they took care of my grandfather, Nana's husband, until his death. I never met my Grandfather. Nana was living with Mom and Dad when I was adopted. The house they built, the one Nana and I are standing in front of in this picture was a new house.

It was built as a two bedroom two bath house specifically so Nana could stay there. Truly a Mother-in-Law room with a private entrance. Nana and I were great buddies. She was a bit senile, I do not know how much, but it was great for me. She and I would sit at her window and she would talk about all sorts of things and people in our backyard. The thing is they were not there, they were in her mind. She saw them and as she talked about them I saw them. I credit this for my very active imagination. It is a shame that we separate our elders from their families now.

1949

2008-06-01T12:31:00.001-05:00

I was adopted by John and Sally Pearson in 1949. I remember very little before that. I was very fortuante to be adopted by the Pearsons. They were two of the best people I have ever known.

Here I am in 1949 with my new Mother and Grandmother. A new start. Picture is not very good, but that gets better. I am guessing that this picture was taken by my new Dad.