The Move....

2006/4/17

Where was I? Oh, we moved. We headed off for Arizona in August of 1972. That is myself, my Mother and my younger sister. I have an older sister and brother that were of the age to do what they want.....they stayed in Wisconsin.

My brother actually drove us out there.....Dad stayed behind for one more year to work. It had something to do with his pension I believe. This never made sense to me....we are moving for his health and yet he gets to stay there for another year?! No Fair! But that was that selfish teenager, again!

We moved to Lake Havasu City, Arizona....ever hear of it? The London Bridge is there! Really! I'm not kidding! A man named Robert McCulloch bought the bridge over there in London, had it shipped to Arizona, piece by piece (it must be tough trying to figure out what to do with your money when you're rich), and proceeded to build a town. He flew people in from mostly the Midwest, hence my parents being sucked in, set them up in a hotel, wined and dined them and then sold them land. Well, just go to this link if you want to read up on it:

http://www.havasuchamber.com/lbridge.htm

Back to my story. We drove in from the Interstate and I remember looking all around and wondering if we took the wrong road.....like there was another choice?! We were in the middle of the "Friggin" desert for cryin out loud, and it was weird. Of course I didn't appreciate the beauty of it until many years later! I remember that I cried and once again thought my life was over. I mean here we were miles and miles from any big city.....Las Vegas 3 hours away....Phoenix 4 hours away.....JEEZ!!!! Then we came over a hill and we finally saw the lake and some civilization. You have to know that the road we took into town back then was maybe a step above a dirt road. I don't remember much after that....I probably passed out.

It was a nice small town back then. It was a party town for the teenagers that lived there. It was the 70's! Skin tight bell bottom jeans, halter tops, crop tops, basically what they are wearing again now, and the beloved bean bag chairs. Beer and pot!!! Oh my.....yeah...yeah, I did indulge along with so many others. It was more than 30 years ago.....get over it! This is what formed my teenage years. Parties in a caul-de-sac (dead end road), where the Sheriff would come by and tell us to make sure we didn't leave any trash.....what? It's just the way it was.....we were all underage and the legal drinking age then was 18! Did I care?, hell no! My life wasn't over after all. WOO-HOO!!!!

I graduated High School there, class of 1975, man that's a long time ago! I didn't go to college. It wasn't really an option and it wasn't really promoted by my parents. That's ok, I have been through the school of life, ha, and I think I have more common sense than most college grads that I met back then and still now! But don't get me wrong, go to college if you can....just don't miss out on, and try to learn from, what's happening around you.

I took a break for a few months that summer during which time my very best friend died. She wasn't even 18 yet....a stupid, stupid accident. And that's all I have to say about that.

I got a job at the local factory, the McCulloch Corporation (go figure, huh?), McCulloch chain saws and then later Black & Decker bought it and then private investors and each year it got worse. Meaning worse to work for. I was there for alittle more than 13 years. I started in the Die Cast part of the factory and worked my way into salary/management for my last 5 or 6 years there. I was 18 when I started working there. I was 32 when I left.

When I was 24 I met the love of my life......