Central Coast Senior

Our Washington Apartment with the pool was located just outside of Seattle. I was able to revisit it one time on a business trip to Boeing when Dad and I were up there together on a business trip in the mid 80’s. Funny thing is the place looked exactly as I remembered it. We even found the old apartment building that we lived in.

Which takes me back to when I was 4. It was Doug, Barry, Mom, Dad, and I living in this little 2 bedroom apartment. Doug and I had bunk beds, Barry had a crib still, and I don’t remember the room being that big. But what I remember most is ICE CREAM!!! I know, weird. But Doug and I both had our tonsils out there and of course we got ICE CREAM. Granted I think we had our choice of any flavor of Vanilla that we wanted. And lets face it for 3 and 4 year olds after Ice Cream what else is there.

The other thing I remember is how even at 4 mom trusted me to take care of myself. I got to walk myself to and from a 60’s version pre-school that was located in the apartment complex. I thought this was neat, that is until I got lost. Well not really lost, let’s call it confused. Anyways I walked myself home one day and when I came around to the front of the building, I stopped, looked around, and immediately became scared. I didn’t recognize anything!!! So being the resourceful 4 year old I was, I took option 1 and retraced most of my steps. When I was done, I ended up in exactly the same spot and immediately switched to option 2. I stood there and cried for what felt like forever, but was probably just a few seconds. So after my crying fit was over I told myself that I couldn’t be lost, because I took the right path home, so I screwed up my courage and took my little sniffling self and hesitantly headed to the door that just had to my apartment building. I remember going through the door of the building and seeing this REALLY, REALLY long hallway that I had to go down. This didn’t look like my hallway. So I slowly walked down to the end of the hallway and there was a plain old apartment door, which looked like every other apartment door, and I tried the handle. It opened!!! So I slowly pushed the door open, because lets face it if I was going into the wrong apartment I didn’t want to be yelled at. So I finally pushed it all the way open and there was mom looking at me and asking what is wrong and why are you crying? I told her I had gotten lost in front of the apartment and she just laughed and told me to go clean-up.

I know it comes as a surprise but I am not remembering much of the early – early years. What I do know is that my folks couldn’t decide where we should live. While I was born in Washington, we moved to Michigan for my brothers (Doug and Barry), then back to Washington (1st Sister – Bobbi) then back to Michigan (last sister – Danette).

So what do I remember? I remember the second time in Washington where the apartment complex we were living in had a community pool at the bottom of a very long staircase. I remember mom and dad insisting that we all learn to swim and I was only 3 -4 years old, which made Barry a bit over year. But dang it we all swam.

In Barry’s case it was funny, mom and dad would get with Doug and I in the middle of the shallow end and work with us on our swimming. They would leave Barry over on the steps and just check on him from time to time. Well one day, we are all in the middle of the pool and mom all the sudden feels somebody bumping into her back. She turns around and there is Barry treading water!! He was a natural.

I remember mom and dad getting these heavy rubber rings that they would throw into the pool and expect us to go after them. So we would have to swim out and dive down to where the ring was. Well one time dad gets a little carried away and throws a ring into the deep end, 10 ft!! Now there is no way us little kids are going to get it. So after we whine at them for a few minutes, my dad comes up with the perfect solution. He sends me up to the top of the high dive and tells me to jump. Scared me to death, but I did it and got the ring. I think that was the end of my free diving days. I don’t remember ring diving ever again after that.

I was born March 28, 1956 in Pullman, Washington to Robert Arthur Johnson and Catherine Delores Johnson. Dad was attend Washington State University at the time as a graduate student in Chemical Engineering and mom was working as a secretary to help pay the bills. I was born about a month late. The folks always blamed it on the train accident. I think it was around January 1956 when mom, dad, soon to be Grandpa and Grandma Johnson were trying to cross some train tracks at a blind crossing when the car was struck by a slow moving train. Fortunately no one was badly hurt, but since mom was pregnant at the time, everyone was naturally worried. I think it was at that point I decided I was in no rush to come into the world. The best part of this was that by being born late it set me up so that 24 years later I could begin to enjoy that special period where for 24 days every year, I am married to an older woman!