My mother is the strongest person I know. Not knowing the American language all too well without an education, she was able to raise three children all on her own. She and my father split up before I was even born. So I don't remember him in any of my childhood memories. Mother always managed to take time out of her busy schedule to take us out to various places of interest. I never appreciated all her effort, until I became a single parent, myself.

One of the places she often took us to, was Old Town. Precidio Park was apart of Old Town, and was one of our favorite places to go to. Precidio had many places for children to explore in. An old church, which is now a museum and book store, stood on top of a hill covered with grass. Trees surrounded hidden trails, leading down to another park below.

One day mother took us all, (my brother, sister and me), to Precidio for our usual little outing. Precidio was the perfect place for playing "Spys". We would hide in bushes along the trails, spying on people that would happen to be there. It was all apart of the game we played. We all had split up to explore. I was hoping to find someone to spy on, lurking behind every tree. When all of a sudden I noticed a man kneeled down outside of the trail behind a clump of bushes. He was suspiciously looking over his shoulder as if he were hiding from someone. He was definitely a prime suspect. I had to find my sister or brother and tell them about it. Without making a sound, so I wouldn't be seen by the man, I left and found my sister. I told her about the suspicious man I had found, and we both returned to the place where he was. We both hid behind some bushes watching him. The man was still kneeled down but we had now noticed that he had a pistol under his arm. We thought nothing of it, really, being children and all. It made our game more interesting and exciting. Just then, the man, started to pick his nose!! My sister and I had to cover our mouths, to keep our laughter silent. We were busting up so bad...One of us accidentally made a sound. It startled him and he rose to his feet. He turned around and saw us laughing at him. We screamed playfully and ran away.

We didn't really feel threatened by this man, but we continued screaming until we reached an open part of a grassy hill. My sister and I rolled onto the grass. We glanced above us, where the old church was, to see another man with a ski mask. He was carrying a gun, also. We grasped at our hearts, as if we had been shot. Then fell onto the grass, moaning, gasping for last breathe.
The merchant of the book store came out as the men ran down the hill past us. He was screaming... "Help! I've just been robbed!!". I nearly pee-ed my pants. Nothing was said between my sister and I after that. Being so shocked by it all.

The police arrived shortly after, questioning all witnesses. All except for my sister and me.
Mom packed us up and we drove back home. I would never forget how close to death we could of been that day. It was definitely something to remember...

Trying to remember what I did yesterday can be difficult for me. And at times, I even forget what i did just an hour ago. But specific events in my childhood, remain forever.

At the age of four, I can remember when the "Millers" moved in across the street. I was outside playing with my toys, when this little girl approached me. She had blonde hair with streaks of gold flowing throughout it, and was cut short like a boy. She had a cheerful disposition about her.  She introduced herself to me as Dana and she and I would be inseparable from that day forward. She was my first real best friend, and I'll never forget her.

One day Dana and I were playing outside, as usual. She asked me if I wanted some bubble gum. And of course I said, yes. She dragged me by the hand to this little pink and white house, then kneeled down onto the sidewalk.
Curious by her intentions, I watched her as she began to scrap some old gum off the cement. Holding the "A.B.C."(already been chewed) gum, in her hand, she looked up at me smiling, then popped it into her mouth. She says "...see the next time you want some bubble gum ...do that!" 

I remember thinking how clever she was.  And how it was the greatest idea!!  Why couldn't I think of something so smart ??
Dana was definitely the brains between the two of us, and I followed her every step throughout our friendship.

From that day on, whether or not Dana was with me, I was chewing gum. In the morning, I was chewing, in the night, I was chewing. There was no end to my bubble gum fetish. I mean, it was so simple, I thought. And found no harm in it at all...
I began to notice that there was gum everywhere you go.  Under tables and chairs, on dusty super market shelves, I could always find free bubble gum ...24/7!

One day, when walking home from the grocery store with my sister and mother, I noticed a wad of gum stuck on the hood of an old dirty Cadillac parked along the street. Thinking nothing of it, I scraped it off the car and popped it in my mouth.
My sister and mother had both seen what I had done and freaked-out! Mother began yelling at me and demanded that I spit the gum out ...  The whole time I was thinking ... what did I just do???  I couldn't understand why they were so upset with me.

Mother told me she would sterilize my mouth when we got back home. 

It's funny how naive we are when we were young.