The Big Picture Chapter 5

A special thanks to Ed and Wayne for editing this chapter.

And to William F. Laegler for Content Editing.

1970

It is the best of times and the worst of times. I'm big man on campus. Our school goes up to the 4th grade. Then we go to a middle school.

We go on a school trip to a YMCA camp just before school gets out. We are each assigned to cabins. I have some of my friends with me. The guy in charge of our cabin is always giving me a hard time.

He tells me, "If I had a whip I would whip you."

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't know why, I just would."

I guess you could say that I'm basically a mascot and a scapegoat. People like to have me hang around so that they can have a whipping boy.

I go fishing and I catch a 12" large mouth bass. I'm the only kid at camp who catches a fish. We play "truth or dare" and another boy in the cabin dares this big kid to strip me. I dive into my sleeping bag and don't let him get to me. It is exciting and I get a boner, but all he manages to do is give me a feel.

Overall I like camp. We go swimming and play games. It is lots of fun.

About the only thing I like about school is math and singing. The rest of the time I spend dreaming. Somehow I manage to make it through the 4th grade.

I go out for Little League again and I do a little better. I still was walked quite a bit, but I also got two hits, and I got to play 3rd base some. I tried catching and pitching but I wasn't good enough.

For summer vacation we go out west again. Dad buys us a color TV and it's great. Now I can see cartoons in color. One of my favorite nighttime shows is "Laugh-in." It's really funny.

I start 5th grade and there are a bunch of new kids from other elementary schools here. Our school is called Chippewa Middle School. I'm the shortest kid in the entire school. They have grades 5 through 8. I join band class and start playing the trumpet. I take private lessons, but I don't practice as much as my sister. My sister is in the 8th grade. She gets straight A's and I get C's and D's. She never gets into trouble, but I always do. My parents are always praising her. It's always "Mary Jane this" and "Mary Jane that." Sometimes I wish I didn't have a sister.

Just off the gym of our school is what we call a 'scatter ball pit.' It's about 15 steps down stairs and about 20 feet across and 30 feet long. There is a brick wall on each side. Every morning before school starts we play scatter ball. If someone throws the ball at you and it hits you, and you don't catch it, you're out. If you catch the ball, you get to throw it. Because I'm the smallest kid in school I'm hard to hit. I duck and dodge and before I know it there are only two of us left, me and the biggest kid in the school, Jerry Meter, and I have the ball. I throw it at him and hit him with it right in the chest. He slaps the ball up and it hits the ceiling. I WIN! Of course he lets me win but it still feels great. The smallest kid in school beats the biggest. (Jerry goes on to play defensive safety for the University of Michigan.)

I turn 11 years old. Only two more years and I'll be a teenager. In five years I'll be able to drive a car.

I make friends with this kid named Joel Sheldon. His dad owns a store near our house. Joel is a big kid and is my age. He was held back too. Joel likes to give me a hard time. It's another one of those mascot - scapegoat relationships.

My mom has been reading all these books written by this guy named Edgar Cayce. People call him the "sleeping prophet." He talks about Atlantis and a bunch of other weird stuff when he is asleep. She also likes this musical group named Seals and Croft; they are members of the same religion that she is.

I'm sick and tired of the church I'm going to. My sister is going with my mother to one of her meetings, so I decide to go too. The Bahi'a is really different. They believe that God is one, man is one, and all religions are one. Personally, I like Billy Graham. What he says makes sense to me.

The school is having a talent contest and I try out for it. I sing "Born Free" and play the auto-harp. My mom taught me to play the auto-harp. I perform for the 5th and 6th grades and all goes well. Then I perform for the 7th and 8th grades. At one point I forget the words but I fake it. When I finish the students all stand up and clap. It makes me feel really good even though they may be making fun of me.

The teachers have moved me into a new math class. I'm now in the advanced class. This is the first time that I have been in a class that doesn't have "remedial" in the name of the class. I still hate school, but it does have its good points: like lunch and recess.

Christmas is here and I finally get something that I really want. I get a mini-bike. It has a 3-1/2 horsepower engine. I mow yards and shovel driveways and things like that to have enough to buy gas and stuff.

1971

New Year's Day and my football team, Michigan, loses again in the Rose Bowl. I have a bet with my cousin Glenn and I lose. It seems like I have picked the wrong team to root for. Every year Michigan seems to lose their last game either to Ohio State or in the Rose Bowl, like this year.

I go out for a school play. It's a production of "Tom Sawyer." I don't get the lead part, but I do get a singing part. I play a kid named Ben who wants to be a steamboat captain. The song I sing is about being a steamboat captain when I grow up. It is lots of fun and I think I want to be a singer or actor when I grow up.

My dad takes me out to a small airport and I go for a ride in a small airplane. I even get to fly it. When I grow up I want to be a pilot in the Air Force. My dad says that I need to get better grades if I'm going to do that.

I get in a fight at school with this kid named Ken Renshaw. He is about my size. He calls me some names so I hit him. We get caught and the principal says that he is going to spank us. He has us sit and wait for about two hours. Ken gets tired of waiting and leaves. When the principal gets back and finds Ken gone, he lets me go too. He doesn't spank me or call my parents so I guess I get away with something.

I'm really starting to like math. This advanced class is moving at a pace that I can live with. It is still kind of boring but it is better than my other classes. I'm also doing well in band class. I like playing the trumpet and I like to be able to beat the other kids at something.

Last year I was on the top of the pecking order. Now in the 5th grade at a new school, I'm at the bottom. It's going to take 3 long years before I'm back on top again. That is such a loooong time! I complete 5th grade and go into my summer routine.

I don't go out for Little League this year. I know I'm not that good and I have other interests. It seems that whatever I do this summer, I get hurt. We go on a trip out west again to Rocky Mountain National Park. Dad bought a new truck and a camper to go on it. I guess with my mother working full-time we can afford more things. I run down a hill and I can't stop. I fall and scrape my arm.

I'm playing with Dave Vallier. I have a garbage can lid and he has a weed cutter. We play knights. When I fail to block his thrust, and he catches me with the weed cutter near my wrist. Yet another trip to the emergency room and more stitches. I'm almost a regular there.

I went swimming and got another ear infection. I also wiped out on my mini-bike several times, but no broken bones.

I go over to Mike Herney's house and another kid named Jim Sperry is there. He has some marijuana and asks me if I want some. I say "no." I ask him where he gets it, and he says some guy at the park sells it to him. I figure it is time for me to move on to different friends.

I spend most of the rest of the summer hanging out with Joel and Tom. Joel likes to have me around for a whipping boy, but Tom and I play sports together. We play basketball mostly. He is "Pistol Pete" and I'm "Kareem Abdul," at least in our minds. We also play whiffle ball, football, catch, and wrestle. I really like to wrestle. I can cop a feel once in a while. Tom doesn't seem to mind too much. He just does the same to me. When we wrestle he is "Bo Bo Brazil" and I'm the "Sheik."

Mom is continuing to teach me spiritual things. She says there are two types of people: spiritualists and materialists. She also says some people are special. The American Indians and black people have to go through more than white people and that makes them special. All the trouble they have make them stronger than people who go through less. She also says that life is a test and we are never tested more than we can handle.

My mom takes me back-to-school shopping. I get a bunch of "mod" clothes. Lots of colors and stripes and stuff. I'll look really cool when I go back to school. Also my dad is letting me grow my hair longer. He used to always get me a crew cut. I have been telling him how much the kids tease me about it. I think I know why that kid was crying who got his hair cut long ago in Caro.

We go camping with my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents on Labor Day. It's becoming kind of a tradition. I get to play around with my cousin again, but I feel really bad afterward. I know what I'm doing is wrong, but it is soooo much fun.

I start the 6th grade and I get off to a bad start. This kid is teasing me and pushing me around. He is bigger than I am, but everyone is bigger than I. I am tired of it and slug him across the face just as hard as I can. I stun him more than anything else. The teacher sees what happens and sends us to the Vice-Principal's Office. This time we both get spanked. I think I am going to get another one when I get home but I don't. Instead my parents get mad at the Vice-Principal. My Parents say I was just defending myself, which is true, but he didn't slug me like I did him.

A few days later at the bus stop, Ken Renshaw's little brother picks a fight with me. He is a year younger than I. After I put several punches upside his head he decides he is done fighting. So Ken picks a fight with me. We box for about 5 minutes when I land a punch next to his left eye. He's had enough. All the way to school he rubs his eye.

Joel Sheldon is still a problem, but there is not much I can do about him. He is about 8 inches taller and 80 pounds heavier than I am. If I get in a fight with him, I'm likely to get hurt. But he doesn't stop giving me a hard time, so I get my parents to have me moved into different classes from him.

I turn 12 years old. Next year I'll be a teenager. I still look very much like a little kid. I'm not even 5' yet.

There is a revolution going on in electronics. Everything is becoming solid- state. No more vacuum tubes. There are also lots of new toys, digital clocks, watches, calculators, touch-tone phones, and hi-fi stereos. Who knows where it will all end and what they will come up with next?

Medical science has also progressed. They have open-heart surgery, and cancer is often curable. There are also many new drugs to help people.

I have a crush on one of my teachers. She has almost white hair and is tall, with blue eyes and the biggest tits I have ever seen up close. I'm enjoying class these days.

I am still getting teased and picked on all the time. A bunch of kids pick on me, and this kid in my class sticks up for me and they stop. His name is Matt Strzyinski. I'm going to do everything I can to become his friend.

The school is teaching sex education. All the 5th and 6th grade boys go to the gym and watch a movie. The principal gets up and asks if there are any questions. He says he will answer any questions we have. This one 5th grader asks "what is a homosexual?" Everyone laughs. He says, "Homo means man and sexual means... That's enough questions." Everybody laughs some more. The principal looks very nervous. It was a dumb question anyway. I mean, who doesn't know what a homosexual is?

I read this book called "Run Baby Run". It was written by this preacher called David Wilkerson. It is about this gang leader, Nicky Cruz, in New York, who does drugs and hurts people. He found Jesus and it turned his life around. It's a good book.

Christmas has come and I've gotten something I've really wanted, a Daisy BB Gun. I've been bugging my dad to get me one for years now.

It seems to me that my life is the pits. It can't get any worse. I don't know that these really are the best times of my life. I am old enough to have fun and too young to be responsible.

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