The beginning…

I was born in Loveland, Colorado 39 years and 4 months ago, the first son of Ed and Judy, but not the family’s only child. My father’s oldest son, Mike, was 7 at the time and living with them. How this came to be is an interesting story, but one that I’ll go into later.

Loveland was settled in 1858, but founded in 1877 when the Colorado Central Railroad laid a line through what is now downtown Loveland. It sits seven miles from the base of the Rocky Mountains along the Big Thompson River. My grandfather moved the family from Waukegan, Illinois to Colorado in the 50’s to pursue a pastoral life. This appears to be an unusual move as up to this time my grandfather and his brothers all lived together, he being the only one of the brothers to marry. Prior to Waukegan, my family had lived in southern Missouri, having moved there from central Illinois around 1860. For as far as I can trace back, the clan had lived with or in proximity to their near relatives. To simply pick up and move away from the clan was a bold move, for which the motives I doubt I’ll never be fully aware of.

I’m told that my mom was quite ill for the first few years of my life, and that I had spent some time living with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Woody who lived nearby; a fact I wasn’t aware of until recent years. Understandably, I have no recollection of it as it’s said that children don’t remember anything before the age of three. I’m no exception to that rule. Further, I have no idea why I lived with them and not my Dad and brother.

At some point, we moved to Denver. During this time my dad was a salesman of canister vacuums. My only recollection of this time is of a drive in theater and drinking from a baby blue sippy cup shaped like a bear. A strange memory, but I didn’t choose it. My hyjinx began at an early age by all reports too.

I’m told that at age 2 or 3 I caused a couple of automobile accidents, both involving my dad’s Cadillac’s. In one incident, I was in the back seat and decided it would be a good idea to cover both my father’s eyes with my hands. Since he was apparently driving at the time, a game of peek-a-boo turned out to be not such a good thing and ultimately resulted in a rear-end collision, with us being the rear-end of the collision. The second was due to me crawling into the driver’s seat of the parked Cadillac and pulling it out of gear. I’m told that my ride traveled backwards down our drive way and into the side of a parked Volkswagen across the street.

In a non-vehicular incident, I apparently decided to walk, or fall, into Lake Loveland on one of my parent’s fishing trips, a feat that my 2^nd son would re-enact for me about 20 years later. My parents and grandparents we avid fishers and hunters, so I imagine that me tripping into some body of water was just a matter of time.

I’m told that I liked to disown my diaper and streak whenever possible. I had beautiful long hair that caused some gender confusion of those who gazed upon me. My grandfather could hold me in the palm of his hand.

I have no memories of my paternal grandfather, as he died when I was only one year old. My folks tell me he loved me very much, and for that I’m thankful.