Rialto

Rialto in the early sixties was the proto-typical California small town. Riverside Drive ran through the middle of town. It was a divided street that had old pepper trees planted down the median. We went to Sunday School at the Christian Science Church on Riverside Dr. It was an old turn of the century house that had been converted into a church. I remember it had push button light switches.My mom was one of the readers and Grandma was my Sunday School teacher.
The first house we lived in there was on Magnolia and I really don't recall too much. I know I got in trouble for taking my pants down in front of the little girl next door.I clearly have memories of wandering away from the house and ending up at the market downtown. I can still see my brother Dan pounding on a bucket as if it were a drum, as I walked past the open gate to the back yard.I was only about 3 at the time.My mom used to tuck me in at night and sing to me. I would suck my thumb and play with the folds of the sheet with my toes. Thumb sucking was a real problem for me. It was probably my first addiction.It was a habit that took years to break and really freaked my parents out. There was a school nearby and one time my brothers, John and Dan, took me there to play some baseball. I think John was the pitcher, Dan the batter, and I was definately the catcher. On the first pitch the ball hit me square on the nose. The blood flowed and the tears fell. They carried me home by my arms and legs pretending I was on a stretcher. I was always terribly afraid of pitches ever since.
When I was four my parents bought some land on the corner of Lilac and Ramona where they built a tri-plex. We had a three room apartment and they rented out the other two.There were two women who shared one of the apartments for a long time. They always gave us Lifesaver books for Christmas.