I
started tennis lessons today and I did real good. One of the instructors said that my backhand
was almost as good as Billie Jean King's!
That made me real happy. Mom is
trying real hard to keep me busy 'cause I worry so much about Karen. I miss her so much. I really don't get along too good with
anybody else; I guess I'm a loner. I did
make a new friend, John Waters and he's my doubles partner. We play very well together and will be in a
tournament together at the end of the summer.
I'm looking forward to it 'cause I might get a trophy. If I do, I'm gonna put it with all of mom's
bowling trophies. Well, I don't have
time to write anymore now, I'm going to see Karen and hopefully cheer her
up. Bye
Today
Karen was feeling much better and dad took all of us to the boardwalk in Asbury
Park
Today
a van came to our neighborhood with all kinds of crafts and fun games. They put on a puppet show and all the kids in
the neighborhood got to come play; it was a lot of fun. John and his older sister, Angie came to play
too. John and I did win the doubles
tournament and I did get a trophy! I did
put it right next to mommy's trophies, she was real proud of me. I told her I couldn't have done it without
John. He was a great doubles
partner. John told us his father was
going to have a Bible study in his front yard tomorrow afternoon and we were
all invited. It sounds like a lot of fun
and mom and dad said we could go. John
said there would be guitar playing and singing, too. I like music a lot and even if I can't play
the guitar, I love listening to it.
Karen's excited too. Today she
walked across the room and we were all real proud of her. She has to walk up on her toes 'cause her
muscles shrank up, but she's starting to walk again and that makes her real
happy. Anything that makes Karen happy
makes me happy too. She said we have a
lot to be thankful for and she's glad to be going to a Bible study tomorrow so
we can praise God for our blessings.
Sometimes I don't know how Karen can be so thankful when she's been in
so much pain and been so sick, but she is anyway. I guess that makes her a better Christian
than me 'cause I still want her to get completely better. Karen's got to stay at grandmas since she
still needs the wheelchair and it would be too difficult to get up our
hill. There are steps that lead up to
the front door too. I'm getting used to
sleeping alone, but I don't like it much.
I miss the quiet whispers in the night we used to share, the gentle
backrubs we used to give each other. I
take a bath alone now, too. I miss her
so much and can't wait for her to get all better. I'm gonna try to be a good Christian and
trust God like she does, but it sure is hard.
I don't know if I'll ever have as much faith as Karen does. I'll keep trying though, 'cause I believe in
Karen and Karen believes in me. Bye.
I
had a wonderful time at the Bible study.
I finally met some hippies and they were very nice and thoughtful. They were very kind to Karen, which is why I
liked them. I really don't understand
why so many people think hippies are bad.
The ones I met just want to share God's love to all people, whatever
color or nationality they may be. That
seems like a good Christian attitude to me, even if they have long hair and
beards. I like their clothes too, 'cause
they look real comfortable. I learned
some new songs that I'd never heard before.
My favorite is The Lord of the Dance.
I like the idea that Jesus would dance and will lead me in the dance. It sure sounds like it would be a lot of
fun. John's parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Waters, are very nice people and they told us we were always welcome to come to
their Bible studies. Karen and I decided
we would go to as many as we could.
Walter liked it too, 'cause he gets to play his guitar with the hippies,
especially the girl hippies. Our
neighborhood is starting to be a better place to live now and that is a real
good thing. Bye for now.
I
started my new school today, the Junior High school. It's a much further walk then Broadway
school. I was a little afraid 'cause
it's such a big school compared to the one I was coming from. Everything is so different. I don't have just one teacher, I have a whole
bunch of new teachers; one for each subject.
Everyone that graduated from the 6th grade in Broadway school goes to
the Junior High school now, plus all the other 6th graders in every school in
town. That's a lot more kids than I've
ever seen before. It's very
intimidating. I have a locker for my
coat and my books and I have to remember a combination so I can open and close
it. I'm the only kid in my family at
this school, Walter's already in high school.
I remember how much trouble he had in this school. He was always getting beat up and he had his
glasses broken like 4 or 5 times. One
time the police even had to drive him home because bullies were beating him
up. I hope I don't have any trouble
here. I don't like fighting, but I will
protect myself if I have to. Karen's not
going back to Broadway school this year, Miss Gail is going to continue
teaching her and that makes me very happy.
I think she'll learn more from Miss Gail because Miss Gail's real
patient, but she doesn't let Karen get away with anything either. I know from reading about Helen Keller, that
good teachers must always be treated with respect and good behavior. I don't know yet if I have any good teachers
or not; it's way too soon to tell. I'll
have to let you know.
Tomorrow's
gonna be my 12th birthday and I have no idea what presents I might get. All I really want is for Karen to be
completely well; I want my sister back in my life everyday again. I just can't seem to connect with my other
sisters like I always have with Karen, I don't know why. I feel so different then they do; they're
always talking about boys and how cute they are. I think most boys are just plain stupid but
Mrs. D. said I'll change my mind when I get older. I don't think so, but who knows? Well, I'm gonna go visit with Karen and tell
her all about my first day at my new school.
Bye for now.
I
had my first fight in school today and I won!
The girl, Olive Johnson, had the locker next to mine and she started
bumping in to me on purpose. She has
very dark skin and called me a stupid whitie.
At first I didn't understand; I've known black people my whole life and
never thought they were any different from me at all. Mr. and Mrs. Grant are like second parents to
me and they're black. I tried to ignore
her, but she kept pushing at me, wanting to start a fight, so I gave her
one. I pushed her back against her
locker and told her that if she wanted to fight, then let's fight. The hallway was crowded but when the kids
heard me say that, they gave us plenty of room.
I stood ready to do battle but then Olive backed right down and ran
away. Some kids laughed, others clapped;
I was just very glad it was all over. I
don't like hurting anyone, but I don't like being hurt either. Luckily, none of the teachers saw what had
happened so I didn't get into any trouble.
Hopefully, that'll be the end of it.
I told Karen what happened when I got home from school and she was real
glad the fight ended with no one getting hurt.
I told her so was I. She remembered
how many times Walter had gotten beat up, but I don't think he ever fought
back. That may have been the whole
problem. I learned from Billy Jack that
sometimes you just have to fight or people will keep taking advantage of
you. Walter's doing much better this
year in high school. He's in choir at
school and it seems he's found his nitch.
I'm happy for him. He's been a
much better brother since Karen got sick that I don't want him getting hurt
anymore. He's been hurt enough
already. I really like listening to him
play the guitar; he's very good. He told
me he wants to start a band and I hope he does.
Everyone deserves to find something they really enjoy. Me, I've got a whole new library to get books
from. It's over at the high school, but
junior high school students get to use it too.
Oh, I know what I forgot to tell you.
Remember when I worked at the library at Broadway school for so many
years just to earn the right to see a Mets baseball game in New York Museum of Natural
History New York
You'll
never guess what happened today when I got my report card. My Earth Science teacher failed me for the
first marking period just because Walter was my brother. The teacher had him a few years ago and I
guess they didn't get along so she decided to take it out on me. I have all my tests and all my grades are
either A's or B's, but she failed me anyway.
I just don't understand it. She
never had any trouble from me at all. I
sure don't understand people some times.
I came home real upset and showed mom my report card plus all my test
grades. She said she's gonna call the
school and try to find out why the teacher failed me. Mom told me not to get upset and I'm trying
not to be, but it sure is hard. I've
always been a good student. The only
thing I ever failed was penmanship and that's not really a subject. I've always done well in everything
else. The rest of my grades were all A's
and B's with one C in math. But that's
okay, I hate math anyway. We start the
new marking period on Monday, so I'm gonna try even harder. I'm gonna go see Karen now; she always makes
me feel better. I'll let you know what
happens after mommy talks to the school.
Bye for now.
That
stupid ole Earth Science teacher quit her job at the end of the first marking
period and since she quit, the school can't change my grade. It doesn't even matter that I have all my
grades and that the teacher is just plain wrong. Boy, was mommy mad! She doesn't think it's fair at all that the
school won't fix my grade, but the school doesn't think it'll be a problem
anyway 'cause now I have a new science teacher.
I think it stinks that they won't fix her mistake, but there's nothing I
can do about it at all. Luckily the new
teacher is a very nice man and he told me that if I keep up my good work, what
the bad teacher did won't affect my final grade. I'm sure happy about that. I want to try and get on the honor roll if I
can. I'll have to work real hard on
math, though, and the truth is - I really hate math. I like addition, subtraction, multiplication
and division and I'm good at all of them.
I just stink at algebra, especially word problems. I learned how to add from keeping score when
we bowl and I'm real good and fast at that.
They keep telling us that we're going to learn the metric system
soon. I hope so 'cause it seems to make
more sense than our math, but who knows?
Well, I gotta go, I still have homework to finish then I can go visit
with Karen. Bye.
Another
Thanksgiving and I stuffed myself full of turkey and croissants! Karen did a pretty good job eating today,
too. The meal was at grandmas as usual
and everyone had a good time. Dad had
brought his violin over and Walter had his guitar, so they played some music
for everyone. Dad announced to us that
the family is going to sing at a park dedication in West Long Branch next month, and a woman
is going to sing with us, too. I found
out that the woman is my friend Leah's older sister, Debbie. Leah and I have gone to school together since
kindergarten, but I've never met her sister.
Dad said he wants us to start practicing the Christmas carols that we're
gonna sing, so we started practicing today.
I really like singing Christmas carols; so does Karen. Lisa sang really good today, no screaming or
yelling at all. She really does have a
good voice. It was a very nice day for
the whole family
Today
we sang for the park opening in West Long Branch . It was a small park on the corner of Monmouth
Road Cedar
Avenue
We're
off from school now until January 2nd, 1975 . I plan on spending as much time with Karen
and grandma as I can. Grandma gave me a
bunch of old Christmas cards and these really cool scissors that make the
neatest designs and I'm gonna make my own cards to give to people. Grandma's got glue and ribbons and stuff that
I can use, too. I wish I still had a
job, that way I'd have money so I could buy presents for people instead of
making them. But grandma said it's the
thought that counts, so I'll think real happy thoughts while I'm making the
cards. Hopefully that'll work. Well, gotta get to work now. Bye.
It
was a wonderful day today. We always
open our presents on Christmas Eve after church, that way we have all Christmas
day to play with our presents. I got a
brand new baseball mitt that I can't wait to use, plus a bunch of new clothes
and books. I'm getting kinda old for
toys, but I did get the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, plus we all got
Clackers. It takes a lot of practice to
work the Clackers, 'cause it hurts real bad if you're not careful. Everybody liked the cards I made for them;
mom gave me a really big hug, so I guess my happy thoughts worked pretty
good. I also got some Mad Libs books,
which if done right, are really funny. We're
gonna go over to grandma's for a big dinner.
Mom's calling me now, so I gotta go.
Merry Christmas!
Happy
New Year! We got to stay up last night
until midnight to watch the ball drop
in New York midnight we got to make all
kinds of noise and everybody hugged and kissed.
I was sure glad Karen was here!
Dad called grandma and wished her a happy New Year, then he told us we
all had to go to bed. We'll have dinner
at grandmas later today. I'm hoping this
will be a better year for Karen; she is looking pretty good now. I pray for her all the time.
I'm
reading a new book called The Outsiders.
It was written by a girl only 17 years old! It's a really neat book about three brothers
who live alone since their parents died.
The main character is called Ponyboy and his brother is named
Sodapop. The oldest brother has a
regular name, Darrel. They're poor and
live on the bad side of town and people call them Greasers. The rich kids are called Socs and they're
pretty mean. I'm up to the part where
Ponyboy runs away from home with his friend, Johnny and they're getting jumped
by the Socs. I'm gonna finish that book
before we go to grandma's, so I have to stop writing now and get back to reading. Bye.
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