Remembering John

 

How do I say goodbye to my Cousin John?

He is featured in so many memories of my life. As a young child, I recall being so excited when “Johnnie and Ronnie” were coming to visit. I saw cousins James and Derrick every day, as they lived across the street, but these cousins brought a fresh, daring vibe to our kid adventures

When us cousins got together as kids, my brother Fred, the oldest and more mature cousin would usually exclude himself from our shenanigans. John, the next oldest, became the de facto leader and the facilitator of fun.

He led us as we attempted to launch a G.I Joe helicopter off a roof to see if it could fly. John was the aerodynamic engineer as our Evel Knievel toy motorcycles attempted jumps over all kinds of objects culminating with an attempt either onto or from a roof! His never-ending imaginations once led him to put “golden ticket” type notes into helium balloons and let them go to gauge the distance of the responses.

John also used my Super 8 movie camera to direct us in a silent stop-action short film. The five of us spent an entire summer recording a TV News parody that John had conceived using our audio cassette recorders.

I smile whenever I think about our childhood trips to Disneyland. Playing “Ditch em” on Tom Sawyer Island with my cousins was insane. Speaking of insane, John nearly crossed the line once when he boldly opened a closed gate at the Monorail station nearly causing the whole family to be kicked out of Disneyland!

Besides our country’s independence, July 4^th always makes me think of John and his plastic car models. He would modify them with Piccolo Pete components for propulsion and firecrackers for explosion. Just like in an action movie, if you didn’t pay attention, you might end up having to suddenly dodge a Hot Wheel with a bomb speeding towards you.

When we all began having families of our own, we didn’t see each other as often. Though I’d see John at birthday parties, my family and I would randomly run into him in the strangest places under the most bizarre circumstances. We walked into the Cerritos Target one evening and there was John sitting alone on a bench just inside the store. Imagine our surprise when, on another evening, we were grabbing a snack at Taco Bell and when we reached the window, John had commandeered the drive-thru and asked, “will there be anything else?”, as he handed us our food!

John’s most notable unexpected sighting occurred when my wife, Chris and I were on a dinner date at our favorite romantic spot, Johnny Carino’s in Downey.

There I was sitting across from Chris discussing the menu gazing into her eyes, when suddenly the spell was broken by the startling shock of John sliding next to me and putting his arm around me!

Over the years random “John encounters” were also logged at Bob’s Big Boy, Home Depot, Downtown Disney, and Toys R Us of course.

So, how do I say goodbye to Cousin John?

It makes me sad knowing there will never be another one of those surprise meetings.

But my sadness turns to a sweetly hopeful expectation when I realize the next place, I’ll see John is in Heaven.

So, it’s not goodbye, but until then.

 

Too Busy Singing...

The people who know me well, know that I am a Monkees fan. I have been since I was 4 years old. Why?

The news of Davy Jones' passing and the surprisingly large magnitude of tributes, caused me to ponder that question.

The TV show was fun. It was part 60's sitcom, a bit of the "Hard Day's Night" Beatles, a bit of the Marx Brothers and it was full of great sixties Pop Music. As a kid I loved the music, the silliness and the loyalty of that the group displayed towards one another. And they were always “too busy singing to put anybody down”.

As an adult I have enjoyed The Monkees as fun nostalgia. They were actors that were cast to play a fictional band in a TV show. Those 4 actors became a real band performing to sold-out audiences in record breaking numbers. It has been interesting watching the reunions and revivals over the last 45 years. The endurance of the popularity has been remarkable. They captured fans of multiple generations as the TV show aired successfully on NBC Prime Time in the 60's, CBS and ABC Saturday Morning reruns and daily syndicated reruns in the Seventies and MTV in the 80's. They toured the US and UK in 2011 to audiences of all ages.

Will the casts of Glee or High School Musical be touring the country in the year 2050? I wonder.

Monkees Artwork by Patrick Owsley used by permission.

powsley.blogspot.com

Memories of Mom

My Mom passed away on January 12th. I have been wanting to write a blog about her. She was the biggest fan of my blog and so I think it would be most appropriate to present some of my memories of her.

I loved my Mom's cooking. She made these great grilled cheese sandwiches that went so well with her Cream of Tomato soup. She made homemade spaghetti that I would consume beyond capacity.

She made Birthdays and holidays special. She made great custom Birthday cakes. My favorites were my Monkees cake and my Bozo cake. Christmas were always overwhelming with food and presents and more food, especially the homemade sugar cookies.

When we were kids, if a Halloween costume of our favorite character wasn't available, Mom would make it for us. She did a great Spiderman costume for my brother Freddie. My favorite was the Bozo the Clown costume she made from scratch for me.

Mom was always was the room mother at school going on the field trips. She was our Den mother in Cub Scouts. She was on the booster clubs when we were involved in sports.

She planned these amazing cross-country vacations. Over the years we must have stopped at every point of interest in the AAA guide in at least 8 or 9 states. Those were great times.

I was part of a Science department trip to Catalina Island, when I was in High School. Mom and I disagreed on what I should take and what I should store my gear in. She won. Much to my chagrin, I was toting a suitcase full of clothes. When I arrived at school to board the bus, Mom felt bad when all the other kids had duffle bags or backpacks. She knew that I would get teased. When we reached the institute, even the workers were making fun of my suitcase. At the scheduled end of our trip, the waves were too choppy so we had to stay another day. All the kids had packed for 3 days. All except for me, who had a suitcase full of clothes, thanks to Mom. I felt like the Howells on Gilligan's Island. All the guys were begging to borrow some of my extra underwear. Mother Knows Best!

When I was in college, I had put off a Religious Studies assignment until the night before it was due. I was supposed to find a secular song that conveyed something from the Bible. I had a lot of records but no ideas. As the clock reached 1am. I gave up and went to bed. When I arose the next day, my paper was finished and neatly typed. Mom had stayed up all night going through my records. She found a song that worked great as an ode to Lot’s wife: "Don't Look Back" by Boston. The "A" I received really belonged to her

Mom left us one of those “In Case Anything Happens to your Father & I” letters that we found the day after she died. She wanted to comfort us in the event that they died together in an accident. She wrote, "If we are gone when you read this then you know we are happy together in Heaven ” She updated the letter after my Dad died and wrote, “Your father has gone on to Heaven without me. It is not his fault. He didn’t want to go.” Now she has joined him.

The greatest thing, my Mom ever did for Freddie and I was to introduce us to Jesus. She taught us about Him, prayed with us every night, took us to Sunday School and modeled Christ in her life. It is now that Faith that comforts my family today because we know we will be reunited with her because of our relationships with Jesus.

Drive My Car

Have you ever had an experience with a service provider that made you wonder how the person you dealt with survives in the customer service business. I’ve had a few recently and I’ve selected the best to share.

On the last day of our vacation this past August, the kids had tickets to see a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. We reserved a rental car online with one of the major car rental companies so Chris and I could drop our music loving children off in Hollywood. We would then venture over to Citywalk for a dinner and movie.

When we arrived to pick up the car, they had no record of our reservation and no cars left. After waiting for the rental agent and owner to text back and forth, we were upgraded to a van. Not what we wanted but it would get us to Hollywood.

Our journey was just minutes old when we experienced a tire blowout. I managed to maneuver the van off to the shoulder of the Freeway. As we waited for AAA to assist in changing the tire, we called and alerted the rental company to the tire damage. AAA responded quickly but the delay resulted in the kids missing the first act at their Concert.

We returned the car the next day. Their representative examined the car, we paid the bill and drove off. Several hours later, we received a message indicating that we owed $150 for the damaged tire. I called the credit card company to file a claim with their Car Insurance Damage Coverage. When I tried to give the car rental owner my insurance claim number, he adamantly refused to accept my valid insurance. He demanded immediate payment and threatened to sue me in small claims court and jack up the price if he did not receive it. He then berated me for not taking their insurance and scolded me for returning his van with only three good tires. When I pointed out that threatening a customer with litigation was a novel approach to customer service, he justified his aggressive behavior by saying, “people don’t want to pay their bills in this economy”.

We allowed him to charge our credit card. I did write to the company’s corporate office inquiring if the chain endorses this unique style of service. Their response did not contain any comments from the company, only the franchise owner’s comments.

I was and continue to be flabbergasted.. How does someone like this stay in business?

Have you ever experienced anything like this?

On The Radio

A picture on the L.A. Dodgers Facebook page featuring Vin Scully and Dick Enberg, reminded me how much fun it was watching and listening to sports in Los Angeles in the 1970’s. The 70’s were when people still carried transistor radios instead of IPODS.

Vin Scully was and is the king of Baseball announcers. In the 70’s, only about 20 Dodger games would air on TV per season. Radio was how we really bonded with the Dodgers. Vin would paint the pictures with his colorful words creating an excitement that made the listener feel as if he was there sitting next to him. Others have proven that is not so easy to entertain while simply describing a game into a microphone. I have so many childhood memories that include a soundtrack supplied by Vin Scully and the Dodgers. In the car or on a transistor radio, it never felt like Spring had arrived until we would hear Vin say, “It’s time for Dodger Baseball!” for the first time each year.

Dick Enberg was the workhorse for GWB which owned KTLA Channel 5 and KMPC 710. As the longtime voice of the Angels, Rams, UCLA Bruins and Boxing from the Olympic, he was always on the air it seemed. During most of his tenure in SoCal, he had to endure some pretty bad Angel and Ram teams. It was during some of the biggest Angel blowouts, that he would really shine and keep his listeners engaged even though the Angels were losing badly and already eliminated. And it would only be June! His work with Don Drysdale with the Angels and Merlin Olsen with the Rams made for some great radio. He also co-created and hosted a great TV Game Show called “Sports Challenge”. The show had that special quality that made it both corny & cool. It is a shame that Dick Enberg is working for the Padres and not the Angels. I don’t know what they are thinking in Anaheim.

For those of us who loved sports in Southern California, we were blessed with the opportunity to hear Chick Hearn and Bob Miller with the Lakers and Kings. They both became Hall Of Fame announcers and kept fans rooting for some pretty poor teams. Bob and Vin are still behind their mikes but other less memorable voices now fill the Angel and Laker airwaves. The Rams, of course, moved somewhere a while back. I’m not sure where.

I’m thankful for the memories that SoCal’s Sports Golden Throats of the 70’s have left me with. Now, where did I leave my IPOD?

The Rainbow Connection

Many years ago, Chris and I were going through a very difficult trial that never seemed to end. At the darkest point we were extremely disappointed by some people we trusted. We wondered would this season ever change. Why weren’t our prayers being answered.

On a rainy day we were driving together. The sun emerged and seemed to chase the rain away. As I made a turn on a Bellflower street, we saw this amazing rainbow. I had never seen anything like it before or since. The colors were so bold and vibrant. Even though rainbows aren't supposed to have actual bands of colors, we saw clear separation between distinct bands of colors. It was breathtaking and without even saying anything to each other, Chris and I both, immediately, knew that we had witnessed a confirmation that God honors his promises.

Shortly after our rainbow sighting, things changed and our prayers were answered.

Now every time it rains I remember:

1. Rain must fall
2. God is faithful
3. A rainbow always follows the rain to remind us of number 2.

It Never Rains in Southern California

Rain in Southern California brings two things to mind

Number One: It convinces me that we are weather cry-babies. There are people who live in areas that face mudslides or other dangers and people who have physical conditions effected by the weather. They have legitimate concerns. But so many of us complain about getting hit with rain. We act like we are the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz and we are going to melt if we get wet. Not only that, we gripe when it is too hot, when it is too cold, when it is too dry, too wet, too windy, etc.

Number Two: There are so many songs that I think of when it rains and then I can’t get them out of my head. Here are a list of my favorite rain songs.

1. It Never Rains in Southern California
2. She Rather Have The Rain
3. Baby, The Rain Must Fall
4. Rainy Days and Mondays
5. Rain
6. Another Rainy Day In New York City
7. Go Ahead and Rain
8. Fire and Rain
9. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
10. Pray For Rain
11. Midnight Rain
12. Walking in the Rain
13. December Rain (I wrote that one)

I challenge my readers to name the artists who recorded these songs. How many can you name?