Excerpt
When one writes his memoirs I suppose it is presumed that you start at the beginning. Now I dont know exactly when my memory kicks in as far as month or year, but I will attempt to go back as far as I can and bring my earliest recollections back to mind. I do know some things to be true without actually remembering them at all. Especially since not many individuals can remember their first years of life. Lets just say Ill come in at around 5 years old where I have a very vivid memory, but more about that a little later.
I do know that I was born in Sandwich, Illinois on January 14, 1945 to Ralph and Gertrude Wallis and that Im the eldest of their two children. I also know that my mom must have been very relieved the day I was born since she was all of 411 and I weighed in at over 10 lbs. at birth. At the time of my birth I believe my dad was still serving in the Merchant Marines since World War II was still occupying the news of the day.
To set the record straight right from the start, Im not going to do a lot of research or ask many questions of people who would know, what fun would that be. What I write will be as I recall how things happened as to the best of my ability. Thus the reason I started writing this at age 58, since I dont know if Ill be able to recall anything if I wait much longer. Also, I intend to write this as if Im writing for my children, if anyone else wants to read this fine, but it is really for them. So Lisa, Lori, Amy, Kelly and Todd this is for you.
I said earlier that I had a very vivid memory at age 5 and the reason I know I was 5 is because the memory is of my first day of Kindergarten at W.W. Woodbury grade school.
Why do I remember this? Because I still remember that day as if it was yesterday. I remember my mom and me walking into that basement classroom and having all those other kids staring at me as we came in the door. Ive had stage fright in front of large groups ever since. We must have been a little late because if memory serves and Im not sure it does, I swear I was the last one in and everyone in the room was looking at the new guy. Hell, we were all new but I was the newest by 30 seconds. I loved school as the years passed but that first day of Kindergarten will stay with me even when the rest of my memory is long gone.
I may have had earlier memories but I cant verify them and if I could it had to have been centered on Christmas with mom, pop and my brother Rich. Those early Christmass were like magic when we were kids. My recall of those first Christmas mornings may be a composite of memories of age 3, 4 or even 5, but whatever, they were wonderful times. Rich and I would get up Christmas morning to find all the treasures that Santa Claus had left us under the tree. All the toys and gifts were under the tree, unwrapped and wonderfully displayed. It truly was and still is the happiest time of the year for me.
I guess I would be remiss if I didnt tell you about an experience that involved both Kindergarten and Christmas before I close out this remembrance. I told you earlier about my early stage fright, well it was confirmed a few weeks before Christmas while in Kindergarten when Mrs. Cortright, our teacher, offered everyone an incentive to memorize The Night Before Christmas. All students who could memorize The Night Before Christmas would receive this really cool Santa Claus pin to wear in class the days before Christmas vacation. However, you had to stand in front of the class and recite it. Im sure Im not the only one who screwed it up more times than Liz Taylor has marriages, but I just couldnt do it. Finally, I think Mrs. Cortright took pity on me and had me recite it just to her alone and I did it without a problem. Needless to say I knew at an early age that I wouldnt have a career in acting, although I did get a few lines in our high school plays years later.
Do I need to say what my favorite subject was in Kindergarten? If you guessed naptime, followed closely by coloring then you would have guessed right. Trying to keep the colors within those pictures however was hard! As far as I can remember I had no girlfriend in Kindergarten and if I cant remember its pretty safe to say I didnt have one. I do remember we only went to school for half a day and I was pretty worn out by the time I got home, probably just in time to eat and take another nap. Those were the days.
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