This American Family

Christmas 1976

I can’t speak for my parents on what it was like to raise a child that doesn’t look like them. They’d have to start their own blog about that. The only thing I can remember my mother mentioning was some family members made comments like, “He doesn’t look too Asian”. Now this may sound crazy people, but to give an example of the area and time we were in, my grandmother (Mother’s Mom) said she didn’t see a black person until she was 16. This is Pennsylvania Dutch Country. We outen the lights, red up our rooms and have to be careful out on the macadam when it’s spritzing.

We lived at Silo Lane with my grandmother for four years. My father worked for the Reading Railroad Company as a train dispatcher. Conrail absorbed the Reading Railroad and we moved to the Hershey, PA area. With perfect timing, we moved to our new house the week of the Three Mile Island incident. Three Mile Island is not far from Hershey.

USA! USA!

From then on, I had a typical 80s childhood. Started ice hockey at age five… well maybe that’s a typical Canadian upbringing. But… I played baseball and soccer… learned archery and rifle target shooting… biked around, skateboarded and got into adventures with the neighborhood kids… fought with my older sister. I was obsessed with The Dukes of Hazzard and Transformers. Didn’t miss NBC’s Thursday night lineup – Cosby, Family Ties (watching now as I type this), Cheers and Night Court… too young to stay up for Hill Street Blues. I owned Garbage Pail Kids cards…coveted all things neon… owned knockoff “Jams”… wanted, but never received “parachute pants”. I probably wore too many Ocean Pacific, Rude Dog and T&C Surf t-shirts. It was the 80s!!!

If Mr. T says Be There… YOU BE THERE FOOL!!!