My Real Memoir
Stevie was my first “normal” friendship. I put normal in quotes because it’s no longer considered appropriate. Personally, I’ve never been normal in any rational sense of the word, but Stevie was. I mean, heck, he had red hair and freckles, which I thought were da bomb and were for some reason considered “All-American” in those days (even though these Irish>Scottish>Viking features are actually pretty rare). And Stevie’s family? Right out of an Ovaltine ad. (I also thought Ovaltine was da bomb.)
Unlike my mom, Stevie’s mom stayed at home all day, gleefully mopping, dusting, making fudge and greeting her husband at the door with fresh-made martinis. Or maybe it was Ovaltine. After all, he was a Cub Scout leader. Honestly? I have no idea what she did, except that she was nice. When Stevie and I got bored, we’d circle the block looking for adventure. But adventure was in short supply in our neighborhood. Until one day we discovered a mysterious change…
Something had happened to the little house on the corner. There were no cars, and the weeds had staged a major coup. There was a half-open window, so we peered inside. On the one remaining piece of furniture, a broken-down dinette table with a few rickety chairs, was a huge pile of wallets!
This demanded investigation! So we climbed in through the window. Who would need a hundred wallets? And then dump out all of their contents? There were cards with the names of stores on them, and thousands of wallet photos. Mostly boring stuff. But the wallets were neato! Suddenly, we heard a car pulling up outside. So we grabbed as many wallets as we could, climbed out the window, and skedaddled! (Does anyone actually “skedaddle” anymore?)
We made up a cool game with the wallets. Until Stevie’s mom found them. And then, just like that, we were in “so much trouble!” Why? Nobody wanted them! Mommandad told me later that a group of “dangerous” crooks (as opposed to the friendly type) had been meeting at that house.
Stevie and I never told our parents about the car we’d heard pulling up.
After The Infamous Empty House Incident we were grounded. So we made up new games, including one that Stevie invented involving Stevie’s German Shepherd “Rinty” running full speed at me over-and-over again. Which was neato! Until the completely out-of-control Rinty collided with my face at 100 miles an hour, resulting in my first of several trips to the hospital. You can read the gory details of the Infamous Dog-Kid Collision Incident here.
We started First Grade that fall, so Stevie and I did recess together for awhile. But wandering the neighborhood was verboten. And Mommandad refused to let me visit Stevie’s house again. So our best buddy status began to fade. Still, I’ll never forget…
My All-American friend.
My Real Memoir is a series. To read the next one, click here.
Mitch Teemley 
Wow, never a dull moment, huh? (I assume “Rinty” is sort for Rin-tin-tin?)
When we look back, it’s amazing to think how many times our guardian angels were steering us just out of reach of disaster, usually without our even realizing it. (On Friday I’ll be posting a recent occurrence/near-disaster that I did recognize.) If I hadn’t known the Lord, I don’t think I would have survived my parenting years.
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;>) Yep!
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Great story! Good, clean, fun!
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Town kids had all the fun!
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Love it!
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Wow, “skedaddle” is a real word and I can almost feel something hurrying away just by pronouncing it. LOL. Wish it is still in use.
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;>) Start a trend!
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I used to skedaddle in my younger years. Now, being much more mature, I simply make like a tree and leave. 😉
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How about make like a banana and split. 😃
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😀
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Use it in Scrabble….so skedaddle and get the game. Lol.
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Wow. Great story! Fun adventures.
This made me remember some childhood memories and, ovaltine, too.😅😃
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Ovaltine was a very big part of my childhood. Gotta get those vitaminnies, as my mom used to say!
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You had a much more exciting childhood than I did. Must have been a boy thing?
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I was (am) a bit of a risk taker. I mean, adventure lies just beyond the “Forbidden” sign, right?
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😀
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Great story and I love the way you tell it.
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Thank you, Marlene.
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Wow, you two were lucky you “skeedaddled” when you did! That was a great story, Mitch!
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Thanks, Ann!
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ah yes, days of innocence
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nice read
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Thank you, Alice.
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Wow! You had my attention with this story Mitch. The wallets part was scary. You wandered right into a crime ring! I had to laugh at “da bomb”, I haven’t heard that it a long time. Thanks for a fun read.
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Yeah, “da bomb” is doubly anachronistic, not current, but not from that era either. I just liked it for some reason. Thanks, Melanie.
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I never understood how we could get into so much trouble when we didn’t KNOW that what we were doing was dangerous or wrong. Is it fair to ground a kid just for being curious? For making good use of things that others obviously don’t want? For being resourceful and creating your own fun? Geez. Parents.
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;>)
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Interesting and gripping.
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