The 60's and the 70's were so different...

Or so I thought.. I would wonder around at a young age of 3-4 years old,  all by myself. We moved from Queens to Levittown,  Long Island.  My younger sister had just been born so I was around 3. I remember
Standing up on my diaper changer and singing "I'm leaving on a jet plane', and Send a letter Maria.. those were 45's in my day, and my only 2 records . I had a lil record player and I would play them and sing for ever. Unless I was following my brothers to the water Tower!!! I remember following them to JF Sparks School one night , to watch a play of The wizard of Oz, and my father came in there looking for them  to find me and they got there buts kicked all the way home .. Which by the way was across a 4 lane hwy..Jericho Turnpk. I was a baby sister... following them across this hwy.. several times I remember..doing that.. See the Mall was there too. ..,  I would go with my mom. and we would get a Potatoe Knish!!!. Once I found a dollar in the median, and it went straight for that..knish, with pepper and mustard !! So I have a lot of memories from Levittown, NY.
  

so there we were...In Fla.

So,  we cleaned this Trailer up, and then the next day or so we planned on going job hunting. Well this friend of John;s came over in a little Beetle Bug, and we squeezed into it. Well, were at all the restaurants, and Hotels. When this guy left us at the Days Lodge in, and said meet them at I-Hop at 1pm. We said okay..well 1pm came and went... 5pm came and went. remember no cell phones, no phones.. and we had only been at the trailer a day or two. We had to find our way back,by way of hitching, and walking 95 south at night, it was very treacherous, ,and dark.. we walked and walked and when we did get a ride all we could tell them was it was near  train tracks, and it was a trailer.. well there are hundreds of parks but we kept arrowing it down to ... us getting closer finally we were in one that looked like it, and around and around we went and finally we seen it !! 1 am in the morning we were at it!! So cool.. all our belongings, everything we own .. we found it!!! Plus we had the jobs at the Days Lodge Inn.. The next day we were going to start.. well we were there for a few months when I was asked to supervise, by my boss, Gerri.. she was so cool!I did that for a while, and something went wrong I am not sure what , because I remember John and me and Lisa , just being so broke, and hungry.. We went to Johns parents and picked bags of Oranges and grapefruits, and Tangerines, we ate so many of them.. and we got so sick.. for days.. Then we tried the Social Services that helped out a bit. and then, one night after partying in town with these people, we came home in the am and just feel out feet hanging off the bed, and all of a sudden boom bang ,, click.. we were being raided!!! Cops and Detectives everywhere.. hauled us out of there , and hand cuffed Kenny, John , and Jay..brought us to a Juevenile hall, and the guys went to jail. They searched and found everything.. even we were illeagal... so we had to go back to the trailer and pack our stuff up, and go to this home.. And call our parents.. Lisa's parents put an APB on us..and we were found.. See, kenny and me  went to a house that his mother had willed him.. before she died. And  one night when they-his family were eating dinner at the kitchen table, she died... Yep, she died, they called the ambulance and she was hauled away. The next day the father packed up there belongings and moved and for the next 21 years, his dad used this house for storage.. , and willie had the key, and took me there to show me.. and I was in amazement!! There on the kitchen table was the dinner plates, and uneaten pork-chops...skeletonized on plates, as it was that night!! So with that ..I was like look at all this stuff...I mean boxes of Dishwasher soap, crates of household stuff to the cellings ..it filled the house,just apath through the living room to the bedrooms.. and then I saw these Quilts.. beautiful..and he said his grandmother  and mom made them .. there was around 10 of them , and I saw 2 that were so cool, and said take them.. I was like 'Wow".. they even had burlap in them, and the prettiest colors... I was so happy and away we went..,And days later that week, the house was robbed.. and his father blamed it on Kenny, and thats why we were raided. Well, Kenny had rights to be in there so every thing was dropped. We were all let go, and we went back to the Park, and Partyied!!!

As Lame as this all sounds, not a bit of it was done sober.. not one day of it all...

I have to think back, to where I came through, and what I lived trough. I had like 11 car wrecks, none of which were my fault,,, I have worked around 75 jobs, lived as many places as I am of age...50...by the way.. this march 17th!!! I have had around 27 automobiles. I had to work on most of them.. Until , I went and put some blonde in my hair, and a set of nails.. Even after that I still had the know how to  do ...and would fix a problem if not for me , for some one else.  So, more 2morrow.. See you then.

Florida Bound...at 15...

We drove all night. We switched drivers, when Steve got tired. I would be propped up on pillows, and work the clutch while Steve worked the shift stick. Only time I would pull over , was when we had to 'go'... I would just let the engine cut off. That would wake Steve up, and then we could get going again.. I drove all night into Orlando Fla. I had been to Disney World a few years earlier with my family.( I was kind of  familiar)   I knew we needed jobs. So I went to the Employment Office to get us a print-out of Job openings. I found '1' .. taking care of old people . We went to the address, and there sitting on the porch,with a bunch of old folks in wheel chairs, and canes, we interviewed with Mariam. Well, I managed to persuade her to take Lisa and me for the one Salary-$625.00 a month. She said okay!! We had jobs... but Steve did not. So , with that I believe at that time, he just took off for home,back in Va.( I found that out later. )So, we got all our stuff put away. We would start our days taking care of these people, who all had tragic stories. Their families abandoned them for any bit of money!! They left them in homes with no food or means to getting food.One old guy they called Popeye. was fond eating plastic dishes and cups.. in an empty house. One lady even the front door was removed, because it had value to it. So, Maryam would take them in and collect funds form the county, she made out.. We settled in so good, we found freedom some nights, and would disappear for hours, and show up early am sneaking in the window to our room. One morning we got caught..she was standing right there when I got in.. and she was mad, she said 'she couldn't have us girls doing this with her people here. So we would have to go. She paid us for the rest of the month, and we were homeless. we took our stuff.. well everything except a 8x10 photo of Led Zeppelin's, I put under the mattress.. I was and still am mad
 about that. I sat on their tambourine box at a concert and memorized the address, and mailed them a letter , and they wrote me back..with a  great photo of them in the studio. only a few people in my life got to see that..Oh and Lisa forgot her Grandfather, pocket watch.. so we just kept moving on. Wended up at the Disney Park. Set up camp on the built-up roof, a top the contemporary hotel . The one with the Monorail that went through the restaurant... That's where we stayed years earlier. So, we would go down to the Pool Room and shoot pool for a buck a ball, and  that's where we met the brothers. They asked us if we needed a place to stay, and we said yes, and so that night we were heading to there trailer, It was a mess. We cleaned and repaired holes, and got rid of the foot long roaches. just joking, but they were hugh!! So we settled in there. I met Kenny, a quiet guy sitting in a corner chair of the living, we became friends.

Florida bound!!!

So, we drove all night, and I even drove..so Steve could sleep.. I sat up on pillows, I would do the clutch, he did the stick shift, and get us going,  until , one of us had to go... Then , I would just pull-over and let the car put out.. and that's how it went . Until daybreak.. when we hit Florida. Now since I had been to Disney with my Family 2 -3 years earlier, I felt I knew the way to familiar territory. Somehow I got us there, and then , I knew the first thing to do was get jobs. So I went into the Unemployment Office, and I asked for a Printout of the job openings. I found one taking care of old people. So went to Orlando, and interviewed with this woman who was sitting on a porch swing with all these old people,in wheel chairs, and canes. So, with some fast talking, I told her she could have me and Lisa for the one salary,625.00 a month and we would share our room . She said Yes!! So, we emptied the car,and put our stuff away... and Steve did not know what to do.. So, I guess I blew him off pretty bad, now that me and L where settled.. He turned around and headed back up North, I found out later. Well, here we were with 15 old folks that families abandoned!!! For the Money.. They were left to starve to death, Well, we worked hard to take care of them, early in the morning and we began a schedule, and eventually we would get out to party,and that we did.. very hard.. all night and sneak in the bedroom window. One  early morning, I was just putting my foot in the window, and getting ready to turn around in side , and I saw her...She was pissed!!! She said I can't have you girls going out and coming in like this ,with my people in the house.. I will pay you for this month but you will have to go....So, with that we packed up our things. Only , I forgot my autographed 8x10 photo of Led Zeppelin,!!! Under the mattress... only 5 people saw this I sat on there Tambourine box, at a concert.. and I saw the address, and wrote them and they mailed me this beautiful Photo.. I can't believe I left it behind. And Lisa left her Pocket watch.. so we really had a lot on our minds. Well, we were homeless, and all I could think of was to go to Disney .. and we hitched there, and set up camp on top of the Contemporary Hotel..That's were the Monorail goes through..we set up shop, and during our days we would shoot pool, downstairs. That is where we met John and Jay, and we ended up packing up our stuff, and going to there home. They had to persuade me, I remember them coming over to us and asking if we had a place to live? I was like ..no answer, and they said they had seen us there, a lot and if we wanted we could stay with them. So we did, we were on our way to Kissimee, Fla . A Mobil Home park.. There are lots of these Trailer Parks down there especially in the 70's.