I had an incredible weekend filled with Denver memories. It was as if I was narrating a story as I walked into Neiman Marcus viewing the dresses that my daughter now wears.

Yesterday the most fantastic thing happened-I went to my old house in Denver on Pecos St. 50 years have past. The tenants were home and I introduced myself but they spoke little English They let me go inside as I heard and felt the memories of the furniture in my sisters bedroom now residing at the cabin . When I entered the basement I remembered when I use to sneak underneath the stairs and pull out my old Halloween costumes Mom would find me sitting there wrapped with the memories of Halloween past- "Don't get into this anymore she scoulded as she yanked me into reality and out of my gaze "There's black widows in here", she would scould not knowing what she meant. I wasn hoping to find an old unwanted piece of candy that might have fallen astray. I was in my happy place sitting there all the while listening to my record player and the song "The Muffin Man-Have you seen the muffin the man that lived on curly lane?"
As I left that sweet memory we crept back up the stairs into the backyard. Waves of a memory appeared as I gazed trying to find a stairway no longer there that lead into the back door-memories flooded in as I remembered the violent fight my dad had with my older brother (Vern) the night they got into a fist fight. They were common place. I was only 4 he was 14 protecting my mom from a very drunk father. Yes it all flashed before my eyes as I searched for the now gone incinerator we use to throw and burn our trash in the back yard while jumping on the trampoline and playing tent.
My focus shifted towards the long gone coin operated milk machine down the block where you slid in a dime and out came a bottle of milk yes with a cardboard stopper. As my eyes peered around the long forgotten backyard and the patio that was never there I saw a box a white box with the words Royal Crest Dairy on it. To my delight I shreaked and told the host "that was my old milk box they use to have 4 qt glass bottles of milk inside-as he opened up the lid on the old wooden white box with blue letters I said "look you can still see the remains of the dust outline where 2 of the bottles that use to sit there in that very box" I asked "would you consider letting me buy this old box from you" the one that hadn't spoken English to me yet said "oh no it has to stay with the history of the house" Funny I thought, now he speaks. Oh, others have history in this house, how odd. I thought. I thought I was the only one, with history...disappointed I treated my eyes to the piece of old familiarity of the box as if it was a long lost relative. The other man must have understood my look as he removed all the debris surrounding the box and said "You want" I said "Oh yes, but I don't have much money for it, "no he said it yours", but but...and the other man looked away as he moved the box towards me with his foot-I bent to pick it up and it was stout-I asked "could you carry it to my car for me?" Sure sure and they grabbed the box and put it into the back of moms car still refusing to take the $5 bill I offered up to them . blue color wedding selections

I looked over across the street and pointed towards where my old school use to be, there I said-"ROUSH elementary" "R" is for remembering as I remembered the song we sang lined up the song we sang everyday in the school yard after saying the pledge of allegiance.

Mom couldn't wait for me to enter school I was 5 my brother Phil not yet born. I was the baby then. Short lived . Phil arrived 2 years later . They didn't have kindergarten back in 1959, so my mom begged the Principal to enroll me, age 4 Never mind My 5th birthday would follow in 3 weeks making me perfectly legal to enter the first grade. One last bill mom would have to pay, a babysitter. Dad was always stopping at the bar after work and writing checks while mom was at home at night paying the bills, but the bills would always bounce and there were fees to pay afterwards so Many times we'd be without electricity ....as the scenes trailed out of my head.... I pointed None of this use to be here