Where did the children go?. Content Warning.
1975 April
I wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, if you catch my drift. I had spent the last three years in private school, where my main focus seemed to be learning how to kiss girls. Seriously! My first kiss happened in 7th grade! The schoolwork was pretty dull and felt like a repeat of what I learned back in 5th grade, even though I was supposed to be in 8th. But hey, I did enjoy reading. "The Giving Tree" was one of my top two favorites, and "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens was my all-time favorite. I connected with it since I was officially an orphan, having lost both my parents. Now, here I was in Plantersville, Texas, also known as the middle of nowhere, and while 9th grade was somewhat fun, I wasn't really shining academically anymore. Things were tough at home, which made school even harder. Thankfully, I had a really awesome teacher, Mrs. Lampe, who treated me like I mattered. I also had a cool friend, Jeanette Ripkowski, and we hung out between classes. It felt good to know I had at least two people who cared about me.
