When I was seven years old, we moved into downtown Greensburg, Indiana.  We lived in a three story blue house that had a basement, and I had a bedroom of my own on the second floor of the house.  I was so excited, because we could walk or ride our bikes to school.  It was less than a mile to school, but we had no bus to ride so we would walk even if it was raining or snowing.

On the weekends, I remember we would try to find as many coins as we could, and we would go down to the candy store and buy candy.  I remember I liked to buy baseball cards that had a stick of gum in the pack.  

My Dad would take me to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game each summer, and I thought that was the best day of the summer, because I got to get a hotdog, popcorn, and a Coca Cola at the game.  When I came home, I would play baseball in the backyard all day until Mom told me it was time to come inside for dinner.  I loved being outside playing with my brothers, sisters, and all of our friends. 

We found out that year that my Mom was going to have another baby, and it turned out to be another brother – Jerry.    My older sister Susan was eight, Sharon was six, and Jim was two.  It was really fun growing up with a lot of brothers and sisters. 

I started second grade in the fall, and I started to read a lot of books from the library.  I loved to read any books about sports especially baseball and basketball.  Finally, I started training to be an altar boy at church so I could help out during the church service once I was in third grade.