One Small Step For Man

My family moved to the Big City in 1969; before my sister was born and before the United States put the first man on the moon. As Paul Harvey would say, no known connection. However, before we came here, my Dad did have a top secret job working for a Government contractor. I also know he has never brought up anything to me about UFO's or Castro. He's a great American.

When we moved here my favorite place to go was Captain Spaceburger. It was a large round building with a "space craft" theme, and it was right across the street from the park. After the lunar landing and a few missions to the Moon, its popularity waned and it closed. During the late 70's the building was a nightclub called the Foxy Lady. After my sister was born, Mom and I found a new favorite place, Der Wienerschnitzel, or the Der as Mom called it. That was as close to Germany as I got as a kid. I was disappointed to learn that it really doesn't mean anything in German. Anyhow, it was good (2 chili cheese dogs, fries, and a Coke), and it was convenient to our favorite place to shop, K-Mart.

Mom and I were always going to K-Mart. I once asked my Mom how far a "mile" was. She told me it was about the distance from our house to K-Mart. So my whole life, I have used that as a point of reference. Moms just don't know all the ways they teach their children. 

Those that know my Mom know that she can be, as she says, a "worry-wort." So can I. I get that from her. She was always telling me growing up, "don't be a worry-wort." When she was a young mother in the Big City, all the stuff she read, saw on TV and in the movies made her worry. So it was, when one day on our weekly trip to check out the blue-light-specials, I wheeled my baby sister into the TV section. There I became engrossed in the Adventures of Ma & Pa Kettle. Surrounded by all that sound, I didn't hear the three intercom announcements for me to come to the front because my Mom was lost. By the time she found me, and before she was done with me, I was wishing I would have been kidnapped. I think I learned a few new German words that day before she took me to the Der.