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NORMAL KID'S STUFF

Like a lot of youngsters, I was a bit wild, doing silly, fearless things. But after going through a lot of this, I began getting very ‘serious’ about myself. This lasted for a long time until I realized that I should ‘lighten up’. I guess it’s all about finding ‘balance’ in your life. Here’s a few memories from my youth that perhaps you’ll identify with:

SNOWBALL #1 My family’s apartment building was directly across from the Palace Movie Theater which was separated by a 2 roads going in opposite directions and an island of grass and trees in-between the roads. At age nine, one beautiful sunny, wintry day, I wondered if I could actually reach the theater with a snowball. The snow was really great packin’- just the right consistency for making an “ice ball” which could fly through the air! I aimed up high at the marquee and threw with all my might. It was a good throw for ‘me’, but not for the theater. Although I was pretty far away, I heard a soft sound and saw some glass break. Being a fast runner, I was able to make a quick getaway before anybody knew what happened! I had thrown so hard that I strained my arm. Maybe that was a bit of ‘instant karma’ returning to me!

SNOWBALL #2 You would think I had learned my lesson the first time regarding ’throwing snowballs at things off in the distance’! It was winter-time again some years later. My friend and I were walking home from junior high school. We got near Metropolitan Oval - a large area where cars drove around a rotary, going off in different directions. I picked up some snow, packed it and threw it wildly, as far as I could. Again, I ‘hit’ something. This time, it was a parked car. I was too far away to see that the owner was sitting inside! So when we came walking up near his car, he was standing there angry, just waiting for me. I don’t recall if he grabbed me by my coat, but I’m sure he would have hit me if I had been bigger!

PUNCHBALL DURING LUNCH During our lunch hour at PS 102 in the Bronx, us boys would would eat quickly and then play punch ball, while some of the girls watched. I was a pretty good player, not great, but fast. I was positioned far back in the outfield for this kid who was a very strong hitter. He punched the ball and it came sailing out towards me. I ran and leaped up right against the school wall extending my arm as much as possible. When I came down onto the concrete ground I was so surprised to see the ball lodged in my hand. I had caught it with only two or three fingers!