Our catch phrase is on its way.

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

I turned 8 on January 10, 1956. Big changes were in store for me. For one, my grandparents moved out of their home and onto a farm some 40 miles east of Caseyville, Illinois. Secondly, my parents moved into what had been my grandparents’ house on Hollywood Heights Road, accompanied of course by me and my sister Rosalie and brother Frank. It could have been so smooth… However, also moving into that house were my grandmother (Abuelita Mina Figueroa), newly arrived from Guatemala – along with her youngest child, my aunt Thelma Yolanda, who was the same age as I was (See installments 52 and 85.). Thelma Yolanda made a big hit in our third grade class. What amazed everyone is she could already write using cursive! Also, she could speak perfect Spanish. I have, in previous blogs, mentioned how wonderful my first- and second-grade teachers were. Well, my third-grade teacher was not! I will not mention her name, for she is not anyone I would like to immortalize. Let’s just say that she did not like the way that I always made “straight As” on my report card! She gave me a grade of “C” in a school subject called “health” -- merely because my fingernails were dirty one day. I tried to explain to her that my father had forced me to do some filthy tasks working with grease the day before and had not allowed me to wash my hands as much as I would have liked, saying that it was “a waste of water”. But but that so-called “teacher” would not accept my explanation. I went to the restroom and washed my hands thoroughly there and got them looking much cleaner (although it was tough trying to scrape the grease out of the edges where my fingernails bordered the surrounding skin! That teacher showed no mercy and said, “No, you could have done that at home!” Well, she broke my string of perfect grades, but not my spirit! The rest of the school year I continued to be the student with the best grades among the students at Caseyville Elementary School. My aunt Thelma Yolanda trailed not far behind, however. I was surprised at how smart she was! By the way, in the attached photo, taken at my new home at 1029 Hollywood Heights Road, Caseyville, Illinois sometime in early 1956, the people are (from left to right) Pat Walker (wife of my uncle Donald “D” Walker); Don Townzen (husband of my father’s sister Mildred Townzen); Donna Lynn Townzen (my cousin and daughter of Don and Mildren Townzen – Donna was 4 years old at the time.); my mother Ann L. Walker; me (Steve Walker, age 8); my sister Rosalie, still 5 years old; my brother Frank, 4 years old.

Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.