I don't want to sound as if my entire life was becoming more adult like at the expense of my childhood. I was never "pushed" to do anything. Quite to the contrary I was allowed to set my own pace. Although I seemed to never get enough of all the new things on Catalina I was still just a kid. The neighborhood was still just one big family. We still had our beach parties and our friendly "at ease" atmosphere toward one another. The Monica kids still threw rocks at all of us and Raymond Davis still kept his eye glasses taped together.

Al let me work on the boat when ever I wanted. He never made me keep regular hours like a real crew member. There would be times when he'd ask me to come with him on the boat. Usually when something came up that he thought I'd gain experience from. I had become a good pump man and line tender. I'd reached the point to where he trusted me on those jobs. In as much as his life depended on my ability to handle those task I was very proud and conscious of the faith he had in me. 

Danny and I still made a few dollars working for Hector. We had become kind of his adopted kids. Just like every other  adult on the island, Hector watched over us and all the other kid's.

The missionary ladies still came over from the mainland to teach us and we all still showed up for their sessions. In the same pursuit my mom had started taking Lowell and me to church in Avalon. Actually she took most of the neighborhood kids to church. We'd all "pile" into the Blue Ford on Sunday morning and head for town. There was no predominate faith on the island so the church was pretty much non-denominational. I must admit that I enjoyed that church. There was always something going on there to promote the faith and the community. As a result the church enjoyed a lot of support from the locals.

True to my southern up bringing I tried to go and visit with friends I'd made on the island. Whether it was the old glass blowers or my "cooking buddy" that sold me that ugly bicycle, I'd try to touch base now and then. It was just part of me to be that way. My brother said I would have made a good politician. I'm not sure if thats a compliment or not.