I have to get ready for my birthday party this Sunday, the 4th of July, so I don’t have a lot of time. I’ll be thirteen years old tomorrow, Saturday, the third of July. My mom said she was glad I came out before the fourth because she knew I was gonna be an awful big baby. I was, 8 pounds 3 ounces. My mom had six kids and I was the biggest one. She said I hurt the most, whatever that means.
Before I forget or get too much older I would like to tell ya all a story about a train set I got from my dad last Christmas. It was only a few months ago, but it already seems like a long time ago. So maybe if you could sit for a while, I’ll tell you my story. It’s a Friday night around nine o’clock and it’s still light outside. I’m really excited about becoming a teenager tomorrow—I’ve been waiting a long time. Besides, I’m too excited to sleep.
It all started when we moved back to Seattle from Kansas City, Missouri. Ya see, my dad is in the food service business and he got transferred to Kansas City about two years ago. After that, everything went downhill for my dad. I mean he was so upset all the time when we lived down there. Our first day down there in July, it was 102°. It was so hot that pop bottles were exploding inside a truck that didn’t have a refrigerator.
