Memories of 87 years by Bob

 MUSIC and HIGH SCHOOL I have decide to write segments about my high school experience so I begin with my 9th year of school. MUSIC Sometime at the beginning of the school year Edgar Williams (bandmaster) called me aside to talk about my position in the band. The conversation went something like, "Bob, you are never going to be first chair on clarinet. Shirley R*** has that position until you both graduate. But, I could use an oboe player if you are interested". Well, that started a love affair with an instrument for me. I agreed to try to learn and became obsessed with the instrument. I practiced every day at least an hour, sometimes 2 or 3. I was a spoiled brat. How he did it I don't know, but Mr Williams arranged for a purchase of one of the finest oboes on the market and furnished all the reeds I needed. I loved playing and performing and did so at every opportunity. He (Mr Williams) arranged private lessons at Rollins College by the 2nd chair oboist from the New York...

 THIS AND THAT My oldest daughter copied me on a Facebook post which I found interesting. It said that 99% of the people born during my time are now dead. Somedays I feel like I am one of them instead of the 1% still here! Anyway, I thought about my memos and realized it is only a couple more days until I turn 87 so I guess instead of calling it memories of an 87 year old I should say 87+ (Optimistic,huh?) I was 5 years old at the start of WWII, too young to join but old enough to remember certain aspects. It is safe to say that most commodities were rationed, some more noticeable than others. Sugar was a problem, as was rubber and oddly enough aluminum! Saturday matinees were always fun and during rationing entry could be gained by bringing an aluminum pot. By the end of the war my mother had no pots (She never liked cooking anyway!). As far as I know, no automobiles were produced for the private sector so we made do. A sad note there as my dad had to sell his 1940 Lincoln for hea...

 JUNIOR HIGH AND HIGH SCHOOL When I was in school, there was no "Middle School", just Junior High. My Junior High was in the same building as the high school and was comprised of the 7th and 8th grades. When that changed is  not something I would know. I'm OK with the way it was! Junior High as I remember was pretty simple except we walked from classroom to classroom instead of being in one room all the time. The most exciting thing that happened to me was discovering music. Band was one of the classes offered and I enrolled without hesitation. I had never attempted any instrument up to that time. I started out on the clarinet and played it until I started high school. I loved performing and being a part of the band. Edgar W Williams was the leader and I think he and I hit it off right away. I still have a clarinet but don't play much due to arthritis in my thumbs which hinders playing in the upper range. Sometime around entering Junior High I retired as a Grit delive...

 ADDENDUM II TO GRADE SCHOOL I am going to get through this but I thought this was a funny/sad story. Some how we ended up owning a Tom turkey. If it was originally intended as dinner, it somehow received a reprieve. It became quite a pet and when out of the cage would follow us around. Every day, when my dad came home from work, the turkey would run up to my dad and "gobble, gobble" until its head was rubbed. I remember the time of year very well as my mother was big and pregnant with the twins (that was November1946). She had been confined to bed a great deal, maybe because of discomfort and she was 37 years old!. Anyway, my dad loved hunting and every year set up camp in Ocala National Forest. He usually started a week or so before hunting season and then he and his friends would take the hounds to hunt deer. In spite of my mother's condition this was no exception. It turns out hunting season was just before Thanksgiving so when he returned from hunting we "celebr...

 ADDENDUM TO GRADE SCHOOL When I re-read this section I think it comes across like I think I am more intelligent than most. Believe me, I don't feel that way. I don't believe having a higher intelligence quota than average makes a person smarter. I'm not saying we don't need the Einsteins or Hawkins, but some one is required to MAKE something from those theories. We need the Colonel Sanders and the george Washington Carvers, the guy who can wire your house or fix that leaky faucet. I am none of those. I am an 87 year old man trying to remember how I got here (that makes me the oldest survivor in my family). I think I qualify on the stupid meter more than the bright one. I make it sound as if my family was poor. That is not the case. We ate well and owned our own house (sometimes 2!). My dad had good jobs (at least after 1941) and my mother could grow anything. I believe any stick she put in the ground would blossom. We had a cow and chickens (a turkey once: more on that...

 SCHOOL YEARS GRADE SCHOOL My family moved to 1705 Michigan Ave the summer I turned 6 (1942). There was no kindergarten in those days so we waited for first grade. I loved school for a number of reasons, one of which was that it got me away from the chaos that was our home. I was a good student I think. I received straight As all through 1st to 6th grade. I loved the spelling Bees which were a part of learning. Don't know if I ever won one but was never first to sit down. Our principal for grade school was Mr Glass, who's son Malcolm was and is a friend all through school and beyond. One of my "crowning" achievements was to be appointed a crossing guard. Yes they did use students. Thanks to Michael Overstreet for the photo. I couldn't find my copy. Most of my fellow guards have passed on but there are still 2 or 3 left. I'm lower left, Malcom is upper left and his dad is upper right. I don't think we ever arrested anyone but we sure looked official! My cou...

 CHILDHOOD When I started this memoir I wasn't sure where I wanted to go, and I am still not convinced. After almost 87 years a great deal of memories are a little scattered but I'll try to be as accurate as I can. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, evidence has it that I was born August 26, 1936 on Garfield Avenue in Winter Park, Florida. We had a phone, or at least we did when I was old enough to remember. It hung on the wall and other people, not family, shared the same line as we had. So, when picked up, one had to see who else, if anyone, was speaking. If no one was occupying the line an operator would assist one in connecting. Sometimes in this era of automation and AI, I wish to hear that calming voice. We had a radio, I think, but for most of my childhood, that was it. There was no TV, internet or any handheld devices. Oh yes, and there was no air conditioning. You simply have not been hot until in 95 degree, 100% humidity weather. When we played it was usually outside,...

 I will finish introducing my siblings today. After that I will try to remember my 87 years. My memory isn't what it was at one time but I remember periods so bear with me! PAUL DAVID AND PATRICIA ANN BURKETT I am lumping the twins together even though Paul is 45 minutes older and Pat was a surprise! Paul and Pat were born November 29, 1946, our only postwar babies. Along with me, they are the only surviving children of Levi and Nuna. Because they are 10 years younger than I am, I was not around for their formative years. Pat was my dad's long desired daughter (why I don't know, sons are easier). Of course things never work out exactly as planned and our dad did not live to see them grow up. I know a part of their childhood was very difficult but I won't pretend to interject myself into that part of their lives. We have had the pleasure of knowing each other as adults and I will concentrate on that in future posts. Paul is married to a living saint, Karen. They have 2 c...

 I decided to try one more section today. It will be short as I don't have much to say about this brother. KENNETH (Kenny) EARL BURKETT Kenny was born December5, 1940. He died somewhere around 2015. He led a very troubled life and what contact I had with him was short and painful. I can not even approach the amount of pain he caused for his family. I won't go into details in hopes of not dredging up bad memories. He will appear in some of my other posts. He died homeless and without friends as far as I know. I have no photos of him.  Next up are the 2 other surviving members of my immediate family then I will go back to other memories!

 I am gaining on the preliminaries to my story. Today I will start with my younger siblings! LAWRENCE (Larry) ALLEN BURKETT Larry was born March 3, 1939. This of course makes him closest to my age of the Burkett family. After a 10 year struggle with Renal Cell Carcinoma (kidney cancer) he passed out of this life July 4, 2003, fitting, as he loved fireworks and that holiday. He and I grew up friends and co-conspirators although he was more the conspirator and I was the co (LOL). We shared a room with Jim when we were very young, which was a challenge: bunk beds, no sheets, etc. After Warren left, Jim occupied a bedroom and our younger brother moved in. When Jim left we shared a bedroom next to the kitchen. It had a bare light bulb above the bed and Larry managed to break the bulb and cut below his eye. He carried a scar there as long as he lived. Larry was always a storyteller (some might say he stretched the truth). This served him well as he got older. None of us were particularly...

 Today I am going to at least write about 2 more siblings, maybe 3. As Jackie Gleason used to say: "And away we go!" JAMES (Jimmy, Jim) EDWIN BURKETT My brother Jim was born August 3, 1933. He claimed a lot that he was a year older but I know better! His name sounds very distinguished like he should have been a successful lawyer or politician, maybe even President. I have no doubt this could have happened under different circumstances. He was very intelligent but there were too many anger issues. He did not finish high school. In fact he went through the 9th grade twice until he turned 16 and they requested he not come back. I think the breaking point for my parents and him was the day he was so angry and my mother reacted by breaking his collection of original Caruso records (78s).  At 17 mom signed for him to join the marines. This was during the Korean War and many young people who enlisted at the same time were killed when the Chinese came down to help North Korea. His fr...

 MY SIBLINGS Today I want to introduce my immediate family. I am going to include my cousin Juanda as she and I were more like brother and sister rather than cousins. Sadly, I have no pictures of her other that our yearbook photos, which I will try to copy. Please remember, these our my memories. All of these persons have memories of their own. If my recollections are different I am apologizing now. Of my immediate family, only 3 of us are alive, Paul, Pat and myself, but there are children to take into account. I will try not to dishonor anyone. OK with that I start. WARREN LEVI II Warren was born November 2, 1926. As I mentioned, his mother's seventeenth birthday was 6 days later . His early life is a mystery to me.  Mostly this is because I was born when he was 10 and I was so busy running from Jimmy I didn't have time to pay attention (lol). He was born at our home on Garfield Ave and graduated from Winter Park High school in 1944. He immediately joined the service, joinin...

 GRANDMA LAMON and GRAYPOP I don't have an exact date for my grandmother's birth. Her name before marriage was Ruth Strickland. She had 2 children by her first marriage, my dad and his sister Gertrude (Gertie). I met Aunt Gertie a few times and you could tell she was related by looks to my dad. Boy, could she drink, cuss and smoke though. My dad never smoked or drank,  Grandma Ruth was widowed when my dad was 8 (1909) so I assume she was born around 1885. She was around 65 or so when she died. She was a tiny woman who loved her snuff (tobacco). When she visited she would try to hide it from us kids but kids being what they are, we found it and sampled! I thought it was disgusting but to each his (or her) own. I never new Graypop's first name. He was a big contrast to grandma, a large man with a big moustache. He was an oyster fisherman by trade. He was the closest thing to a grandfather I had and for a long time I thought he was my grandfather. He visited once in a while an...

 Where to start? My name is Robert (Bobby) (Bob) Burkett There is nothing extraordinary about me except I have lived longer than any other family member, so I will begin with CHILDHOOD I was born at home (yes, no hospital) On Garfield Avenue in Winter Park Florida August 1936. I don't remember anything until I was about 3 so I guess that is where I should start. I do have a couple of photos of me when less than 3, so I guess I was around but that's it This photo Was me dressed by my cousin or aunt; not sure which. I think I was 2 or so. Guess she thought I was too pretty to be a boy so she dressed me as a girl. I'm sure she ruined my psyche. I think we owned the house on Garfield until I started school. I know we were there at the start of WWII. I remember Mom telling me the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor even though I had no idea where that was located. She always felt we needed a "country experience" so we live off and on in Oviedo Florida which was nowhere. I...