I realize by re-reading my last blog I left out some time, so let me fix that now.

     My family moved to Baytown, TX in about 1970, and bought a house in a subdivision on the Galveston Bay, called Brownwood. It was a beautiful place with over an acre of land that butted right up against the bay. We would go crabbing and fishing in our back yard and the water was so clear you could see your feet when wading into it. We did a lot of motorcycle riding back then, I got a Honda QA 50 when I was about 8 and rode it everywhere. Growing up in the 70's was great, much safer than now. I still spent summers with Mama Pat, and that was when I met her stepson Clint. He was abusive, scary and 16, and he showed me what sex was.

Back to the story...

So I was about 12 when I became a member of the Baytown Boys Choir, our director was Mattybelle Durkee, a classically trained pianist who attended Julliard. She was incredible, and fostered my love for music and introduced me to theatre. It was at this time that I met my best friend in childhood, Tinker. He taught me things about life that I had never known, and showed me the world in a different way. We were inseperable from age 12 to about 16. Together we traveled with the choir to International music festivals in Mexico, to auditions in Dallas, and TV appearances in Houston. We performed our first musical in about 1975, Tom Sawyer. I played Cousin Mary (it was a boys choir) and fell in love with performing on stage.
The next year we did The Happy Prince, in which I played the Author. I loved singing and performing, and never had stage fright, still don't. At age 16 I was too old to be in the choir anymore, a fact that hurt me, but I understood. By that time I was in high school at Robert E. Lee and was in the choir and drama club there. Between numerous concerts, and three plays a year, my need for performing was met.

     My first year in Drama I performed in The King and I as a slave, and understudy for Lun Tha, one of the leads, I loved it. Our director then was a man named Kim, who I thought was awesome. He left after that year and was replaced by a fresh face 23 year old straight out of college. Her name was Rosemary Calico.
My 11th grade year I performed in a Noel Coward play called Blithe Spirit, it was the first play (non-musical) I had ever done. I enjoyed it, but missed music. The big musical that year was called Lost in the City, it was a melodrama, with old songs. Everyone hated it, it was my first bomb.
After 11th grade, that summer, I got a job at Sears in the paint department, there I met a person who was destined to change my life, open my eyes, and become my life long friend. His name was Rigoberto Hernandez, Jr. but everyone called him Luggie. He was, and still is the funniest and most real person I have ever met in my life.

I will stop here, because the story will get really intense in the next chapter. I hope you have enjoyed reading.

Love and kisses,
John