When I was a child, I had a lot of things going for me. My parents loved me and allowed me to be my own person. When girls did not have paper routes, I had one...Of course on paper, it was in my brother's name, but they knew at the news paper office that I was the one. I was just one of the guys. We played cowboys and Indians, baseball on the street, roller skated down the hill until we reached the bottom and grabbed the street sign post before we skated into the busy street. My bicycle was my constant companion when I delivered papers and did other things. My favorite thing at home was t "help" my dad in the shop by holding boards, the tape measure and whatever else I could just to be there. We made cages for our pet white rats and hamsters. I wanted to grow up and be an architect but it was too soon for a girl to go that direction and I was a math teacher and a home economics teacher instead. (more later)