"- - Actually there Were a few Irregularities- - "

I would now like to do an extended narrative of my first few months as a born again Christian. The story also continues in Part Two in "Karmic Suicide" because it was just too long. Actually I have tried to keep the narrative at a fast pace. Some may wonder how I remember so many details after 35 years, but it’s because I’ve been jotting down notes as I remember things. Actually, I’ve taken on Clifford Irving as a co writer- - so what are you going to do? You remember on Anthology 3 where John was recording “Julia” and Paul was in the booth, and John stops playing and says “Can we take it up right there?” and Paul says, “Actually there were a number of irregularities before that” and a somewhat tipsy John says “What do you mean? It was perfect up to that point”. Well actually, it wasn’t.

On February 18^th of 1976 I was listening to Walter Martin on the radio talking about how you get saved, and I decided right then “Yeah, I can believe that. I guess I am a Christian”. It was in late February that Pete Richards moved out of the apartment where he and his wife had lived. His wife had filed for divorce. Margie seemed like the considerate, caring person who would never do something like that. The previous time I had seen Margie is when they were showing us a house they were thinking of buying in southwest Anaheim around September 25^th of 1975. That didn’t happen. Instead we are to believe “Guess what honey- - I just met someone and we’re going to get married as soon as the divorce is final”. Pete and I still didn’t talk. There had been a wall between us since about late May of 1973. Most all of Pete’s remarks were addressed to my parents when he would come over. In early March I began reading that EST book, that suggested that the way to get out of your personal rut was to do something off the wall and unpredictable. It was a few days later I went to the Wherehouse and bought what would be my last records as an “unsaved” person. None of the three albums were particularly adventuresome. They were three albums I’d been thinking of buying for a long time. They were “Highway 61”, “Muscle of Love” and “December’s Children”.

I was attending Golden West college on that sound engeneering program and I was getting fed up and bored with the class because the mixing board we were to use for the “studio” still hadn’t arrived yet and the year was two-thirds over with. I began skipping classes, and Mom would catch me doing this on one of her frequent days off from her work. I didn’t have a car at this time. I think I sold it to get more money in case I moved out- which I wasn’t particularly planning on doing anytime soon anyhow, and besides, money was absolutely no problem at this time. On St. Patrick’s Day starting this year of 1976 I would wear the same bright green long sleeved plaid shirt. About this time I recorded what would be my last reel to reel tape that concluded on March 19^th and it would be the last recording of any sort I did till January first of 1986.

On March 20^th after nearly a month of living with Dick and Robin, the family was finally invited over to see Pete and how nicely he fit into his new environments. So we met the dog, Toby, and he showed us the crops on the “back forty” he and Dick had planted a few weeks earlier. And everybody met the baby and commented on his blue eyes. Except for me- - who was in some other part of the room or something. It was that Wednesday at school, Golden West, that I heard a roomer that some foxy blonde girl whom I had met two days before, had just died in a car crash. It was that Wednesday Pete Richards was over and parents had gone for the evening and Pete offered to stay and help me do the dishes. It was this evening of March 24^th that I “gave my heart to Jesus” and officially became Born Again. In my writings the next few days, from reading them years later the tone was negative. I wasn’t optimistic. I wrote “My life as I know it is over”. I thought by accepting Jesus that I had “stepped across some line” but I couldn’t tell you what. Dad was on a negative rant about me during this time- -and nothing he said to or about me was positive. Dad had begun seeing a therapist who put him on Prozac. The drug seem to heighten the apathy that was already there.

It was March 30^th 1976, a date established in my actual writings, that Pete Richards announced that Dick and Robin were thinking of moving out of their house sometime, because “when the baby gets older, running out into traffic will be a problem”. Of course the dog is several months older than the baby and Toby never had a problem with running out into traffic. But then again, maybe humans are not as developed as animals. It was that weekend on a rainy day that Pete was over talking to my parents on one of his increasingly frequent visits over. Oddly Pete still had never, not once, invited me to a Bible study at his house, which had been held most every Monday night since last August. Pete was saying that parents weren’t properly disciplining the baby and he would keep saying “Whack his but- - - just whack his butt”. It was the very next Monday, April 5^th that Pete announced that Dick and Robin had just moved out and moved into an apartment. I was bewildered by this news. Apparently they couldn’t take Toby with them, and they had left a number of garden tools and some furniture in the garage. Were they planning on coming back? It was three days later on Thursday evening of April 8^th that the subject was first broached of my moving in with him into the Palm St. house. I expressed numerous reservations about making the move. But I was facing a wall of three on one, if not four on one if you count brother Al, on this subject. They acted as if I were idiotic for even thinking of not doing it. The question arose of just when I might move- and suddenly the crystal ball becomes very fuzzy. There was also a female house guest who was still living there- - with Pete alone. That night I had a nightmare I won’t go into here. The next early morning dawned bright and very sunny.

On April 13^th 1976 it was some election day so I voted at Savanna HS, which was not our usual location. After this I went to the Palm St house to help move Pete’s furniture into the livingroom. Dick and Robin were over and they had the baby with them. This is the first time I actually made eye contact with the baby there in the female “house guest’s” room. I got the funny feeling the baby seemed to know me. More time passed and there was no news on moving. Still Pete had not one time invited me to a Bible study, or any other activity for that matter. It was Saturday night the day before Easter and we were coming home from my Aunt and Uncle’s in Upland. And brother Al launched into an obscenety laced tyrade against Margie, Pete’s wife. I still could not understand why we never saw Margie. Only hearing one side of a story smacks a little too much of Gene Scott and when he would talk about his wife, but never by name. It was a week later Saturday the 24^th of April I guess, which was the very last time I attended a Movie with my parents. We went to see “All the President’s Men”.

Sunday the first day of DLST then, we made another visit to the Palm Street house. I was beginning to become bored by these visits and I hadn’t even moved in yet. Still there was no definite move-in date. Also Pete still had yet to invite me to any Bible Study. Since I didn’t have a car, crashing the party wasn’t in the picture. I found that I actually preferred taking the bus to Golden West. I was taking that sound engeneering class on Monday and Wednesday and an Electronics class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mom would drop me off at the Beach BLVD stop on her way to work and the bus would go right there. Coming back I would take two busses, that were efficient. Finally the word came down I’d be moving Friday when Dad had a day off. That Wednesday was the last day I’d ride that bus and the last time I went to the sound engeneering class. By now they did have their 24 track mixing board or whatever. But I still didn’t get to use it. Even if had been allowed to, I would want a lot of time to myself to experiment on the thing. Thursday April 29^th was the last time I would visit the Hasket branch library in a long time. I remember that the Jacaranda trees were in full bloom.

Well Contrary to what Charles Laughlin famously said in a movie "You're going to have to hear this one in installments" because the posting was just too long, and the two first posts of the month cut cut off and I can't count on you people to read the side bar links. So go to "Karmic Suicide" there this whole story line continues for several more months.