[Fishwhenican]

My childhood was a combination of really good things and some really crappy things as well. My mother was Bi-Polar (Manic-Depressive) and so a lot of the good things were pushed aside by totally crazy stuff that a person would rather forget.

Anyway, One of the really fun things I can remember is when my dad and I would hop in the car and go "Bumming". I do not know why in the world he called it that but he did. "Bumming" was a night out with just the two of us and no set plan. We would go until we found something that looked like fun and do it. It might have been an arcade and playing pinball. It might have been a pool hall and playing pool. It might have been just going and getting Ice Cream from the Dairy Queen, whatever.

One of these bumming nights I remember in particular was the night we went to the opening of Jaws! No one had seen this movie yet and no one knew quite what to expect. We came up to the movie theater and there was this huge line so we figured it must be something good. We waited our turn and got our tickets.

I have never ever seen a theater filled with people who were so scared in all of my life. At one point I was watching the people more than the movie, mainly because I was too scared to watch!. People were literally diving into the floor of the theater and screaming and leaving because they were so scared. My dad even lost a contact lens that night because he was throwing his hands up to cover his face and hit his eye and the thing popped out! (I think that was when the head came out of the hole in the boat) I had to go, much later, to see the movie again because there were so many things I missed. I didn't have any idea what came out of the bottom of that boat until a second viewing and no one else who had seen it could tell me either!

Anyway, I will always look back on our "Bumming" night and smile and remember just how much fun it was with just the two of us and no other plan that to do something FUN.

I miss my dad.