Thirty-five years ago

The year was 1971, I was living back in the States right in my old neighborhood of Queens.  I had picked that area because my folks lived not too far from me, little did I know that they would soon be transferred by Air France to a little town called Humble in Texas.

My youngest sister Barbie had adjusted pretty well to the move to Texas, she was enrolled in a good high school and was making friends. 

All this was brought back home to me in full force tonight when I read AOL's story about the "cold case" of the missing boys in Texas.  How they have not identified three of the victims as yet.

Barbie had a friend named Beth who was dating a young man and very much in love with him.  He was about eighteen a little older that the girls.  One night he was supposed to show up for a date, he never showed up. They tried calling him, no answer. They went to his apartment and found his wallet, money and all his possessions there but not him. It's like he disappeared off the face of the earth.  So it stayed for several years...terrible fears, anxiety, anyone who knew him felt it.

Until August 8th,1973....Elmer Wayne Henly killed Dean Coril and confessed to the police about massive horrendous murders. They doubted him until he showed them where the bodies were.

There are some very evil people, filled with nothing but pure hatred for everyone...Henly, Coril and Brooks were such vermin.

Twenty-seven boys and young men all under the age of twenty-one.  The way they were slain is beyond brutal. There should be a special place in Hell for Henly, Coril and Brooks, I hope.

Unfortunately my sister and her friend had the answer to the whereabouts of their missing friend.  How they managed to entrap him is something that has never been answered. 

Shortly after all this my Dad was transferred back to Kennedy Airport and they bought a house not too far from me.  We all settled in, feeling safe in our old neighborhood....until..."The Son of Sam" arrived in town.  We had brunettes afraid to go out at night, some dyed their hair blond...men with long hair were targeted too.  I can remember the fear, we only lived a short distance from Kew Gardens one of his "strike zones". 

It's a helluva life if we all don't weaken folks.... 

Unwelcomed Surprise

 So much has changed since my last entry in this journal.

At the very last minute my son's girlfriend backed out of the plans to move to Portland, Oregon.  Evidently she is/was scared of traveling so far from her family, even to follow someone that she professed to love.  It was needlessly cruel to wait till the last moment to back out.  My son just walked away from everything, took his knapsack, laptop - a few personal items - bought a ticket and flew out by himself.

He was determined to follow his dream.  Florida has never suited him, he hated the heat, the humidity,  the boredom that besets most of the youth down here. There is no "living on the edge" in Saint Petersburg..most of the sidewalks are pulled in after 9 P.M.  Some of his happiest memories are of visiting his big sister in New York City, awestruck by the complexity of the "big City". 

He tells me he has given up on love and I know that he says that because he is hurting.  Love hurts.  He's a fine young man, no longer my baby...but he grew up well into a caring, wonderful human being who, I hope, one day will find his one true love, the forever love that never leaves.  I want that for him so much.

He seems to be adapting. My brother in law took him to the local union and believe it or not he wound up finding a terrific job, at almost double what he was making here!  I realize how hard it is to go from a committed relationship to being alone in a strange city...so my thoughts are with him throughout my day.

I know he will make friends out there and, of course, my sister and her husband have been wonderfully helpful. 

I still wish we had teleportation for real.  Zip...in...Zip out....I'd be a fast moving Momma......

 

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