An Overview of My Dad's Life Growing-Up

I was born in Safford, Arizona on May 14, 1959.  My parents owned a small 2 bedroom house (it also
had a living room, kitchen and bathroom) which they bought and fixed up.  Our family lived there for the next 5 years and then moved to St. Johns Arizona.  I do not remember very much about my home life in Safford.  Both of my Grandparents lived in Safford and I was told that we lived next door to Grandpa and Grandma Barney.  However, I do not remember visiting them in their house.  I do remember that we had a TV, which was pretty rare back then.  My favorite shows were, "The Lone Ranger," and "Jonny Quest."  My Grandpa Barney use to call me "Cowboy" because I wanted to be like The Lone Range, and one Christmas I got a cap gun set.  The nickname stuck for a long time.  However, I have outgrown the Cowboy thing and generally do

not want anything to do with Western wear any more.  I remember that we had a big willow tree in our yard and a swing set.  Dad also built a fence around our front yard (probably to keep me from wondering into the street).  I remember sitting in front of the fence and watching cars go by pretending to be a G.I Joe guy.  I also thought it would be cool to be a fireman and received a fire truck my last Christmas there.  I don't remember much about the neighborhood.  I know there was a small store at the end of the street that we use to go to and buy popsicles at during the summer.  The railroad tracks were across the street from our house and on the other side of the railroad tracks was a big Cotton field.  In March when the Field was empty, Dad would fly kites with us.  We got the kite to go really high and Dad bought special reels for the kite string so it would not get tangled up.  I remember going to church only once while living in Safford.  However, mom had lots of church records and we listened to primary songs all the time.