The First 18 Years

  1. My full name is Robert.

  2. I was named after my mother's brother.

  3. I was called Bob until third grade.

  4. Growing up, my parents told me I wanted to be a pediatrician.

  5. I wonder if that's why I'm not a doctor.

  6. My first memory is yelling "Come on Maz, get a hit!"

  7. The date was October 13th, 1960.

  8. As a 2 year old I was a headbanger. Literally.

  9. I remember it made bad feelings go away.

  10. To get me to stop, my parents spanked me.Go fig.

  11. Repeated concussions can cause depression later in life.

  12. I've always loved the space program.

  13. I remember seeing my reflection on my 4th birthday.

  14. I was thinking "I will never be three years old again. I will keep getting older and die.

  15. That explains a lot about who I am.

  16. My Mom was Presbyterian, my Dad Catholic.

  17. They let me choose.

  18. I wasn't baptised as a child - and that worried me.

  19. I could not be punished - I worked hard at that.

  20. I was first kissed by a girl when I was 5 at her 6th birthday party.

  21. I was dazed for hours afterward.

  22. Waiting 10 years for the next kiss was miserable.

  23. I knew I was different and I had to hide my differences. I liked girls. It wasn't right.

  24. My first grade teacher taught us "Your right hand is the one you write with."

  25. I'm left handed.

  26. In third grade, I started crying in music class when the girl I liked danced with someone else.

  27. I got beat up a lot in grade school.

  28. The principal told me that if someone beat me up, I was supposed to not defend myself, or I would be punished.

  29. As a kid, I thought adults were stupid.

  30. Now, I think most adults are stupid.

  31. When I broke someone's nose after school, the beatings stopped.

  32. The tormenting didn't stop.

  33. The parental units were not happy when I switched from Bob to Rob.

  34. I never stopped being Bob to them.

  35. I suspect Rob Petrie probably had something to do with the name change.

  36. In grade school, I would worry about what self-awareness was and how I knew I was me.

  37. In 3rd grade, my parents insisted I quit taking science books out of the library.

  38. That was how I discovered science fiction.

  39. I had a crush on Joan of Arc in third grade.

  40. I wanted to travel back in time like on "The Time Tunnel" and rescue her.

  41. My 4th grade science teacher had a home-made open mercury barometer in the class.

  42. We used to play with the mercury.

  43. Playing with mercury isn't good for you.

  44. My favorite chemical was cobalt chloride - pink when damp, blue when dry.

  45. In 4th grade, my father built and launched a bunch of rockets for my class.

  46. I still think of my father when I smell the exhaust from model rocket motors.

  47. I'd began breeding guppies in 3rd grade.

  48. Human reproduction surprised me. I never occurred to me that humans reproduced.

  49. My 5th grade science teacher hated me.

  50. I had a crush on her.

  51. I met my best male friend Floyd the first day of 6th grade in English class.

  52. I hit puberty in 6th grade.

  53. Having been girl crazy for most of my life, nothing changed mentally.

  54. I suggested "Euthanasia" for a topic in 7th grade social science.

  55. The teacher thought it was a term for the Viet Nam war. (Think about it….)

  56. My mother had her first stroke October 13th, 1971.

  57. My mother's stroke was the last day of my childhood.

  58. I'm probably trying to make up for that as an adult.

  59. It was the morning of the first night game of a World Series - my parents had tickets.

  60. My two favorite teams were playing: The Pirates and the Orioles.

  61. I liked the Orioles because Joan of Arc was the "Maid of Orleans."

  62. I was really bad at geography.

  63. My two semesters of home economics (both cooking, by some mistake) enabled me to cook and keep house.

  64. Mercy Hospital's gift shop had Strawberry Phosphates - I loved them!

  65. In 8th grade, I would try to call up girls for a date.

  66. I couldn't dial the last number. We're talking abject fear with pouring sweat.

  67. In 9th grade, the doctor ordered me to not run in gym.

  68. I joined the Presbyterian church because my Mom was more fragile.

  69. I got my first real kiss and first girlfriend at church camp after 9th grade.

  70. I'm still friends with her.

  71. That was the summer I went from being shy to friendly.

  72. I never keep a diary or have a camera at the most interesting points in my life.

  73. In 10th grade home room, someone teased me about going for an indoor track physical, so I did.

  74. The first day of indoor track almost killed me from asthma.

  75. I had to crawl to the locker room.

  76. I stuck with it.

  77. My distance in high school was the 220 yard dash.

  78. I thought I might want to be a minister.

  79. My parents and uncle called the minister down to have an "intervention."

  80. I wish I had been nicer to all my girlfriends.

  81. I can be a jerk, especially when getting dumped.

  82. I don't know how to fall out of love.

  83. I don't think I can.

  84. It might be why I'm crazy.

  85. It might be the best thing about me.

  86. I could only marry someone I loved more than anyone else as a result.

  87. I went to the prom 3 times.

  88. Everyone in my science class went to the Saturday science lecture to meet girls.

  89. I went to hear a lecture on science.

  90. I met Nancy there, over a discussion about tiny florescent tracing spheres in dynamite.

  91. I asked her out and she turned me down.

  92. At the last lecture, we thought we'd never see each other again.

  93. My hand bumped up against hers. I wouldn't move. She wouldn't move.

  94. We held hands.

  95. I was the only one from my class to pick up anyone.

  96. We went to my senior prom.

  97. I asked her to marry me.

  98. She said yes.

  99. She didn't think I was serious - she thought I was sweet.

  100. She's the love of my life.