It is said, one day we go outside to play with our friends for the last time. I can tell you this would happen often in my life. David got his discharge after ballooning to three hundred and fifty pounds and We would leave North Carolina without much fanfare. I went out to play and say goodbye to my friends, and the next day we headed home Never to see them again. I was still excited to get back to grandmas house. Life was about to get better, at least for a while. We took the car ride from North Carolina to Illinois. A hectic drive for mom and David no doubt. 3 kids under 5 bouncing around a station wagon for over a thousand miles. At that time, no car seats were required, no seat belts either for that matter. The stress for them was epic. There would be a lot of yelling and threats to pull the car over. It even happened a couple of times. when we arrived there was a sigh of relief. we were greeted by grandma, grandpa, and the rest of our family, which had grown. I now had a couple of new cousins to play with in addition to my 2 younger brothers. A swingset was added to the yard, along with a few more yard toys and big wheels to accomodate the newer additions to our family. The attention was grand. There was food and music. The adults drank beer and played cards and the kids played in the yard, and ran in and out of the house. The usual arguments occured at the card tables that always erupted into a yelling match and even the occasional fist fight. something that would never change. I remember my family getting together a lot in those early years, sometimes for no real reason. Always on holidays and birthdays, Grandmas house was full of people and joy, except for the arguing of course, a staple in my family. They loved to argue, and fight, whether it was amongst themselves or with other people. We’ll talk more about that later. The house was full as 4 of the kids still lived at home, 2 in high school. My brothers and I would bounce from bedroom to bedroom and take turns sleeping with our aunts and uncles. Grandma and grandpas room, and bathroom, were off limits, except for nap time occasionally. We would stay at their house for a short time while we waited for our assistance paperwork to go through. David would apply for jobs and eventually land an entry level position as a laborer with the government. We would soon be accepted into low income housing. It was time to move out of grandmas and into the projects. I had already moved to North Carolina and back. I had no idea this would be the start of a roulette of houses, and schools in my life. I would see 5 grade schools, 2 of those twice, and more rental houses than I can remember. The bullying would also begin. Life was changing.