Inquisitive Quest

.  The decision was made,  with Gary’s newly developed aspiration for financial autonomy,  no longer delivering papers for the  Oakland Tribune, it was time to open a new chapter.  He would be starting at Castlemont in January and deemed it unacceptable to maintain his paper delivery route and participate in school activities.   This was the reason he propagated,  but in reality,  high school marked a new level of stature and the stigma of paperboy was intolerable.   He still had a final fall semester in junior high to complete and time and opportunity to seek another source of financial gain that could complement his ascendancy.

.  Gary’s parents were unique,  at least the teenager thought so, the history of  their two families presenting a paradox.   His Mother’s family, the Potters, read like a book,  her father a successful  construction  contractor,  raising three daughter’s and two sons before and during the struggling days of the depression,  providing a good home and education.  Gary’s father, another story, one of eight  children, with an older brother passing in infancy.  The family being dispersed with the passing of the mother, the father  unable to assemble a household for his family,  the  girls subject to a Catholic Convent, the  eldest son institutionalized with a disability.  Gary’s Dad, , and his remaining older brother made wards of the state, the twenty dollars per month state endowment finding receptive families.  Thru the years Bob Willson was close to his two youngest sisters, but the older brother remained elusive, and like the elder sisters disappeared,  lost in the limbo of the past.

.  Gary having acquainted all of his mother’s family thru the years.  His vacation visits to Etna, allowing him to stay with his Uncle Sam,  Ant Bernice and his cousin Jerri’s family,  his Aunt Della, and cousins were no strangers,  and notwithstanding, his many visits to his Aunt Alice and cousins in San Francisco.  His Aunt Lauretta and Grace were different than his mother’s side of the family,  being raised in a Catholic Convent,  they never fomented very many family kinship activities,  making it difficult for the young lad to discern their personalities.   His Aunt Grace was what the young man consider proper and correct, she would espouse a correction if someone mispronounced the word Aunt.  It had to be Ahnt,  not Aunt, which juveniles sometimes enumerate.   Gary viewed his Aunt Loretta as contrary to her sister,  she spoke in the vernacular and regarded anything serious as fatuous.    She imbibed as an occupational hazard,  but in her line of work,  it was understandable having to confront  the patrons of  intemperance.

.  Gary and his friend Dale Spady boarding a San Francisco destined bus for golden Gate Park and the Morrison Planetarium.   Gary having attended many planetarium programs,  contemplated that Dale might enjoy a journey to the far reaches of  the universe,  courtesy of the California Academy of Science.   Disembarking from a number 5  McAllister bus,  not at Golden Gate Park,  but at Van Ness Avenue.   The two walking three blocks to a not so reputable drinking and small luncheon establishment,  belonging to Gary’s Uncle Dino and Aunt Loretta.   Dino Tognozzi.  prided himself as an Italian, and rightly honored as he was from Italy,  the Italian cuisine he tabled was exquisite.   Being located on Van Ness Automobile Row. and with  booths for serving nourishment,  elevated Dino’s Lucky 13 Club,  from a skid-row bar,  to a nonpareil establishment.   Gary, on these San Francisco excursions, would pause to stop and visit with his Aunt.   The two enjoyed each other’s company and of course he never turned down the monetary surplus added by her with each visit, bolstering their  relationship.

.  The Morrison Planetarium was five years in the making,  and the 2 1/2 ton optical device was the first star projector building endeavor in the United States.   Gary having been introduced  years before,  and  was never disappointed in the presentations.   The 65 foot diameter domed room,  with its silhouetted panoramic skyline donning the walls,  provided cushioned lean-back chairs,  and giant universe projecting camera,  presented  a breathtaking display,  Always amazed with the sun setting and a first glimmer of stars,  with meteor streaks across the sky,  the event beckoning a pristine world that enables a bounding imagination to appear,  as the  inspirational program begins.  

.  Upon conclusion, the sound of Edvard Grieg’s Morning Moods from his Peer Gynt Suite caressing the darken  star filled night sky,  giving way to a gradual emerging pink hue,  submitting a scent of purple laden clouds, the pictures  San Francisco skyline announcing the dawn of another days awakening.   Exiting the performance, Gary could see the reaction from those first time viewers,  it was always the same,  even Dale espoused it,  a peaceful  glow of contentment.  The visits to the planetarium providing a meaningful communication with the realms of another world,  his visit with his Aunt Loretta a similar encounter.

Tags: Family Paradox

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