Kathy Kelly

I attended middle school, or Junior High as we called it back then, at Orville Wright Jr. High in Westchester, CA. It included 7, 8, and 9th grades. High school was 10,11,12.

Things I remember: Paper drives. We all would collect newspapers, bundle and tie them and then bring them to school. They would all be stacked on the blacktop according to grade level. It was a contest to see which grade brought in the most papers. I believe it was a fund raiser for the school, as the papers were sold to someone?! It was always an exciting time at school to see all those paper stacks.

I started playing the clarinet in 7th grade. I loved it! I played till 10th grade and then became more interested in boys, so gave it up. 🙁 After my first year, my dad bought me a clarinet so I didn’t have to rent one.

In Jr. High, PE became a real class with a grade! I loved PE and always got A’s. However, one year, it might have been 8th grade, I chipped the bone in my right hand little finger playing basketball, AT SCHOOL! The doctor said I couldn’t participate in PE for about 4 weeks. My teacher was young and new to the school; Ms. Stone. Ugh. Everyone called her “stone face” and no one liked her very much. Well, when grades came around she gave me a D! I was shocked! She said it was because I wasn’t participating in PE. Hello, I had a splint on my hand and a doctors note! And, I still showed up everyday and helped in the PE office. I ended up talking to my favorite PE teacher, Ms. Brown. She was shocked too, that Ms. Stone had given me a D. I know Ms. Brown talked with Ms. Stone, but I don’t remember if my grade was changed. It wasn’t a final grade, so there was that.

Occasionally, we had Sports Nights. It was Friday nights from 7 to 10 pm. Kids could play basketball, and other activities, and there was also music and dancing. Our favorite dance? The twist! When I was 13 the Beatles song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” came out and I loved it! I remember watching them on the Ed Sullivan Show and being so excited! I also went to their concert at Dodger Stadium when I was 16.

Another sobering event happened when I was 13. President Kennedy was assassinated. I was at school and we were all called back to our Home Rooms and they told us what happened. Very sad.

 

 

 

Jr. High is where I met my best friend Nancy Blankman.  We met in PE class as the “squads” lined up alphabetically; Biggs, Blankman.  We were best friends all through Jr. High, High School, college, and still to this day! Another good friend was Beryl Kahel.  She moved in just around the corner from my house when we were in Jr. High.  We stayed close friends through college and after, but as adults, lost contact.

When I was 13, I had a crush on the boy next door; Joe Caruso.  He was 16.  We liked each other and hung out a lot and, of course, played games out in the street.  Nothing ever became of the “crush.”

My first boyfriend was John Armstrong.  He came into the Broadway department store, where my mom worked, to buy paint.  He was 20 years old, and painted homes to support himself.  His parents had both died and he had a sister, but was living on his own.  Anyway, my mother asked him to come and paint our kitchen. One day he brought a friend, Ed Mandel, with him to help paint.  Ed was 16 years old.  I would talk to them after I got home from school and really liked John. He was funny and cute!  Well, Ed asked me out on a date and I said yes.  It was my first date!  I was 15.  John drove us as Ed did not have a car.  We went to a carnival in Long Beach.  When we got there, John asked me who I wanted to be with; him or Ed. (I guess he could tell I liked him!) As I look back now, I know it was mean, but I said I wanted to be with John.  So I spent the date with John and on the way home, Ed drove.  John kissed me.  It was my first kiss! We dated for about 2 years. In January 1968 John was killed in a car accident.  My first funeral.  I was very sad and the funeral and beyond was very hard for me.

Fashion. Bellbottoms and crop tops!  Also mini skirts! The skirts had to hit right above the knee.  Girls had to wear skirts/dresses from kindergarten thru 12th grade.  I hated it!

My dad taught me to drive.  He took me over to Loyola University (later Loyola-Marymount) because it had a long driveway/entrance.  I could drive straight and not have to turn.  The car was a stick shift on the steering wheel column. My dad also helped me buy my first car; a red Volkswagen.  I loved that car! I also got in my first accident in that car.  I was driving and looked behind me to talk to my friends in the back seat, and rear-ended the car in front of me.  No one was hurt, except my car.  But it was repaired.

In the summer my friends and I would go to Manhattan, Redondo or Hermosa beach to sunbathe and swim.  That only happened if someone had a car to drive.  Sometimes I would take the bus to Nancy’s house in Playa del Rey and then we would walk to the beach from her house.  Good times.

We were all becoming boy crazy and often went to Loyola University “mixers” (dances).  Since Loyola was still an all boys school, there were no girls to compete with! 🙂 After meeting some boys, we got invited to their fraternity house in Hermosa Beach.  So, many weekends that is where you could find us!

I did lots of babysitting and other odd jobs to earn money. That helped pay for gas for the car.  Before I had my VW I used my mom’s car, if she had one.  Often times she didn’t because it wasn’t working and Jerry would come over to work on it.  My mom would take the bus to work.

I graduated high school in January 1968. One month before my 18th birthday!

 

I was born on February 25, 1950 at Daniel Freeman hospital in Inglewood.  That hospital is no longer there. I went home to our house at 8036 Agnew Ave. in Westchester.  I lived there till I was 18 years old.  My mother sold the house then, as it was too expensive for her to take care of.  With some of the proceeds from the sale of the house, my mother bought a new car.  First new car I can remember her ever owning!

One of my earliest memories is standing in our driveway and my mother telling me I was going to start kindergarten. My birthday is in February and so I started in February. We had summer and winter classes back then!

One memory from kindergarten was when a friend and I both told the teacher that a ring was ours. I knew it was mine, but I don’t remember what happened; if I got the ring or she did.

Another memory was learning to ride a bike. I was about 5 years old. My brother, Kenneth, and I shared a small, red bike. Our driveway was long and I would go up and down it till I learned to ride! No one helped me! I don’t recall it taking me too long, as I was very coordinated and athletic! 🙂

Picture attached is me and my duck, Maverick.  We would feed him watermelon rind and I would watch him peck at it till most of it was gone.  When he got older, we took him to a lagoon by Toes beach in Playa del Rey.

As a baby, (12-18 months) I fell out of my crib with a glass milk bottle.  The bottle hit the floor and broke and then I fell on top of it.  I cut my eye, eyebrow, and chin.  Because I had been drinking milk, the doctors had to wait to give me ether.  Of course I don’t remember any of this, only what my mother told me.  You will notice in pictures of me outside, I am closing my right eye as the pupil does not dilate or constrict much. I was supposed to wear glasses all the time, but really didn’t until my left eye started to need correction.  That was in my early 20’s.

My parents, Bernice and Ralph Biggs, were divorced when I was very young. I really don’t recall my father ever living at home.  He would come on Saturdays and take my brother and I to the park.

I had an older half brother, Jerry Mathews.  He was about 17 years older than me so I don’t remember much about him as a child.  By the time I got a bit older, he was in the Navy in Korea. Then he married Carol Miller and moved out.

I was always interested in playing any sport.  In 6th grade I beat all the boys in my class in tetherball!  I had a tetherball at home that my dad put together for us.  He put cement inside an old car tire and then cemented the pole in the middle.  We could move it around the yard fairly easily, and I would play for hours.  I also loved to throw a tennis ball against our wood garage door and catch it with my baseball glove.  I could do this for hours too!

One Christmas I asked for a football!  All the kids on the block would play football in the middle of the street. We would also play hide-and-go-seek till it got dark.

Roller skating!  I had skates that fit over my shoes and yes, I wore a skate key on a string around my neck. I would skate up and down our sidewalk.  Later, I nailed the skate wheels to a board and had a skateboard!  Nothing fancy for me!

Surfing was becoming popular and I loved to go to Playa del Rey and body surf in the ocean.  Dockweiler beach had round fire pits and we would roast hotdogs and marshmallows.  Even the lure of food sometimes couldn’t get me out of the water!

All during elementary school and beyond I was most happy when I was involved in playing any sport. And I loved being outside!  Of course we had no “screens” other than a TV.  Most of the shows were on at night, so being outside was the most fun for me.

One more thought.  The Helms Bakery man.  He would come by in his truck Saturday mornings and I would run out and buy a jelly doughnut.  My favorite! We also had a milk man.  He would deliver our milk in bottles early in the morning.  Then we would put the empty bottles in the basket and leave them on the porch for him to pick up on his next delivery.

When I was about 3 years old, we went to visit my Uncle Jimmy and aunt Jessie on their farm in Nebraska.  I wouldn’t drink the “cows” milk; yuck.  So they bought some milk from the store and then refilled the container with the “cows” milk.  I never knew the difference!

Food.  I remember my mother cooking cows tongue.  Yes, cows tongue!  I think she boiled or baked it.  I did like it; sliced on a sandwich or plain.  I also remember my dad cooking wheat all day and then eating it as a warm cereal with a little bit of brown sugar and milk. Other than those foods, we ate a lot of  meatloaf, macaroni and beef, and sandwiches.  What was my favorite? PB&J!  Or tuna sandwiches.

Even though my parents were divorced and we didn’t have much money, I still remember my childhood as a fun time.  I didn’t think we lacked for anything, although we did.  I’m sure it was hard on my mother, but she did her best to make growing up a memorable time for me! I believe her love of family (ours and extended) is one of the reasons I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; everything the church does centers on the family.