I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir, but it just never comes together for me, but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood and into adulthood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe, I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order; I'll just write them as they come to me.
Living in a trailer park
*Me and my brother Billy. I was 18 and he was 15*
When I left West Virginia and came to Las Vegas to live with my mom and brother, my mom lived in a small trailer in a trailer park. You can see park of it in the picture above. It was really small but we made the best of it for a while.
This trailer park was full of some of the nosiest people I've ever met in my life. Everyone was all up in everyone else's business. It was so comical. Especially the older people that lived there were always in everyone else's business. They loved to gossip and tell everyone's business to everyone else. I actually had a boyfriend for a while who would climb over the block wall you see in the background in order to come see me because he didn't want the other people there seeing him and telling the park manager who didn't like him. Whole bunch of tattle tells. 🤣🤣
I started babysitting while in this trailer park. I charged $2 an hour back then in 1988. I babysat a bunch of kids at different times. Back then our space rent was only $150 a month and my mom owned the trailer so bills weren't a problem. My mom worked at one of the casino's here in Las Vegas at the time. She ended up buying another trailer and let me rent this small one for myself.
For a little while my brother lived with me in my trailer. Every morning he set his alarm to wake him up with this song playing really loud!
We still laugh about the long scream at the beginning of this song that used to wake me up early in the morning and drive me crazy. Living with your sibling is not easy. 🤣🤣🤣
As some of the kids got older and went to school, I started cleaning trailers for some of the older people. There was a really nice older guy in his 70's that lived in the trailer park next door and I cleaned his trailer for him a few times. On my way back over to his place one morning I saw the ambulance there and some of his family. I got a bad feeling but went over anyway and he had passed away the night before. His son found him that morning. Unfortunately, that happens sometimes when you work with older people.
There was an older guy who lived near our trailer. My mom was friends with him and she found out he had been a doctor in Egypt. But he wasn't a doctor here, he did something else and I can't remember what he did here for work. When I got food poisoning from eating ceviche at one of the Casino buffets *I know what a big mistake that was now! Never again* she asked him what she should get for me to feel better. He came over to our trailer and asked my mom to step outside for a moment so he could examine me. I didn't really think anything of it at first, he's a doctor. Right?
He did the blood pressure, listening to my lungs, heart, breathing ect. Then he pulls up my shirt and asks me if I have ever done a breast exam on myself. I told him yeah, I knew how and started to pull my shirt back down. This idiot tries to pull my shirt up again, telling me he wanted to make sure. I said, "If you don't get out right now, I'm screaming for my mom and calling the cops." I sure as hell didn't need a breast exam for food poisoning!
He got up, went outside and told my mom to get me crackers and 7-UP and I should be ok in a few days. I told my mom what happened and she never spoke to him again and he stayed clear of me. He moved out the next year.
So there was some good and some bad living in that trailer park. It was an adventure for sure.
Links to past stories
2023
2024
Doing this as a monthly series is such a smart move—and this first post proves you’ve got stories worth telling! From teenage obstacle-course romances over block walls to fierce moments of standing up for yourself, you really bring that time period to life. Keep writing them down as they hit you; count me in as an avid reader for the whole journey!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I've been doing this series for 3 years. The links to the others is at the end of this one.
DeleteI wonder whether that guy really had been a doctor in Egypt or if he just said that. The creepy "breast exam" suggests he just knew it would be a way of getting girls to let him "examine" them. Crackers and 7-Up hardly sounds adequate for food poisoning. He should have told you to go to someone actually qualified to practice medicine in the US.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness Blogspot seems to have finally got its commenting system fixed.
Yes, blogger was having a lot of problems commenting the last few days.
DeleteI have no idea if he was a real doctor or not. I should have gone to the hospital but I never wanted to go and still don't. lol
Je te souhaite ♥
ReplyDeleteUne bonne journée ♥ gros bisous
Thank you.
Deletecreepy guy there
ReplyDeleteYes he was.
DeleteThanks for sharing this part of your life.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many other young ladies the “doctor” has victimized over the years. Good for you for recognizing him for what he was and speaking up.
I have no idea. I was glad he moved away.
Delete"We still laugh about the long scream at the beginning of this song that used to wake me up early in the morning and drive me crazy."
ReplyDeleteLOL!
I'm sure the perv thought he would easily get away with it...glad you were able to fend for yourself - though gah, you shouldn't have been alone.
I know. We live and learn I guess.
DeleteYay, I can finally comment. I tried several times yesterday. You've blogged about your brother before and his support of you was so important, even if he woke you up with Judas Priest. That doctor was so creepy - I'm glad that your mother believed you. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I have always been there for each other. That doctor guy was a creepy dude for sure.
DeleteI'm so sorry that you had that happen to you, Mary. So disturbing. I'm glad you told your Mom what happened. So many girls are scared to tell anyone
ReplyDeleteYes they are. He was a creep.
DeleteOmg, no wonder he wasn't a dr. here! What a creeper and he probably did that to other girls and women! I'm glad you stood up for yourself. It would've been red flag that he asked your mom to step out! Sounds like you did have some good and bad times there. Thanks for sharing, Mary.
ReplyDeleteThat trailer park had some unusual people in it.
Delete$2/hour was fair babysitting wages then. It's what my parents paid when we were younger. (I didn't babysit much. Like twice.) Glad you told that guy off. No wonder he couldn't work as a doctor here.
ReplyDeleteBabysitting was so cheap back then.
DeleteWhat a horrible experience. I HATE lecherous old men. ☕︎
ReplyDeleteI do too.
DeleteDr. Creep for sure!
ReplyDeleteYes he was.
DeleteWhat the hell?! What a creep
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
Delete