In the early 1950's, my Dad was just getting out of the Army and was
interested in settling down.
They were married in 1952 and had their first son, David, on August 4th,
1953. l followed one year, ten months, and 29 days later, on June 2nd,
1955. We lived in Roseburg, Oregon, where my Dad worked out of the
Roseburg office of the Oregon State Police, after his graduation from
the Oregon State Police Academy. We were living in Roseburg when the
truck exploded downtown. The truckload of dynamite that blew up in
Roseburg, Oregon, on August 7, 1959, contained two tons of dynamite and
over four tons of ammonium nitrate. This incident, known as "The Blast"
, resulted in a devastating explosion that killed 14 people and injured
over 120 others. The explosion was so powerful that it was described as
resembling an atomic bomb,
and it caused significant damage to buildings and infrastructure in the
area. 
We
felt it at our home on Porter Drive.My Mom and her paents were very close. Grandma and Grandpa LaForge were well off. My Grandpa was a Union Steam Fitter/Pipe Fitter and worked for Kayser, at the Port of Portland. He was a very intelligent guy. He was managing their largest projects for many years. He got a huge salary and a new car every other year. They lived in a house that Grandpa LaForge's father built, on Multnomah Street next to the Lloyd Center shopping Mall, back in the 1930's.
Mom
used to drive up to Portland to see them at least every other weekend.
Dad bought a new car, a Simca (French) stationwagon, so that she would
have reliable transportation for our many trips to Portland. On one of
these trips to Portland, one of the front wheels came off of the car,
causing it to roll over a couple of times. Seatbelts weren't even a
dream in those days. David and I were sleeping in the back of the car
when the accident happened. We were pretty much unhurt but Mom lost some
teeth when she bounced off of the steering wheel a couple of times. We
were transported, by ambulance, to the Hospital and Dad, who was on duty
patrolling at the time, was notified that we were all in the hospital.
He came by to check on our status and went back on duty.
Dad took my brother and I home the next day and Mom stayed in the
hospital for a couple more days while she recovered from the accident.
She ended up losing some front teeth due to the accident. Shortly
thereafter we moved to Drain, Oregon briefly while Dad continued in his
Oregon State Police career, working the graveyard shift. Dad bought a
Standard oil distributoship and, after a short time, ended up selling it
for a loss due to the weak oil and gas market. I was riding with him one
weekend, while he was making deliveries, and got my thumb caught in the
door when I was getting out of the passenger side. I howled like a
banshee until Dad ran around the truck and opened the door, freeing my
thumb. I lost my thumbnail over that mishap. He patrolled the highways
and freeways during the night and delivered gas and oil during the day.
After Dad sold the Standard Oil Distributorship he decided to go to El
Paso and apply to be a Border Guard for the Government.
He wanted to work for the Government and have the benefits and pension
that went along with it.
Both of his parents worked for the Government and had great pensions
and security when they took their retirement. We moved in with Dad's
parents, Grandpa Sam and Gramma Grace. Dad took some tests, which he
passed, but when it came to the physical, he found out he was color
blind and couldn't pass the vision test.
I started my academic history when I was enrolled in Kindergarten, where my Aunt was the teacher. Kindergarten was my first and last experience where I got to take a nap during class legally.
I really enjoyed getting to know my Granparents. They both worked at White Sands Missile Range for the Government. They had a very nice house on Tetons Drive, in El Paso. My Grandfather had Cowboying in his blood and wasn't really that thrilled with haveing to settle into a regular 9-5 job where he was working inside. He had been a Cowboy for many years in his younger days. Grandpa wanted my brother and I to be Cowboys. He bought us boots, hats, belts, and saddles.
When Dad couldn't pass the vision test he had to come up with an alternative plan. Mom and Dad talked it over and Dad began to check out locations to go back into Law Enforcement.
After a lot of soul searching Dad decided to retire from the Oregon
State Police and find a nice small town and become a City Policeman.
There were a lot of high speed chases in the State Police and he was
ready to dial it back and slow down a little. Dad began to consider
small towns that would only be a couple of hours from Portland, where
Moms parents lived. Dad applied for a job with the Toledo, Oregon,
Police Department and was accepted. We headed North to our new life in
Oregon. All of our household goods were put into Mayflower storage,
prior to going to El Paso, and the house that Dad rented was completely
empty. The next day Dad arranged to have all of our furniture delivered
to our home in Toledo in the next few days.