Page 3 - kappbook2020

CHAPTER THREE

MY NEW HOME IN NEWHALL

We moved back to Southern California because my parents somehow
bought a small Spanish-style house in Van Nuys about twenty miles
northwest of downtown Los Angeles. R. D. had secured a good job at
Lockheed. He had a knack for making great recoveries. Mom stayed
with him, in spite of his drinking and gambling on cards and cock-
fights, because she always felt that he was good with the kids and a
loving father, at least when he wasn't a really bad drunk.
I went to Van Nuys High School and was looking forward to playing
as many varsity sports as I could-football, basketball, baseball, and

track. Basketball was my favorite and best game at that time. I used
to shoot baskets for hours and hours. I have always said to people,
including my kids, that if you want to get better at sports, you have
to practice. If you want to be a good shooter in basketball, you have
to shoot a million shots. It is the same for passing a football. In a way,
our economic disadvantages afforded me the opportunity to excel
in sports. Because we had no money for toys or television or piano
lessons, shooting baskets and throwing a football were inexpensive
forms of recreation and entertainment. I wanted to be ready to excel
for my new high school, so I practiced all the time. Then I got the bad
news: according to the rules and regulations at Van N uys High, if you
played football, you could not play basketball! This was a crisis to me.
My dreams were going down in red tape. Now what?
Luckily, I had an unlikely champion. My aunt Odelia Atler lived in
Newhall, California, a small agricultural town about forty-five minutes