We had another dog in Clifton, VA. I don't remember what type of dog, or its name, but it got hit by a car and it had some kind of injury in its back legs...it crawled off under the post office before I could get it--and died under there. I think that might have been my first brush with death.

Wren was born while we lived in Clifton, I remember being sooo excited to have a baby sister. She had casts on her legs and I thought it was so sad. I remember sitting next to mom, trying to talk to her and touch her, before she could walk or maybe right when she started to walk I started school. By the time my little sister could talk or play with me at all I was full into school and having less time at home. There were five years between us and it seemed we just didn't have much time to get close. The next year my brother was born and I wasn't around him much either. I think the spacing between all of us was a hinderance to our relationships for most of my life. I mean I was in the 4th grade when my little sister Beth was born and very involved in school, when she was starting to walk I was in 5th grade and a student patrol officer. Just so much time between us; it seemed we could not catch up for most of our lives. :-(

I recall my daddy convincing me that dog biscuits were good by taking bites of one himself. So of course I ate them too. I remember loving my parents so much. I remember being so happy about the babies. That is most of my memories of Clifton.