Irv Hill (1970)

Debbie Scharmen (Smith) (1970)

Jackie’s family and mine were neighbors for a few months in 1968.  We lived up on the hill at the very top-end of Sunnymead Blvd on Fran Lou Drive.  My very first driving experience was when she “taught” me how to drive a stick shift.  She was able to convince me (who was afraid of everything back then) that I could actually drive her VW beetle all the way home from the high school.  I remember hearing her say:  “You can downshift to second whenever you go around a corner.”  I was scared blank-less!  I didn’t end up driving the whole way home, AND, I didn’t end up getting my driver’s license until I was 19!  I still think about her whenever I downshift around a corner.  I remember she had orange and purple flower stickers all over her closet doors that reminded me of Rowen and Martin’s Laugh-In.  They looked so great that I went home and put a black yarn grid on my bedroom ceiling and cut out my own 240 brightly colored construction paper Laugh-In flowers and scotched-taped two into each square.  My ideas on how to decorate have never been the same.  We were very fond of Jackie's little sister, Jennifer, too.  She was a real ham!  She did a great Elvis impersonation!