Movies have been my Safehouse

It was at an early age I found the Movie theater to be my safe house.  It was always the place I felt safe.  It didn't matter the movie.  It allowed me to escape from the darkness of my life.  How ironic it was a dark room filled with strangers that allowed me to escape.  There was something about the light flickering from the projector,  The sound of it running and the smell of popcorn that filled the air.  To this day I still love to experience a movie in the theater.

I think part of it was no one could see me. They didn't know who I was.  I could just forget about the things I was called and the things done to me.   Like I said I like all movies.  But my favorites have always been when good overcomes bad.  When the underdog succeeds.  For those couple of hours I felt like anything was possible.  Then I would have to go back out into the light and back to reality.  

One of my favorite memories would be taking the bus downtown with my mom.  She would go play bingo at the Red Carpet Bingo Hall.  I would go to the old Orpheum and watch old Sci-Fi movies.  Even with the Theater being old and worn.  I could still see the beauty of the old place.  I kind of felt like it did ignored and neglected.

It was a bright sunny spring day. It felt like it was the first day of my life. I was 5 years old. I was sitting on a hill behind our house. This boy my age came up to me and punched me in the nose. As I was bleeding , he asked if we could be friends. My first friend was made that day. His name was Mick. We were friends till he moved away. That is the first clear memory I have. I have memories of bits and pieces of my life before this day. But that day felt like the first day of my life.

Sorry I should introduce myself to you. I'm Fred. I have felt the need to write my stories for a long time. I never thought they were anything extraordinary. Matter of fact I think it is quite boring. But I have been told more than once to write it down. For better or worse Here we go.

Prior to that bright Sunny Day. My parents had been married for 12 years. I think. I did the math based on my oldest brothers age. They had just gotten a divorce. Like I said I don’t have many memories of that time. Some are very clear, most are very hazy and I have had to rely on others to tell me if they are true. Some are disputed. So all I can say is I am writing based on my knowledge.

After my parents divorced We moved to public housing. Back in seventies it was call the projects. I hated that term. I felt like I was an experiment. When I have gone back to show where I grew to my kids. I laugh that they are now called townhomes.

I can't say my life was horrible, but I can also say it was not great. I was the youngest of my siblings. They had all been born a year apart. I am was born a 4 years after my last sibling. I joke that 2 of us were unexpected. My oldest brother and myself.

My hope with these stories. Are to just share life and show that even when you think you are alone, that there is no way anyone else has gone through what you have gone through. There is! I want you to know that God will use every moment of your life. Good or Bad , he has a plan.


One last thing. I am not a professional writer. Matter of fact. I am barely made it through school , So please be kind about my misspellings, punctuation and writing style.


All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.