I joined the Johnson family when I was six years old. My younger sister Judy and I had been living the previous year with my grandma in Idaho, the most tranquil time in my childhood. We had been living in various foster-like homes, which was a very bewildering time for us. I was born in Maywood, and we moved at least twenty-five times before I was six years old. We first met our new grandma and grandpa when my mom and her new husband, Vernon Johnson, were being married and on their honeymoon in Mexico. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson for two weeks in Bellflower.
The Johnson family accepted us as their own. The Johnsons were an intelligent, witty family to be around. Grandpa Elmer Johnson taught me a lot of things growing up. He loved baseball and took me to many ball games; whether it was AAA, High School, or College, he loved it all. He was an all-around handyman and a jack of all trades. I was a curious boy, so I watched and helped him, trying to stay out of his way. He could run gas lines or a water line, and he showed me how to change the water pumps on my stepdad's old flathead Ford. They always seemed to be going bad because of being run with tap water and no lubricant.