Listen.
I'm telling you the truth here.. Even though it might seem hard to believe...He came to my house every Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock... Channel 3 ...."Stagecoach Matinee."
Every Saturday, same time... same station. Dust billowing in the living room and footprints of his horse Shiloh imprinted on the anglo -persian red rug in our parlor.
He came in a glorious fury to the edge screen of our new light blond wood Arvin black and white floor model television set, then... when mom was busily cleaning the bedroom on the second floor... he would gallop through time , space and the 12 inch tube screen and he'd sit with me watching the adventures of ...himself...."The Durango Kid."
How brave he was rounding up bank robbers and gun slingers...how macho he was in capturing the hearts of the town's women.... how fast a draw with his silvery Colt six shooter.... he was the greatest cowboy of them all...handsomer than Gene Autry, more exciting than Roy Rogers, faster than a speeding bullet, braver than Flash Gordon, more newsworthy than John Cameron Swayze...and at times, disguised as a black scarved outlaw, he would save the day, protect the girl and win the respect of the small western townspeople, not to mention the Kellog's Corn Flake crowd on mornings when nothing much of anything was happening... except maybe walking atop the wrought-iron fence circling the Ruddle Street elementary school yard.
Why he was a popular with the kids on weekend afternoons as Milton Berle's "Texaco Star Theatre" was on Tuesday nights.
The Durango Kid...the Durango Kid.....oh, I wanted so much to be the Durango Kid !
Every night before I would fall asleep I'd pray.....
"God Bless Mom and Dad and brother Chas and Grandmam and Grandpap...and please dear God, let me be just like the Durango Kid when I grow up...that's all I ask...let me be as handsome and brave and even have a big white hat like his...Please God..and if not, let me be like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, very ugly and very sad....please God. Listen to me. Amen."
Well, I wanted to be noticed in life. I wanted people to notice me, to remember who I was...who I am..
That was April 1952.
It is now April 2007.
So there you have it !
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