This is a series of light and mostly humorous vignettes that narrate incidents and activities in my life from birth till high school graduation. Included are: some purely legendary genealogy; how I got my name because I was expected to die momentarily at birth and had to be christened immediately; how I used my imagination and memories of fairy tales to read Nana the fine print in the newspaper; how, in the 1930s, my grandmother became Vice President of a small pharmaceutical firm; how I used the public library without supervision, much less guidance; how I survived grammar school and learned to outrun the bullies; how my boy scout patrol went to the Camporee on the street car; how I went to the 1939 World Fair in New York City and appeared on television; how I learned to dance and wrestle, not quite at the same time; how I sat on the fender as we drove down Charles St. and helped Roy tune his Model A Ford; how I ushered, took tickets, and ran the elevator in a downtown theater, so well that I was offered a job as assistant manager; how I carried a spear in Aida, a gun in Carmen, and hors d'oeuvres in Rigoletto; how I met my future wife at a high school debate; how I embarrassed the history teacher by winning a history contest; and many more.