Carpenter Avenue School Circa 1978

I remember a very cold and rainy day when I was in 2nd grade and never got picked up from elementary school.

My dad’s girlfriend at the time, Michael-Ann, was supposed to meet me in front of Carpenter Avenue School in her red Volkswagen bug. I waited and waited but she never came. Once it got dark I walked home navigating busy streets (Ventura Boulevard, Laurel Canyon, Moorpark). I was not quite 7 years old, alone, wet and cold. It was a case of an adult’s word against mine. Michael-Ann insisted that she’d been parked just in front of the school and waited ages for me.

Fortunately my dad let me know that he believed my side of the story. That meant everything to me, to be believed. It wasn’t long after the incident that their relationship began to unravel.