Summer of '69

Ah, The Monkees. I played ''Daydream Believer'' over and over. I watched ''The Mod Squad''.  Summer of '69. The last full year that My Uncle Hubie was alive. I ate potato chips with real Coke poured over them. I kissed my dog, Flame. I was not ALONE in the house when I went to sleep--it was the sleep of safety. God, the sweetness was hypnotic. The next year, Life would grab me by the ankles, pull me from that bed, wrangle me up by the hair of the head and say,''Welcome to Hell--try and stop it.'' But in the summer of '69 I didn't know what a calorie was.