To be 15 again

On Monday (April 4th) my oldest son Buster will be 15 years old. Watching him grow up and develop into a young man has been a joy and a journey. As I think about what I was like at that age, I cannot help but feel nostalgic. 15 was a GREAT year for me. The beginning of my professional career. I had been doing kid shows and community performances since I was 9 or 10, but landing the job at Kings Island Amusement Park as a 15 year old, changed my life. The year was 1981 and they were paying me $300 a week to do six shows a day that were only 20 minutes long. I was on break more than I worked and had my own trailer with a TV, shower and kitchen in it. The pictures below, crack me up. It's interesting the metamorphosis that occurred over the span of a few short months. I started the summer with braces on my teeth, wearing a goofy tie. As the summer progressed, the braces came off as did a few pounds; working in the hot sun everyday. I met a lot of girls that summer and had more fun than I deserved.



Before



After