THE KID IN ME- BOOK ONE

A Childhood Autobiography by Peter Cluff

CHAPTER ONE- Introduction

In looking back on his life, Peter realized that he has an exceptional memory.

Throughout his entire life, he always had difficulty remembering more than two items on his shopping trip to the local Mac’s Milk store, but Peter could remember vivid details from most of his childhood.

During his business life, Peter constantly scrawls notes to himself to not forget a meeting, a project step or a contact that he has made. His brain seems to have a finite capacity to retain certain details; any extras just fall out of his ear on the way to the next detail. But Peter can remember events, dates and people that he encountered from a very early age.

After 39 years of marriage, his wife Lucy has almost given up on Peter’s ability to remember what she said the day or even the minute before. She truly believes he is hard of hearing, or worse- that he has stopped listening to the things she tells him. You see, the “Hard-Assed Carpenter” loves to tell the truth.

But Peter remembers feelings he had long before it was fashionable for men or boys to be “in touch with their feelings”. He remembers feeling pity for pedophiles when they were simply “men who liked boys in that way”. He remembers how afraid he was that he would get a girl pregnant if he allowed the “necking” to go too far. And he remembers crying uncontrollably when his beautiful friend Patsy, a border collie, died after falling downstairs in a fit of scratching.

It is as if Peter the Child continually communicates with Peter the Adult.

His ability to remember events, people and feelings in his childhood make this book possible.