Putting the whole thing with the diapers aside, there were some cool things that happened while we were on the road. I got to meet a lot of nice people, including the African-American family I mentioned before. They are the Doleshire’s and live in West Dayton, which is kind of down in the southwest part of Ohio not too far from the Great Miami River. Mr. and Mrs. Doleshire have a grand total of eight children, seven boys and just one daughter, who was about my age. It was their daughter Jacquelyn, which I became instant friends with and to this very day, she is still my friend. We write back and forth all the time and I even got to talk to her on the phone once. There is more to tell about Jacquelyn, but I’ll save that for later.

Jacquelyn wasn’t the only lasting friend that I made during our journey. You see, because of the diapers, I had the chance to meet another boy a few years younger than me, who also wears diapers. His name is Joey and despite the fact that he and his mom live in Canada, the two of us have remained friends through letters and postcards. Once I got settled into school, I discovered that there were computers in the library that I could use to send Joey emails. That made keeping in touch so much easier for the two of us.

Though Joey is younger than me, we have quite a lot in common, with the most obvious being that we have problems with wetting our sheets. Now, unlike me, he had been wearing diapers for ever and ever… so long that I said ever twice!

Ha! Ha! Sorry, I heard that ‘ever and ever’ line on television and have been dying for a chance to use it!

Back to what I was saying. Joey doesn’t just wear diapers at night, but during the daytime too. Whereas I have only been wearing them a relatively short time and up until recently only ever had night time wetting issues.

Life in Maine is nothing like life was in California. For one thing, it is always cold here. Back on the West Coast, what we called a cold winter day, is what the people in Maine call a typical summer day. I mean, for the love of Pete, I’ve been walking around with a runny nose and a scratchy throat since stepping foot in this retched state. Heck, I can’t even go for a short walk around the block without putting on a wool sweater or a jacket. You can be sure that I’ll never run around butt naked in Maine, the way I sometimes did in California! Man, I just want to go back home!!!

My parents on the other hand, have fallen head-over-heels in love with this half-frozen suburb of hell! They love the city, the state, and all the people. My mother forbid me from ever saying again that this city, state, and all the people that live here both suck and blow at the same time! Of course I still say it, just not when my parents or grandparents are around.

John is working again and he stopped drinking too. So, I guess, those are two really good things. However, I honestly believe, that if he could have got a good job in Southern California, he would have done just as good as he is doing here. Then again, that is why we are here. Around where we lived, if you weren’t of Mexican descent, the best paying job you could hope for would be a minimum-wage job with part-time hours. I don’t know if that is true or not, but that is, what John always used to say.

John’s now working in my grandparents’ seafood restaurant. I’m not exactly sure what it is he’s doing there, but he seems to be thriving at it.

My mom is also working in the restaurant, but she’s not waiting tables anymore like she was in California. Now she’s helping with their books and managing their many employees.

As for me? I have yet to find anything here that I like. Then again, maybe you have already figured that out. From the first second after we arrived here, my life has managed to sink lower than any submarine has ever been. When we pulled up in front of my grandparent’s home, I actually got somewhat excited, but that only lasted a feeble instant. You see, besides owning their own restaurant, my grandparents also own a decent sized fleet of crab and lobster boats and let me tell you, there is serious money to be made, fishing for shell fish. Yeah, my grandparents are loaded, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to meaning, that my parents and I are loaded now too. I wish it did, but it doesn’t.