My addictive personality started early in life. I'm not sure what bad habits I had when I was very young (sucking my thumb or things of that nature) but I do remember an addiction I suffered through when I was in grade school. Now, if you'll notice people like me who have serious addictions usually blame others for their obsessions so I guess I have to blame the doctor for that addiction in the 6th grade. He's the one who quarantined me because I had scarletina. I have a vivid memory of that doctor putting a sign up on the door warning people to stay out of our house. I can't remember what his name was so I'll just have to blame it on "the doctor." Sad to say my Grandma Miller had the same addiction, although she didn't know it. She was a good church-going woman who wouldn't have been happy if she'd known she was addicted.

I was the only one in my family who had this light case of scarlet fever so I was put to bed and was off limits to all other people. My mother had to stay in the house to take care of me but my father and older sister stayed with my grandparents after the doctor put me out of commission. I guess they must have moved home after I got over my fever because I remember my mother and my sister attempting to help me with some school work before I was allowed to go back to school. The schoolwork happened to be math and I think I had a very thick skull, because I didn't learn what they were trying to teach me. I've had trouble with math ever since. Maybe the fever wiped out the math part of my brain.

During that time it seemed like I was never going to get out of bed and I got so bored I started listening to soap operas on the radio. I got acquainted with Young Widder Brown, Stella Dallas and One Man's Family and looked forward to hearing them every day. I was addicted and when I went back to school I missed my daily soap operas.

I was fortunate, because I had to go back to school in the winter and I loved to be outside in the summertime so I was cured of that addiction for a time. Poor Grandma, she used to do her work early in the morning and sit down beside a big console radio and listen to her "soap operas," never realizing that she had an addictive personality.

Many years later when the soap operas changed from radio to TV I started watching "One Man's Family" during the daytime. I enjoyed that show and was unaware that my "addiction" was creeping up on me again until one day a young lady in a canoe on a lake tipped over and was drowning. Of course the story stopped right after she tipped over. It was so spell binding I could hardly wait for the next day to come so I could see if she was rescued or if she ended up in the bottom of the deep waters. Well, guess what? The next day they canceled "One Man's Family" and even though I watched for it I never saw it come on again. I never found out what happened to that poor lady. Did she drown? Did they save her? I don't know. I know one thing I swore off soap operas for life.

I was fortunate, I was able to beat both of those addictions. It wasn't easy but I fought my way back to normal health again.