Age 11 to 27

I was then placed with Ray and June Whitaker in Simi Valley. I was about 11 years old and lived there until I was 32 years. They had 3 children Sherry, Alan and Ron which were all older than me. They also had another foster child named Anthony.

3 weeks after I arrived at the Whitkers she told me there were two things that she didn’t like. That was a thief and a liar. Given my past I knew I might have a problem with these things.

She would take me to the grocery store, Gemco, Stop & Go, the Bakery and introduce me saying, “This is one of the foster kids I take in. His name is Bob”. She then told me these are the places you can go. She did this so people would know me and look out for me. It took me about 3 months to adjust to living with the Whitkers.

June would say that we all had choirs to do. We rotated doing dishes, setting the table, clearing the table, living room, bedrooms had to be kept clean, backyard and washing the car. As a punishment we would have to pull weeds in the front or back yard. I hated that. The back yard was the worst. There were boysenberries we would have to weed, a hill with flowered ground cover and flower beds.

When the boysenberries were in season we would pick them and June would freeze them or can jam with them. She had an orange tree that we would pick and make fresh orange juice with.

On cold nights June would have us go out and put tarps over the lemon and orange trees to prevent the fruit from frostbite. It was really hard to do. It was usually cold and dark and I remember not being very nice about it. But I did it.

I remember June wanted to re-do her kitchen. June asked me and her children to get hammers and start destroying her kitchen. When her husband got home the kitchen was destroyed. That was so fun. I loved it. Then she had someone come in and lay linoleum floor. It looked really good when it was finished. We also raised her living room 5 inches with 2x4’s and plywood. We all had a really good time doing that. A few years later she wanted to do the driveway and I did it by myself. I wanted to surprise her. I broke up the whole driveway with a pick, put it into a pile and someone hauled it away. June was very happy. Then June wanted a patio-cover built in the back. It took a long time for us to frame it but it looked great and it was fun. Then we painted the whole inside of her 2 story house. While we were painting we would have paint fights. We had some good times. In the mornings I was too tired to go to school and June would let me say home. This was a good bonding moment for the whole family. When we were tired we would all go out to dinner.

I asked June if I could take drivers training. She said “No”. I did it anyways. I took the course at Simi High School. The teacher helped me a lot. I continued to take his class until I got to the age that I could sign my own permission slip and begin to drive. June’s son Alan took me driving a few times eve before I took drivers training. He would take me to the grocery store at an empty lot and taught me how to drive and park. Once he felt comfortable that I could drive he would take me on back streets. He would say when you come to the light don’t stamp on the break, break softly. I always wanted to send us through the windshield when I stopped. Every time I saw a cop I would get so nervous. If June found out she would freak. I set up an appointment at Simi High School to drive at 9:00 and woke up late. I got dressed as fast as I could and ran from Tapo and Walnut all the way to Simi High School. I really moved. I made it. The teacher asked why I was so winded. I said it’s because I didn’t have a car. My teacher was really nice. He let the other kids drive first to let me catch my breath. I never told him that I knew how to drive. I wanted to surprise him. He was really impressed and asked “How did you know how to drive like this Bob”. I told him Alan taught me. The only part I didn’t do well in was parallel parking. That was not easy. A couple of weeks later I took the test at the DMV. I did a great job and got my licence. I was 16 years old. Once I passed it I took my mug shot and he said o.k. look for your drivers licence in the mail. I really watched the mail like a hawk so June wouldn’t find it. Once it came I was so happy to have it in my hands and couldn’t wait to drive. I waited about a week and told June. She said how did you manage to do that. I said, “Well, this is something that really meant a lot to me”. She said “Well, I could take that driver’s licence away from you.” I said I’d just get another one. I never asked to drive their cars. One day she asked me if I would go to the store for her. I drove her silver Cadillac which was hugh. I did good and she let me drive her car from then on.

June was the most happy when she was started going back to church and attending the Temple. She always came back so happy and peaceful. I
Didn’t know what the temple was and always thought that they did something to her there. She was always so happy when she came home. I asked June what is this temple and what do you do there? She said it was a wonderful place, that she didn’t know how to describe it to you. “You will know when you go there one day. It is a very special peaceful place that you could feel close to your Heavenly Father”.

Sometimes I would go to church with June. Sometimes I would go the Catholic church with my neighbor. Everyone at the Mormon church made me feel more welcome. There were also beautiful girls there. I had never seen so many beautiful girls in one place. But what I noticed the most was how modest the girls dressed. Everyone there was so nice and made me feel real welcome.

There was an older gentlemen and his wife Ron Perry and his family did plumbing. Ron was the one who invited me to take the discussions. I didn’t know what the discussions were. He said it talked about what our church believes in. I thought I’d give it a try. He introduced me to two missionaries. I didn’t know what missionaries were. He said they are out for 2 years to teach people about the church. I just kept on taking the discussions until I was ready to be baptized. I was ___ years old.

I later asked June why she never told me about the church and she said she was leaving it up to me to join.

There was one time when June’s son Alan was getting close to getting married. I drove the car to go do something (with her permission) and I crashed the car into a wall. I was backing up and happened to step on the gas too much. I was so scared! All I could think of was June is going to kill me. I drove the car home and eventually told June about the crash. She asked me where it happened. We went up there, called the police and she said you aren’t allowed to drive any of my vehicles any more. She was really mad. Her son Allen and his wife to be were going to take that car on their honeymoon. I had my gardening business at the time. It was small of only a few houses. She told me from now on if you want to drive, your are going to have to buy your own car and insurance. It did teach me a lot of responsibility though. I appreciated my own car more. I ended up buying a car from the neighbor down the street. It was a black Cadillac.