06/06/2026
June 6, 1981
The lost diaries entry
Today, I am in complete chaos and transition. I have no real foundation for what to expect. But my life has just been, once again, uprooted. This time it's off to Texas.
Mom & Dad picked me up at school in the Jar-Tran moving truck we loaded the other night, two cats in the cab. It was the last day of 9th grade, a date we've been waiting for.
Dad got a job at a machine shop in Houston, making oil rig parts. His prior job was making parts for saltwater conversion units in Panama City Beach. Oil pays better, until the oil boom bocames the oil bust, in 2 short years.
They have a brand new home being built in Katy. Two beds, one bath. My sister has decided to jump off the Gypsie Bandwagon Roadshow, and stay behind in Panama City. This has added more emotion to moving than any before.
What no one told Mom and Dad about escrow drives me in this business every single day. They lost that house to foreclosure less than 3 years later, because they couldn't make up for the deficiency in escrow, when the value of the home increased the taxes drastically. That on top of a slowdown in biz for Dad left them without many choices. Unfortunately, no one even told them about the choices they had. They never put the house on the market.
I am leaving behind Sarah & Sue Ellen, both beautiful young ladies I have just met. Both seem to have an interest in me, until I move away.
It's been like that my whole life, though. I was four when stepdad married Mom in my Grandma's beauty shop in Pace, FL, the day before Thanksgiving in 1970. This move will take me to home number 8 since then, as I enter 10th grade. I learned to meet people quickly, shedding my shyness that had me hiding behind a recliner, when a family member I didn't know came by the apartment. No more of that nonsense. I haven't met a stranger since.
Girls aren't all I'm leaving behind. The past two years have been filled with vocal performances. I was in the general choir and two mixed ensembles at school. With dear friends like Sonia James and Jeanne Lafler, we made some powerful versions of "Babe" by Styx and "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra. We competed and did well at Gulf Coast Community College in March. A road trip in May led us to performances at the Grand Ole Opry Building, and my first experience with a barrel roller coaster!
I have already told Mom & Dad I was interested in playing drums, yet have never had the chance to bang on a kit. That will change very soon. And that will play heavily in my decision not to pursue vocals.
Completion of the house was a few weeks after we got to Katy. I ended up moving in right next door to a drummer who loved Rush! He and his wife took me in and allowed me to listen to countless hours of music by bands I had never heard of. He took me to the Drum Shop in downtown Houston, to pick my first pair of sticks. He even let me bang away at Xanadu by Rush on his drums, when his band took a break, during the spontaneous block party we had. I would never be the same.
The entire trajectory of my life changed over the course of the next few years. By the time I got back to the Gulf Coast, it was 1999.
Moving from one place to another can be tough on a family. It's especially tough on kids. I never lose sight of that as I work with families in their own transition.
If you ever have any real estate questions or concerns, all my contact deets are at
www.RockWithRik.com
