1994
January
6th
Nancy Kerrigan got attacked and we all joked about clubbing people while roller skating. lol We were really insensitive. It was a running joke a while at Interskate.
1-14-1994
When I started back this year, I switched from Electronic Service Technology, to Building and Property maintenance. I was sick and weak and anxious and I wasn't able to study. So I needed something that required less concentration or less sitting around quit and inactive. I feel like I learned a lot of skills in this class, I learned how to wallpaper, how to drywall and spackle, We learned some small engine repair come up but for the most part it was a lot of repetition a lot of sitting around bored.
English class event
2-8-1994
I can't believe I got in trouble for this event, There was a girl in class Melody that used to want to play football, she was physically bigger than me, physically stronger than me, and she had asked me how much I weighed one day, because I was the center of the varsity football team for the 1993-1994 school year.
She was pissed that she wasn't allowed to play football and my scrawny little bitch like me was able to make varsity and play center, when she would have been a far superior player than I ended up being. lol
Once I told her how much I weighed, It's only natural for someone like me to ask another person how much they weigh and that's when the teacher got pissed and sent me to the office and said that I was being disrespectful. I remember trying to plead my case to the vice principal and that bitch just ignored me and walked away, that's the attitude that all of these faculty members had.
3-10-1994
April
The Rodney King beating was big in the news, we all joked- "Can we all just get along?", even though it wasn't really funny. I don't think we really understood what was going on or why these things were allowed back then. All we knew was this guy got beat up and then got a settlement, kids were all joking about wanting to catch a beatdown. lol
It's sounds like a great idea, until you get punched in the face. lol
Huffy White Heat Vanishes
One evening back in the spring/summer of 1994, I rode my favorite bicycle over the Lynds house to hangout with Tammy and a female friend of hers. The 3 of us talked upstairs for what felt like hours. This girl told Tammy and I the funniest/craziest things that I have ever heard a girl say about guys in my entire life. She gave us intimate details about all the guys she had under her thumb. I was uncharacteristically quiet, at this point in my life. I didn’t believe a word of what this girl was saying. She said guys buy her anything she wanted, if she was affectionate with them. (Which looking back is absolutely hilarious. I was way more interested in comics and collecting toys, than I was in girls. lol I swear I love women)
It was getting later at this point, the street lights were on and I was planning on leaving, but this girl kept telling her wild stories.
I was going to grab my bike, it was in their back yard by the dog pen, I saw it clear as day, but I couldn’t resist, I followed Tammy and her friend as they walked towards the road, since this girls story never seemed to end.
At some point as we were hanging around the front of the house, I noticed my bicycle had vanished into thin air. We never saw anyone walking past us or anyone riding up the street, Tammy’s dog never made a sound. I was totally heart broken, I love that bicycle. the three of us immediately started walking around the neighborhood. I was totally dreading the idea of explaining this to my parents.
We were walking north on Gilbert, already past Fargo, when we saw a kid on my bike. The three of started walking faster and Tammy called out- Billy. This kid started riding towards us. He rode under a street light, so it must’ve took his eyes a moment to adjust, but we could see him clear as day and as soon as he got a good look at us , he turned and started riding away as fast as he could.
As soon as I saw his twist the handle bars, I bolted after him, I almost caught him too, but there were two concrete blocks with a cable across them, this was blocking most of the path that leads to K-mart and my eyes hadn’t adjusted well enough to see it. Whoever this kid was, knew better and rode around the right hand side. My dumbass thought I’d be able to tackle him and recover my bike if I went left. If I wasn’t so worried about damaging my bike, I would’ve had him. lol
Instead I ran into straight the cable and it stopped me dead in my tracks, my arms and legs shot straight out in front of me like a cartoon character and I had the wind knocked out of me. Thankfully I was able to recover quickly and I jogged up the path, while also recovering my breath.
I scanned the parking lot in front of Kmart and then jogged up the road to see the area behind the building, but my Huffy White Heat mountain bike was lost to history: lol. Never to be seen again.
Tammy was positive it was a kid named Billy. I thought she said his name was Baskawitz, but I heard her wrong (I learned this in 2023). The police were called and went to Fargo St., they talked to this kid Billy’s mother. Tammy was loud about it too, man she was positive it was Billy that stole my bike, the other girl said she was able to identify Billy as well.
I’m not sure who Billy is or if he really was the kid we saw that night. I was just going along with what I was told. My father and Richard Lynds were there, my dad showed up after the police were called and we even drove around searching for my bicycle after the police left. I’m not sure if Richard Lynds searched too.
There was a police report, but nothing ever came of it.
I got a new bike, but I always wanted that old one back.
I hated my new bike. lol I rode our moped around more than that newer bicycle. I was ungrateful. lol I didn't want a new bike, I wanted my old used one.
Report card- End of school year
June
Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman
the O.J. Simpson chase was huge news.
Summer
My brother sister, cousin Joey, Tammy, her brother Josh, my mother
Shoemaker-Levy 9
I was such a dork, I was so excited when I heard about this, we were looking forward to this event for months and I hoped we were going to get to see something amazing, I don't think I really grasped the true size of Juptor at the time or how difficult an event like this would be to view. I remember talking about it with anyone that was interested.
Ed Snyder's Telescope
At the end of June or the beginning of July, Ed across the street bought telescope at Walmart, I remember him saying it was on sale. One night he was out on the front lawn and another neighbor Dave came outside as well, then Ed called us over and asked if we wanted to see something.
He had the scope pointed south. I wasn't expecting anything interesting, since I had a small telescope as a child and it wasn't very impressive. But I was shocked and excited as soon as my eyes focused.
I felt moved when I saw Jupiter for the first time through a decent telescope. My imagination went right to Star Trek when I saw those cloud bands with my own eyes. Even though it wasn't some Hubble quality picture, I though this was something I could do myself, I didn't need millions of dollars of special equipment.
It reminded me of seeing the shuttle launch a few years earlier and couldn't stop talking about what I saw for weeks, plus the news of the comet hitting Jupiter kept this stuff fresh in my mind.
That's when I saw Jupiter through a telescope for the first time. It was huge news at but there was a comment and it was about to hit Jupiter in the world was waiting to watch and see what
July
4th
We went over my uncle Daves for Fireworks. The Jumping Jack's, whistlers and other displays were much more exciting as a kid.
I wa abled to bring a few packages home and saved them for when the parents were all at work. One day I was sitting out on the front steps, lighting and flicking Jumpoiong Jacks
Whistler gone wrong. lol
I was sitting on my front steps waiting for Tammy to ride over.
after that I wrapped my forearm in a bandana and want riding, I remember it burning like crazy when it got sweaty, so I poured water on the bandana to help cool my skin. Swimming after this hurt for a week. lol I still have a little L shaped scar from that incident.
Tammy goes missing
July 21, 1994 Tammy went missing. Her father came over the morning of the 22nd, with her brother. Richard asked if I knew what was going on, but I didn't have a clue, I don't remember if I did or didn't talk to her the night before, but I probably did. I honestly didn't believe him at first, It didn't make any sense that Tammy would run off into the night, no one I knew snuck out late at night, I was never invited to sneak out or do anything we weren't allowed to talk about after hours, so I just assumed that no one else was doing that either.
I remember the police came over a couple times. one time I spoke to them in the backyard and I told them everything that Tammy and I had done together and everything I could remember about our friends and the things were doing that summer.
Another time officers stop by and claimed that someone had pranked called Tammy's house, then hung up and they used that as excuse to ask to check our basement, so my mom let them search it, then they left, I don't remember anything else about that event, but I found it odd I wasn't allowed to call the Lynds or ask what was going on, it like someone doesn't like the fact that I ask a lot of questions and wanted me to stop.
I don't remember there being any missing posters or any searches organized. Then on November 4th someone reported finding a body on Fox rd.
I remember being at my cousin's house on Moss Rd at the time and we drove past the crime scene on our way home, our mother picked us up while investigators were still walking around the scene. I don't remember seeing anything specific, I just remember a bunch of people standing around and being super curious about who's body they couldn't found, since we rode our bikes by that area all the time when going back and forth from my house to my cousins and friends.
I believe it was the following week, maybe it was two after they found her body, I was in school, then i got called into the principal's office and instantly officers shoved a picture in my face asking if I knew who that was, but the officer shoved it so close to my face that I couldn't tell who it was at the time.
I was brought down town Springfield to the police station, where I waited for my parents to arrive and then I was questioned.
At first I told police I had no idea Tammy snuck out, but after being grilled for what felt like a hour about the same thing over and over, I eventually went along with their story and agree to the idea that she knocked on my window one night, asked me to join her on a mystery trip, but left when I refused to join.
I don't know why they were so intent on asking me to say that, I assumed they just wanted to know what was going on. But I didn't have a clue so I couldn't help.
comet
New York- racoon trapped on fish live-well and drowned.
School
I was excited to start this school year my brother and cousin Joey we're joining me at Putnam and we joined soccer together. So I felt like it was just like when we were kids, gang was getting back together. Even though our team sucked I remember having a feeling like I was a part of something.
Putnam soccer VHS videos
I felt physically weak, I couldn't keep up with the other teammates, so lucky I worked my way into playing goalie. I felt like such a loser, sure playing was fun, nut the only games we won that year were against teams that had girls on them. lol super demoralizing, we didn't have any real team work, just a bunch of kids running around having fun.
I remember being shocked this girl Tammy Howe had got a season award for making the most saves, when I felt like our team was getting hammered by other teams and I thought the guys were way more aggressive and took more shots on goal, than the girl players. I'm not sure if that is actually true or not, but I felt that way at the time. lol
I stuck with Building and property maintenance. I remember that my dad also took this shop in high school, so I felt like it gave us a connection, like I was following in his foot steps.
it was always a lot of fun but al us kids were always getting in trouble for ridiculousness. One kid got suspended for throwing a broom handle like a javelin towards a bunch of teachers, even though it wasn't going to hit the teachers.
I used to think this was funny and gross, lol When drywall joint compound starts to go bad it smells horrible, so every chance we would get we would scoop some out and put it in the teacher's desk, and he would always yell and scream. I probably wouldn't have done it, except the reaction was hilarious, in my opinion.
A couple female classmates kept trying to lure me down into the sub basement of the school with the prospect of doing naughty things, naughty things that I thought would make a mess and as funny as it was to talk about, i thought it would be disgusting. It just so happened that one of the times that someone had asked me to go down there and I said no thanks, I happen to have to walk by the door to the sub basement and a police officer sprung out and asked if I was trying to get down there. I was very confused because I was nowhere near at the door at the time and then he claimed I tried to jiggle the handle. If he hadn't said that I might have told him that other people had invited me down there, I was a kind of a airhead I would just tell the truth if someone had asked, but once he lied, I must've seemed so confused that he knew he screwed up.
Tammy's Wake
I went to Tammy's wake on the November 17th, my mother and cousin Ellie thought it would look bad if I didn't go, so the 3 of us make a quick appearance. I honestly didn't know what to think, I had tons of questions and no one to ask.
Needless to say, I felt very uncomfortable as soon as we walked in the front door. People were angry, hurt and when I showed up, it gave them a target. As soon as we walked in it started, I could hear people saying stuff like- Why is he here?, What's he doing here?, He has some nerve showing up, he knows more than he's telling.
I don't even remember if Tammy's parents acknowledged me or I was so nervous that I just said sorry for your loss and tried to get away as fast as I could.
I remember kneeling at my friend Tammy's casket, wondering, how this is even possible?, how could there be no answers?, how can they just bury her?, and they never labeled a cause of death.
I feel like so much more should and could have been done, but I felt powerless, I was never allowed to ask questions, so that was the end of that.
I felt so relieved to leave Sampson's Funeral home on Tinkham Rd.
Tammy was buried November 18, 1994.
I'm sorry to say that, I'm happy I didn't go to her funeral.
Star Trek: Generations
My mother drove me to go see this in West Springfield cinemas'. this is the first time I remember seeing a movie by myself. I felt super uncomfortable, but I had made plans to go see it with Tammy, So I followed through. So during Thanksgiving vacation, I got to be disappointed and see Captain Kirk die. WTF lol
What a disappointment, It's funny I always thought that if I had a ship, I could save the world. lol
As you can see in the picture below, I still love Star Trek and keep things around to remind me of all these different events, The Enterprise -D saucer section and Klingon Bird of Prey are the same types of models I had and took swimming in 1994.
1994-11 Star Trek Models (taken-2026)
Christmas video
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