"Some Topical/Memorable Quotes from My Past" -- nothing paranormal!

Over the long years, I have enjoyed many colorful acquaintances to whom memorable quotes stood-out.  While working in a sweat shop asbestos paper mill in 1967 and going to U.C, a really dirty,unkempt & nasty little man who had a medical problem with his foot/leg and wore a big, ugly medical boot, used to give us college boys advice on women.  Sadly, all he probably ever knew were paid prostitutes but we listened.  We were looking at  men's magazine with females with huge boobs and he said;  "Boys, I've seen bigger, matter of fact I've had my jaws around them!"  Once he was asked to take care of the yard at the apt. he rented from a nice Barber and was asked to cut the grass for the 3 weeks he was gone.  When the Barber returned, the grass was high and unkempt.  When the Barber asked him what had occurred, he stated with a sinister grin;  "Old man, it rained every fu---n day you were gone!" In 1968, my colorful neighbor and then dear friend, Red, captured a ground hog from a local gas station and was paid well for it.  He brought the huge animal to his backyard, next door and when I arrived, all 4 stove burners were hot, boiling huge pans of hot water.  The animal was in a big metal trash can with a screen on top.  Then, to my surprise and shock, he started to pour the huge pans of boiling water in the can onto the animal and it was jumping around, squealing in pain.  As he did, his "yes-man", Robert, was so excited and out of breath enjoying watching the animal being tortured, he said;  "Keep it up, Red, the M/F is hollering for more. This sad spectacle went on and on as Robert was so excited by the torture event. It was a sad and memorable day.  Interestingly, Red ended killing his first wife and spent the next 11 years in prison and then in 1983, he killed his girlfriend.  He is still on death row.  Some tough times and memories. Like Beauty, perhaps Humor lies in the eyes of the beholder!  To be continued...........Capt. Rick Rotundo

"Another Haunting Story---1971 Good-Bye, My Dear Friend!"

During the warm weather of 1971, I was coming home from some "party" event late, perhaps about 2:00 AM, where I had been drinking and "smoking" and was still a bit high, but not so much from the beer. I was in my old XK-E with the top down on I-75 I believe near GE when I came upon a horrific wreck scene that had just occurred in front of me.  I pulled over as the road was blocked and clearly a truck and several cars had been involved in this catastrophic scene.  I ran over to the nearest car where I saw a female in a twisted wreckage and she was mashed into the dash in a tangled mess of steel and glass.  She was groaning and bleeding as the car was totaled.  I tried to free her and she started to BEG me to help her.  I worked to move the metal and windshield glass and realized that she was "trapped".  I worked, for what seemed like "Forever", to free her waist to get some leverage to free her body and as I dug and struggled to free her mid-section, I realized that I was into the softness of her stomach and I removed my hand and it was bloody.  She was dying, crying and I did not know what to do as the smoke was starting to rise as if a fire was brewing.  I had blood all over my clothes as well.  I ran back to me car to look for my tire tool to help me free her and I heard sirens. Finally, as I searched my trunk,, I heard a loud explosion and the nearby truck exploded and jumped into her car and all hell broke lose.  I was shocked knowing that she was going to burn to death.  I stood by my car and SCREAMED in shock and awe, in complete sadness. As the Cops arrived, I decided to leave, as I was probably considered "high" and I did not want a citation.  I got home and actually had cried in my car most of the way!  The next day when I awoke, I wondered if it was all a bad dream, hoping it was until at looked at my blood soaked clothes on the floor.  I later saw where 2 people died in the crash not knowing if "she " was killed.  My heart was broken and I went to church that Sunday to both PRAY and to ask for Forgiveness for not being able to free her and to try and find some semblance of Peace and Closure.  It was surreal and I started to wonder if, again, it could have all been a really bad dream, and sadly it was not. I had bad dreams with HER in them as I watched her suffer for the next several months and saw and experienced haunting visions of her disfigured face as she suffered and begged me to HELP her to no avail!  A very sad time in my troubled life! To be continued........... Capt. Rick Rotundo

"A Traumatic and Scary Event" My Encounter with Near Death.

When I was a 5th grader at St. Mary's grade school and just started my long awaited Summer vacation, I was walking down a residential street near our home, mid-afternoon.  I was nearing a well kept and nice home that had a tall fence that was solid board and I knew that a severely retarded young man lived there with his parents, as my Mother had told us about the sad situation. She told us that the strong fence was there to both protect the boy and to protect people on the outside because the boy was emotionally unstable, incredibly strong and had a history of becoming violent.  I noticed from across the street, a very old lady from the neighborhood, Miss Peach, being 80+ years old and very fragile but agile, was walking by the fence.  I heard a loud noise and saw part of the fence break away near the top and the boy managed to reach over and had grabbed her neck and it was a violent, ugly and very scary scene.  I did not know what to do as she screamed and fought for her life.  I decided to run over to try and help her and as I worked to pull and tear her away from his raging arms, he let her go but managed to bite my arm and hand.  Her screams and the noise of the struggle must have alerted his parents who came out to help.  A passing car stopped and then I noticed Firemen from the nearby Firehouse came running and then 2 Police cars came.  They attended Miss Peach who was in bad shape and bleeding, but reasonably ok.  A very nice Policeman asked me what occurred and as I sat in his Cruiser, I was shaken and afraid too.  He was thankful and told me that I saved her life.  He handed me a five dollar bill and told me to buy myself something nice and thanked me.  I was so shaken and traumatized that I told no one and actually sat nearby and cried my eyes out for about 30 minutes and said some prayers in my head, as I was still shaking. Later in the week at school, I put the five dollar bill in the weekly Mission offering from our 5th grade class and again told no one about my sad encounter.  I still think about Miss Peach and how afraid I was and thankful that I, a shy young boy, somehow found the courage and energy to help.  To be continued.....   Capt. Rick Rotundo

"Another Haunting Story--1965 Good-Bye Karen!"

In the Spring of 1965, being a 10th grader and in my Home-room, I became very friendly with a beautiful girl who was a Cheerleader.  Since I was shy, I would have never-ever have gotten to know her so well in the special and engaging fashion had she not been sitting in front of me in Home-room. One beautiful Friday, I gave her a special flower/carnation arrangement for her hair that I brought from home that had been given to my Mother as friendly gift for such a beautiful friend. Karen was very gracious and accepted the flower/pin and assured me that she would wear it, as it was beautiful and from me!  The next day, Saturday, I, along with my usual two fishing buddies headed for Rising Sun, Indiana to go fishing at Grant Creek.  On the way, we were caught in a horrific accident scene where a Chev. Corvair had been cut in half by another large car head-on and it was graphic and horrific.  We watched as the Ambulance and medical workers loaded the accident victims into the emergency vehicles headed to the hospital.  A State Patrol Officer asked us to get out of our car to assist with clean-up and we did.  He told us that 2 girls were dead on the scene and another was critically injured with very severe head injuries.  You could clearly see what looked like Brain Matter on the dashboard area.  He said that once the car was cut in two, the front seat was hit head-on and the girls were smashed.  I then noticed a flower set that looked just like the one that I had given Karen on Friday and was perplexed and had an inherent bad feeling that was both haunting and scary. Later that day, we heard that the girls killed and one injured were from Hamilton and sadly and surely, Karen was the lone survivor.  My Mother called the hospital, as she then worked in the Emergency room in Hamilton, and she was given information that could not have been obtained via normal venues due to confidentiality.  Karen was super critical and the Trauma Surgeon who operated on Karen was quoted as saying he had never seen such severe Brain trauma and he had to remove her hair rollers from her brain tissue.  He said that she was near death and that she reminded him of his own daughter at about the same age.  She later died on Monday to my anguish and grief, learning this at school in Home-room.  I had the "BLOODY" flower arrangement that I retrieved from the accident to always REMEMBER Karen and I was heartbroken and traumatized for years to come.  I kept this flower pin for many-many years and often came to tears in my most private and sentimental moments! Often, I offered a Prayer for Karen with wet eyes and a hurting heart!  A very sad chapter in my life!  Capt. Rick Rotundo   

" A Haunting True Story!" 1964

When I was in the 10th grade, my best friend was a genuinely nice and decent fellow who lived in a broken/dysfunctional home with his single Mom and at near poverty.  He was a wonderful friend.  Sadly, one night, he was with friends in a car that crashed and ran into a creek that killed his two friends, leaving him in the hospital with serious head injuries. I went to visit him and he was so depressed about his friends dying and all he could say was he did not know WHY he was spared.  When he got out, we hung-out together like usual but he was clearly depressed and ALL he could talk about was his dead friends and he felt guilty that he survived.  He would call me in the middle of the night and I would talk him back into feeling better. He said that he kept seeing them in his mind and in dreams, almost every night, as they were calling for him to join them in the afterlife. Finally, after about 4 months of dark depression, he called me and said that he left me a letter and he was going to do something that he had been needing to do for a long time.  After school, I went to his Mom's apt. and got the letter.  He said that he was finally going to join his dead friends because he did not deserve to live since they died instead.  He ended by saying "You are my BEST Friend FOR EVER, Rick!" and said he could be found at the boy's grave site.  I told his Mom and they called the Police and we went to the cemetery and sure enough he was on the grave stones and he had shot himself in the mouth and it was a terrible scene, so tragic and depressing with another "good-bye" letter asking God to forgive him and to understand and his Mom and Rick to both understand and forgive him for doing what he had to do.  For some unknown and strange reason, his body and cloths were soaking wet, as if he had been in a creek.  It scared me and I really believed that somehow he had visited them at the death scene and experienced the creek! I shall ALWAYS remember Larry and those sad and enigmatic days back in 1964.  It was a HAUNTING experience and I still think about him and this story from time to time.   to be continued.................  Capt. Rick Rotundo

"Continuation of Story" 10/6/2011 (sorry, it is out of order)

Later that same day, the old and rigid Fundamentalist Dad of Wilbur, managed to finally get into their usually securely locked bedroom and he gathered all of the dirty magazines and porno films, along with some beer and liquor, and by early evening was burning them with lots of gasoline in a huge bonfire in the back yard.  It was quite a spectacle as Dad was quoting the Bible and saying that "pornographer's and those who looked at the vulgar stuff were SURE to go straight to HELL", as he stoked the raging fire.  Wilbur and his brother had gone to the horse races to gamble that evening.  The next day, Sunday, while the Dad was at church, Wilbur managed to make sense of what had occurred and started to take all of his Dad's bedroom furniture to the back yard where he made another huge bone fire as his father's bedroom furniture burned and his brother, while not in agreement, did nothing to stop the process.  Late that afternoon, we made it our job to be there to see the fireworks and their were plenty.  Interestingly, the lady that cared for the elderly/chair-bound wife, my friend's grandmother, was clearly "high" as she had been the old fruit jar and she was making a big deal to me and my friend, HOW women hid their money down their Bra.  She said that her husband, Harlan, would often take her cash, so she now kept it down deep in her Bra and Harlan would "never-ever" dare to go their.  This was both provocative and inappropriate but it was more fun that day. Late in the evening, the Aunt, to whom common sense, decency and order, along with love and compassion were her norm, sat us down to try and explain the crazy day.  On Monday, Wilbur was placed in the Mental Wat the hospital for a short stay, his brother was working double shifts and life was back to near normal.  Sadly, the old father/grandfather died shortly thereafter.  It had been quite a crazy few days for us and I shall never forget all of the chaos and humor.  Putting it into perspective, it was indeed a LEARNING EXPERIENCE, at least for me!   Capt. Rick Rotundo

"Colorful Non-Paranormal Stories from the Past, with Lots of Fun!" Pt. 1

Back in June of 1965, my friend, who had an Uncle that was his father's twin, who lived in the same home with his Aunt (his legal Guardian), Grandmother/Grandfather was always fussing with all of them.  One hot Summer afternoon, as his father and uncle who shared a bedroom and often locked themselves inside to show porno films, etc. while their father, a strict Fundamental Christian, steamed in anger, started to quiz us about life.  His father was on Psychotropic drugs for nerves and was always eccentric said that there was no God.  We said that there indeed was a God and that HE would be upset by the rude comment.  Finally, I told Wilbur (Dad) that because he did not believe, a biblical plague would occur as a sort of joke.  Later that night we went Gigging and harpooned perhaps 50+ really large Carps from a stream that led to Acton Lake and we filled our car trunk full of dead fish and at about midnight we place all the fish all over the yard where Wilbur lived and it was an amazing sight, as the Moon was nearly Full.  We called Wilbur at daybreak and told him that God had sent him his punishment.  According to my friend who lived there, Wilbur ran out into the yard and was screaming and yelling.  Later, since he did not take his medicine, he had a near nervous breakdown as he pleaded with us to BELIEVE him that he now BELIEVED so that nothing like this would ever-ever occur again.  The next phase of this incredible and fascinating story will be told in my next instalment, and BELIEVE me, it will be well-worth your wait!  To be continued.....ENJOY!   Capt. Rick Rotundo.