"We are born astride a grave - WaynesWorldStage.com

After the second grade, my family leftCharlotte and we moved to Wilmington, N.C. Ithink my father quit his job and got a new jobthat was going to make us rich. Our new housewas nearly a mansion. A horse stable was nextdoor and my father bought a horse. His namewas Happy. I hated Wilmington, but I lovedHappy. I had a hard time adjusting to the newschool. The first week in the third grade, I had tourinate real bad. I asked the teacher if I could goto the bathroom. She said, “No, school will be outin an hour. You can hold it.” I couldn’t. I just satin my seat until everyone else had left so that Icould sneak home without being seen. I've beentold that this has happened to many children atthat age, but at the time, I was certain that only amoron would wet his pants in school.I had been told that our next doorneighbor was a big executive with a tobacco firm.One day, I was sitting on our front porch and hecame over to talk to me. He told me that under nocircumstance should I ever smoke a cigarette. Ido not believe he ever said a word about nicotine.He told me that the tobacco was sprayed witharsenic and that arsenic was highly addictive.This was 1942, long before smoking wasconsidered to be evil. I recently investigatedarsenic on the Internet and discovered thatarsenic is still sprayed on tobacco and that it ishighly addictive. I can't help but to wonder why30