Her name was Marlene. I vividly remembered her name, because Marlene is my Mother’s name. She and I were in the third grade. I was eight years old and the year was 1968. My family had just moved to Fresno over the previous summer, from the farming community of Conejo. I was actually happy to be in Fresno, because we were now much closer to extended family.

Marlene was not really my friend – she was a loner and a bit different from the other kids.

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