Spane's Maternal Grandfather - Major Charles M. Boswell
Spane's grandfather, my father, was Major Charles M. Boswell. He served in the Korean War, and we were stationed in Kaiserslautern in Germany. His parents were Grace Majors Boswell and Warren A. Boswell.
Germany
We lived near a Catholic church where I went to Kindergarden. It was a very old church, and a very cold church. I remember having to kneel on the cold marble when we went to Mass, which we did a lot. But, the church was really beatiful. Perhaps that's why I decided to become Catholic, and why Spane was baptized Catholic.
I have a lot of good memories of Germany. I remember visiting the Black Forest, going to October Fest, and visiting friends who lived in the country. My father would take me to the "zoo" - I found out when I got to Kinder when we went on a field trip to the Frankfurt Zoo that my father had been taking me to a neighboring farm.
Kaiserslautern has a large military community. We lived both on base in the barracks, and we also lived in a lovely penthouse apartment. I loved that penthouse because I could play on the roof, and I hated the barracks. To this day, I don't like apartment buildings that remind me of them.
Los Angeles
We left Germany when I was six years old. My mother and father split up, my mother and I moved to Northern California, and my father moved back to Los Angeles where his family was living.
My mother, Ruth, died when I was fifteen, and I went to live with my Aunt Georgia for a while, and then finally with my father. My father remarried a wonderful woman, Kathy, and he died in Los Angeles in 1984.
