April Winchell

I went to my mother's house today.

She gave me a very large box filled with papers of my father's. I have several hundred canceled checks from the late 60's, all signed by him. Do you think those are worth something?

Besides whatever financial value they may have to the devout collector, they're an interesting insight into our lives.

For example, there are residuals check stubs here for a Baby Ruth commercial he did. The stub shows that the spot aired in prime time, during Gilligans Island and something called Pistols 'n Petticoats. There are also stubs from cartoons he voiced like The Banana Splits and Wacky Races. And there are script pages and contracts mixed in the box, just a grab bag of career memorabilia.

And there is personal memorabilia as well, offering a different kind of insight.

For example, there are canceled checks to a Dr. Rosenbloom in Sherman Oaks. I sort of remember the guy, he wore bow ties and had a lot of games in his office. It was only later I discovered the purpose of those appointments. My father had me seeing a psychiatrist at the age of seven.

Like everything that happened in those years, i took it in stride, and just accepted it. It's only now as an adult that I look back and wonder what the fuck I could have possibly been doing at seven that made him think psychiatry was warranted. I mean, I wasn't setting fires or anything. I was just a kid. I liked Legos and listening to records.

My mother tells me that Dr. Rosenbloom called my parents into his office after a few visits and stated that there was nothing significantly wrong with me (not yet). The loon, he decided, was my father, and he wanted to treat him instead.

We never saw Dr. Rosenbloom again.

Maybe I'll put those on eBay. My introduction to psychiatry, financed by a man who talked to his hands for a living.