my first skateboarding experience

I started skating when my family lived in Valerio Gardens. Valerio Gardens is an apartment building on Valerio street in Van Nuys. We lived next door to a nice Italian family, the Garcias. They had three sons and one daughter, Michael, Joseph, Danny, and Melissa. One of the sons, I don't remember which one, let me ride his skateboard one day in the abandoned lot next door. It was a skinny wood board with narrow trucks. I remember I loved it the first time I rode it. I liked it because it allowed me to learn something new and fun. I always wanted to be the best at new things. One day, one of the boys dropped the skateboard from the balcony and it broke, so did my heart. But fortunately I was always able to borrow a board to skate from some kid in our apartment building. Eventually, my father bought me my first real board which we found through the Recycler. We traveled by bus to Reseda where a guy sold me his old Hosoi. The trucks on the board had bad bushings but I loved that board. Later on, in the fifth grade, my dad bought me a mini Caballero for my birthday. I skated everywhere with that board but I got jacked by some guys on the way home one day. I cried for a few days since the board cost $138 and it was a financial burden on my parents. A few weeks later my parents bought me a used Tony Hawk and it was on again. This time I started to skate with some kids down the block, Tony and his brother. We formed a little crew and I learned how to launch ramp on that board.