Shortly after the kidnapping, Cousin Larry and his family moved out of Chowchilla (due to the trauma of the kidnapping). The next several years, Aaron continued living his life. One day in the late 70s or very early 80s, while Aaron and his family was at a Christian Retreat (for lack of a better word), something in their house shorted out and caused a small fire. Luckily his maternal grandfather (Oscar Aaron Gipe) heard the family dog barking and came to investigate (Aarons grandparents lived across the street from them). His paternal grandparents (on his stepfathers side) was relatively worthless and not worth mentioning). There was minor damage, but thankfully nothing major.

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Then came the introduction of Aarons first love. COMPUTERS! In the mid 80's (while Aaron was in the 6th or 7th grade), the principal (Mr. Westsmith if I recall) pulled a portion of the P.E. class in to learn about the brand spanking new computers (Apple IIe and II Plus) they had just received.

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Well, Aaron took to computers like a Catholic priest to little boys (or some other analogy). Aaron graduated from Wilson Jr. High in June of 1984.

  

Aaron continued his computer enthusiasm into High School. Its also important to note that while growing up, he enjoyed the old Batman tv show (in reruns), the Superfriends cartoon, and in the mid 80s G.I. Joe and Transformers (and the other cartoons of the era, Inhumaniods, Mask, He-Man, etc).