........looking at one of my childhood homes. It is only about a quarter of a mile from the house my parents built back 1972. I think we lived in the green house from the 1st. grade to the 5th. grade. It is brown now. There used to be 2 giant evergreen trees in front of the porch- now they're gone, The porch is open now, it used to be enclosed and I can see the spot where I got sick and puked up chicken chow mein. I haven't eaten chow mein to this day.
I remember the angle under the porch. It is still there. One side is higher than the other and we used to crawl under there and play. Billy crawled all the way under there once and set a fire. He almost set the house on fire and mommy had to crawl under there as far as she could and throw dirt at the flames to smother them.
Sherri and i used to play along the side between our two houses. We would play Monelito and Danny. They would rescue us from jail. The jail was an old storm grate on my side of the fence
We had our first dog here, a beagle. Cleopatra Floppyears Brennan was tied to her doghouse and she used to pull it all over the neighborhood following us around. She used to ride in the boat on the way to the campground and her ears would blow in the wind. That's how she got the middle name Floppyears. Then there was Ringo. They picked her up op a rainy night and a couple of months later she had puppies for us. She was killed on the road in front of my little sister, Rhonda. We had one puppy left and we named him Duke...aka....Dukiebird
i remember when they tore the garage down out back. They went inside and took out all the supports and then they just pushed it over as pretty as you please. I remember one of the big boys offering me candy to show him my panties - I did it
We learned to ride our bikes in the alley out back. I was jealous because daddy took the time to teach Billy, but he left Rhonda and I to learn on our own. It's the same alley where Rhonda buried herself under leaves in the middle of the road and my mom had to race screaming from the house to get her before a car came and ran over her. (thankfully, it wasn't a busy alley)
The Flynn's lived on one end. They grew grapes and chestnuts. We weren't allowed to play in their yard but every year they would fill up Big Gulp cups full of chestnuts and give one to each of the kids. There was an empty house next to us and I used to sit in the apple tree and read books for hours. Seamans' moved into the house behind us - they were like a Brady Bunch family. The mom and dad had gotten married with several kids from each marriage plus their kid they made together. When they moved out the Clarks' moved in. They gave out Clark bars every Halloween and their son, Greg, was killed in a car wreck on the straight stretch before Justice Addition when he was 17. (I think)
Mike and Kim Cook lived in the house next to them. Kim would play with me at home but she was too cool to talk to me at school. Mrs. Glenn lived on the other end of the Alley and her granddaughters, Kelly and Trisha used to play with us when they came down. In front of her was Hobe and Monte. We used to have to bum rides to school with them when we missed the bus. My mom wouldn't get our of bed, she said it was our responsibility to get to the bus on time or find our own way. Hobe and Monte's daughter, Sissy, had to go to work anyway so we weren't too late for school.
Ricky Irvin lived on the end and he had the best yard but we weren't allowed to play that far down the alley. Sometimes we would sneak down there and play king of the mountain or something but usually Ricky came to our house and played. All the kids in the neighborhood did because we weren't allowed to go to other people's houses usually. Ricky was my first crush. After David Cassidy that is. I remember singing "I Think I Love You," on the front porch over and over.
Star Market was the store after Ricky's house. We would ask for a nickel everytime we ran to the store, and we DID run, then we would load up on penny candy or whatever we could get for a nickel. I don't think I EVER saved it so I could get something better. One time I lost $20 on the way to the store and I came back and announced to my parents that they needed to give me more money. They freaked because I was so careless and made me look for it for what seemed like hours before they relented and gave me the money to buy the groceries again. I had to learn the value of money so I wouldn't lose it again they said.,
I remember my mom teaching me to tell time and tie my shoes in that house. This is where we played "paddle machine" when my aunt was the babysitter. Basically it is a kid's version of an Indian gauntlet and probably nearly as painful That is also the house where we had the greatest Christmas ever! It was magical in every way and all children should have at least one Christmas like that,
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