MY EARLY MEMORIES

MY EARLY MEMORIES


As I try and recall, with my brain cells whirling about, they seem to be crashing into each other…I wish that I had the words to describe the images that I have in a way that others could see these images.

On Wabash St. we lived in a small house…but in those days most houses were smaller than we see today. As you walked into the house from a tiny porch, there was a living room about the half the size of Jack & Heathers bedroom. Behind that, a small kitchen that had a huge sink for my brothers and myself to wash the dishes…it only seemed huge because I was not the biggest kid in the 4th grade!!

I only see a small patch of lawn in the front with no grass in the rest of the yard. In the backyard, behind the small garage and my brothers pigeon coupe, there was and even smaller house that Pete and Ina Lee and their baby, Billy lived in. Pete worked at Safeway in the produce section after getting out of the Army in 1945. They were the nicest folks on the planet I thought…every time that I saw Pete and would ask how he
was doing he’d say, “What the hell do you care?” That would crack me up…he also taught me about “Do you know why the chicken crossed the road?” I have been able to wear that into the ground with my children and grand kids…HEY, traditions need to be continued.

We would go to my Grandparents house and I loved that place...it was a Victorian style house with a “Sun room”. The sunroom was outside of my Grandparents bedroom and ran almost the length of the south side of the house, with plenty of chairs to sit on and was completely screened in…it could also be accessed from the back porch.

Interring the house there was a “Drawing room” on the right, with a door that slid open. The room was hardly ever used. To the left there was a bedroom that I slept in when we would spend the night. Since my Grandfather was an upholsterer. He always had scraps of material that my Grandmother would make into quilts…REALLY HEAVY quilts, because the materials used in making furniture in those days was very thick. They felt comforting with all of the weight on me.

As you walked into the house, walking straight ahead, there was a larger room with a fireplace and a buncha chairs and sofas. Making a left turn at the end of that room was a
very large “Dining room” with a HUGE table. On the floor, as you interred the room was a floor heater that blew warm air into the room…it was the only heat in the house as I recall and we would stand on it on cold mornings to get warm. Air conditioning? Are you kidding??


Behind the room was the kitchen…there were 2 bedrooms to the side of the dining room and another bed room off of the kitchen that I would also sleep in occasionaly. My grandparents room was the back one off of the dining room.

Going down the back porch stairs you walked into the backyard…on the left was the “Tank house” that Wilbur lived in. The backyard was pretty good sized and could probably hold 5 or 6 cars. My Grandfathers upholstery shop was at the backside of the yard. The side of the house had a large lawn with some good sized trees. What a NEAT house this was.

I remember my Grandmother as a rather small woman that ALWAYS wore an apron and a smile. My Grandfather was a pretty happy guy…the only thing I ever remember him saying to me was, as I was watching him with a mouthful of tacks doing his work...he pulled out his handkerchief and blew his nose. He then showed me the handkerchief and said, “You think that’s dirt but it’s snot!”

One of the hazards of a visit to my Grandparents home was seeing my Uncle Otto…not sure if he was my grandmother’s or Grandfather’s brother but I can still see him laughing as he would poke you with his walking cane! You steered clear of that portly old man.

I fondly remember the Christmas holidays at this old house…everyplace you went in the house there were dishes holding the BEST homemade candy in the WORLD! The rocky road and divinity candy was great but my favorite was the peanut butter fudge …MMMMMMM! I sure do miss that stuff.


With my Mother having 9 brothers and sisters there were always a lot of good times...the women would be in the kitchen cooking or in the living room, the men in the dining room playing penny ante poker and all of us kids would be playing out in the yard. What FUN TIMES!

My Grandfather passed away when I was around 7 years old…my Grandmother died just after Irene and I got married…the old house on N. Morrison was sold to people that tore it down and built an “OLD FOLKS” home that my Grandmother spent the last years in.Behind the room was the kitchen…there were 2 bedrooms to the side of the dining room, the back one was my Grandparents room…behind my grandparents room, accessed from the kitchen was another bedroom that I would also sleep in.

Going down the backporch stairs you walked into the backyard…on the left was the Tank house that Wilbur lived in. The backyard was pretty good sized and could probably hold 5 or 6 cars. My Grandfathers upholstery shop was at the backside of the yard. The side of the house had a large lawn with some good sized trees. What a NEAT house this was.

I remember my Grandmother as a rather small woman that ALWAYS wore an apron and a smile. My Grandfather was a pretty happy guy…the only thing I ever remember him saying to me was, as I was watching him with a mouthful of tacks doing his work...he pulled out his handkerchief and blew his nose. He then showed me the handkerchief and said, “You think that’s dirt but it’s snot!”

One of the hazards of a visit to my Grandparents home was seeing my Uncle Otto…not sure if he was my grandmother’s or Grandfather’s brother but I can still see him laughing as he would poke you with his walking cane! You steered clear of that portly old man.

I fondly remember the Christmas holidays at this old house…everyplace you went in the house there were dishes holding the BEST homemade candy in the WORLD! The rocky road and divinity candy was great but my favorite was the peanut butter fudge …MMMMMMM! I sure do miss that stuff.


With my Mother having 9 brothers and sisters there were always a lot of good times...the women would be in the kitchen cooking or in the living room, the men in the dining room playing penny ante poker and all of us kids would be playing out in the yard. What FUN TIMES!

My Grandfather passed away when I was around 7 years old…my Grandmother died just after Irene and I got married…the old house on N. Morrison was sold to people that tore it down and built an “OLD FOLKS” home that my Grandmother lived in.