1131

 

Pretty sure this picture was taken by Mrs. Fish, my first grade teacher. She took this for a Mother's Day card we made.

Koren and me..she reminds me so much of Emmie( my granddaughter)

The start of first grade was a move to a real school. My Mom packed my lunch(sorry kids, it was easier for her with only one of me 🙂 ). My favorite lunch was a scrambled egg sandwich..yum-o. Still one of my favorites..it must be on toast. Lucky for me , that I like it that way since toasted is the only way Gluten Free bread is decent.

Shortly after I started First Grade we moved to 1131 Front St., Nimmonsburg, NY. I think the people we rented from sold the house so off we went. My Dad’s office was only a short ride down Front Street, which is why I’m guessing my parents chose this location. This was on the north side of Binghamton, so a new school district( and remember I still have not been vaccinated). My parents were able to keep their same phone number from Conklin. It was 20227, which when they added a word in front was Raymond 20227, or 722-0227. My dad the human calculator slide rule quickly figured out it was the same forward as backwards. My parents were able to keep that number until 1996, when they

Here is Christmas 57 or 58. I got a bride doll for a gift. I think I only recently had to send her to the doll graveyard .

moved to assisted living.

I could walk to school from this house..those were the days when you could walk home at lunch. Lucky for me.I was a pretty picky eater, hated white milk and had a Mom who never seemed to mind me coming home. I usually had grilled cheese, Campbell’s chicken noodle soup or Chef Boyardee Ravioli. In between our house and the school was a bank and the fire station( and a creek, more creek stories later). If the sirens went off in the middle of the night, there was no way of sleeping through it. A pillow over my head was just not enough to keep that awful sound out.

The one thing I remember about First Grade was the Asian flu pandemic( 70000 died in the US). I went to school one winter morning, there were 5 of us there plus a substitute teacher. As usual I went home for lunch( even very cold weather could not get me into the cafeteria). At home I began to feel kind of crummy so my Mom kept me home. The doctor(the same one that scared me earlier) came to the house, and made the diagnosis of the flu. The schools ended up being closed for a few days if not a week. Not long after this I was sent to have my tonsils out. The theory then was yank those suckers out to prevent disease..oh how modern medicine has evolved. Of course if you need them out now, it’s usually not until you are an adult, when a tonsillectomy is a pretty dangerous procedure. So now you risk waiting until a tonsillectomy might kill you or  getting them out and fight off more colds. A lose lose situation.

So the reason I titled this 1131, is not just because it was our address, but a number that I seem to notice almost every day. So often I tend to look at my watch or a clock at 11:31, and I get a warm fuzzy feeling remembering my life on 1131 Front Street 🙂

60..Really?

Here I am with the love of my life the day before my birthday. Just finished The Miami Half Marathon.

Today I have been 60 for one whole day..wow. Honestly I don’t feel any worse for the wear. My Dad always told the story of how when I was born, he had to have chains on all 4 tires and they had to hold me back until the doctor got there..yowza..hold me back..if there were personal injury lawyers back then, that never would have happened.Interesting( well at least to me) that there is an ice storm warning(tonight ..one day later than my birthday). Time repeats itself.

So Bruce  and I did a half marathon Sunday..I am going into this year, kicking ,screaming, running, swimming and biking. Great race and even though it was very slow for us, well we are still running.At this age, it’s so mandatory important to keep moving forward.

When my parents were 60, I was still in high school..I can’t imagine having a high school child..my Mom said I kept her young..really? I think that would age me double time..but thanks Mom for making me feel good.

So 60 years of memories..I don’t think I will ever get up to the point where my memories catch up with my blog. That’s a good thing..I think.

This is my youngest picture that I have..I'm thinking 5 or 6 months. The cheeks seem to be a very strong gene.

Fear of Water and First Camp Out

This is our neighbor whose daughters were my good friends, and who I am sure was my Mom's BFF

Here I am around the time of these adventures.

Where we lived in Conklin was within walking distance to the Susquehanna River. There was an area where people went swimming. There was a small beach there. I guess technically it was the river bank but felt like a beach to us. I was there with my Mom and a group of our friends. As we were splashing around, I suddenly found myself under the water and unable to breathe.( I was 4 or 5). Finally my Mom grabbed me and pulled me to safety. For years my parents tried to get me to swim lessons but I would totally melt down , my Mom would cave in and I never learned to swim until my senior year of high school. I was probably the only girl who went to Girl Scout camp for 2 years and didn’t advance in swimming. Maybe if the bitches counselors weren’t so mean I would have. aMy fear of water is something I never wanted my children to have. I encouraged them to swim at a very young age and they are all really good swimmers. Things that happen in our young lives can have a positive or negative spin on our lives later.I’d like to think I turned this into a plus sign.
Recently I started to do triathlons. This affirms to me that I could overcome my fear of water. Still haven’t taken a cruise but that’s probably a Titanic thing 🙂

The first time I “camped” out was in the back yard in Conklin. Early in the day of the camp out my friends Ruth, Ann and our Moms headed to the nearby woods to cut down some trees for the tent poles. We cut down some birch trees. That scent always takes me back to that day. It’s funny how olfactory memories are so powerful. We dragged the trees home and put up a tent with Army blankets. So we were 4 or 5, no chance to stay out all night? For sure, scary sounds and of course very dark, despite the flashlights. I have no idea what time it was when we chickened out, but my guess it was not much past 9. how many of us Boomers had their first sleep out in the back yard in a homemade tent? Lots, I’m sure.

Birthdays

 

This is at our house in Nimmonsburg. Of course Cindy, Patti and Russ are there. Koren has been added to our family( she's in the high chair). Friends from the old neighborhood are there too.

I am sticking my head out at the back of the table. Russ, Cindy and Patti are there of course with some neighbor friends

My first birthday that I can remember was when I was 6. That seems old to be my first memory of a birthday. Were my parents tired of so many birthdays by the time they got to me? I doubt it..my parents never seemed like I was a PIA( and I know I was).
The party was in the basement of our Conklin house. That basement had a bar..so cool. We played Pin the Tale on the Donkey.I don’t remember much else other than the dress I wore..come on..of course I would remember that.it was brown sheer with velvet things imprinted on it.
The top picture is from my 7th birthday party.I have no memory of that one or really any other birthdays until I was 18. Birthdays seem to have become more important as I have gotten older. Getting to another milestone seems to be more of an accomplishment then when you are young and take it for granted that there will be another birthday..

First Born

82 years ago this January, My Mom had her first children. She delivered twins in a time when infant mortality was high (700 per 100,000 births, now it is 6.8 per 1000) .  No ultrasounds to identify multiple fetuses. No monitoring of any kind. In a small town like Deposit, New York, the fact that there was even a small hospital is pretty surprising.  In the 20’s women were given general anesthesia for labor and there was increasing number of hospital deliveries. My Mom was no exception. She gave birth to twins, a girl Patty (3 1/2 pounds) and a boy, Patrick, who was still born. My guess he was breach, as many of one of the twins are.The story goes that Mom didn’t know she had a baby who died until she got a note from a gossip friend that she was sorry about the death of the baby. Imagine how surprised Mom must have been.Mom would always talk about Patty on her birthday.After Bill was born, she would tell me Bill reminded her of Patty. She was delayed in her development, although it may have been because of her heart defect. As I was going through pictures to use for my blog I came across Patty’s baby book.

I want to share my Mom’s words about Patty’s death:

(There was some kind of medal in the book at one time and under was written)

This was given Patty on April 7, 1932 by Dr. Mary Ross who came to see her in consultation with Dr. Axtell. Patricia passed on April 8, 1932 at 12 :45 am. She had pneumonia also a valvular heart condition. She of course is better off with G-d and all the rest and she, we know is in Heaven. The memory of her can never be forgotten by her beloved parents.

Her Mother

Donna

Now has a mother, I can’t even imagine her pain. Now Patty could have lived with some antibiotics and  surgical intervention. It really breaks my heart for my parents. The Depression all around them, losing 2 children, but  my parents were amazing, wonderful people and had a 70 year marriage, despite tough times.

The Wizard of Oz..or how to scare the daylights out of a 5 year old

The first time The Wizard of Oz was on television was in 1956. It was a very big deal at the time. No color yet, but that didn’t stop it from being  scary, since for me the scary part was in black and white anyway. I will NEVER forget when Miss Gulch biked across that bedroom window and turned into the wicked witch.Neither Dorothy or I could handle her wickedness and I went straight to bed. I remember being in my bed wanting to come out, my parents encouraging me but just couldn’t get beyond the fear.

That’s me reviewing an article in Parade about it the next morning. What’s with the hat?!

It’s funny that the same scene would give our family a great story 32 years later. We were driving to Hilton Head in our Suburban. We had a little( and I do mean little) TV with a VHS player. The kids and our Au Pair were watching the movie. Trust me this was not the first time, it had been watched over and over. AJ was not quite 3, but very verbal. It was dinner and time to take a break. As Bruce was about to turn off the car, AJ shouts “J—s Crisis, it’s the wicked witch”, like he had never seen it before.It was right at the same scene that had sent me to an early bedtime. We have told that story as many times as we have watched the movie.

Honestly between Bambi and this movie I have rarely been able to watch suspenseful, scary films. Scarred for life.

No More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed

The photos above are top left are Koren and me, top right me playing in the dirt( you will see later that my daughters possess the same dirty girl trait). Bottom picture is Patti and me on a bed, meant to be sat on or slept on..not jumped on..and definitely not when you have a spoon in your mouth.

And before the spoon story..the bedspread in the above picture..how many remember that particular one? Many homes in America in the 50’s had them.They were in plenty of my friends’ rooms.  I have seen it in the movie My Dog Skip and many others that were timed in the 50’s , or early 60’s.  I bet if I watch A Christmas Story(again) it will be there too.

It was a Sunday afternoon and my sister Betty and her kids were there for Sunday dinner. Our family got together most Sundays for dinner. Great memories , great meals. So Patti, Cindy, Russ and I were jumping on the bed. Cindy had a spoon in her mouth, fell and not sure exactly how it happened but the spoon went down her throat and got stuck. That same doctor who really scared me came to the house to retrieve it.Those were the days of house calls, no sitting in a crowded ER for us. Cindy was on the dining room table, we were all corralled to the kitchen and kept very quiet. I am pretty sure she had to get a dreaded shot( probably tetanus).

So to my children, when I freaked out about running with stuff in your mouths, well now you know the history behind my worry.

Move to Conklin

Above picture, clockwise: That’s me on the left, my oldest sister Betty, Russ, Cindy, my Mom, Patti, my sister Joan and her daughter Koren.

The picture on the right, was 2 neighbors who I think were Diane Tompkins and Ann Holzman.

When I was 4 my Dad got a new job( where he would work for the next 20 years) and we moved to Conklin, NY to a house called The Cobblestone House( in the background of the picture  with 2 neighbor friends)( here is a link on google maps to the image of the house currently…..http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&q=country+courier+b+%26+b+conklin&fb=1&gl=us&hq=country+courier+b+%26+b&hnear=Conklin,+NY&view=map&cid=502719693980905869&ll=42.077617,-75.822315&spn=0,0.026157&t=f&z=16&layer=c&cbll=42.077582,-75.822291&panoid=K-VBeJkwNX6AeMwIJcC4Vg&cbp=12,55.78,,0,8.17 )     My dad had an aversion to home ownership, due to a fire in their first home they owned. The story as I know it was that the insurance man came to the fire and told the firemen to leave it partially standing and then they couldn’t collect the insurance money He would never buy another home and always rented. I feel like I got my Dad’s personality trait to call things either black or white..no gray for us.

Prerequisite for Kindergarten was Small Pox vaccination. My parents took me to a new doctor whose name was Dr. Blumenkranz. As a small child this man was very frightening to me. He spoke with a heavy German accent. I know now he was a Holocaust survivor as was his wife. I had a huge meltdown over  this “shot” ..and well I carried on so much that my parents took me home without getting the needed vaccination. The school district let me go to school, not sure how that was accomplished. I finally succumbed to vaccination in about 5th grade. To my parents..Sorry..to my children..these kinds of things will pass with your own children.

Kindergarten was in  a hardware store…I assume due to the baby boom, the school district had to use whatever resources they could. Miss Taylor was my first teacher..she gave us stickers if we brushed our teeth or bathed. I can close my eyes and see the Ivory soap bar stickers to this day. Are teachers even allowed to ask those questions anymore? I spent a lot of that year sick, chicken pox, mumps, lots of sore throats.

My deepest memory has to do with my niece Patti. In the pictures, she is the one with the glasses. Patti and I were born 4 1/2 months apart(think Father of the Bride 2 ). My sister was a single mother due to the death of her husband. Her children were cared for by family when she went back to work.   Patti stayed with us during the week, Cindy and Russ(formerly known as Chip) stayed with their paternal grandmother, while my sister went back to work. I have no idea how long Patti went to school with me, but she was at my table, and I remember that my teacher was kind of mean to her. I believe that shortly after Patti was identified with learning problems.(I will not use the “R” word here or anywhere else). Patti was born prematurely and treatment at that time included high doses of oxygen, which lead to brain damage( or so I have been told..no personal injury lawyers back then, so my sister was left to deal with this on her own).

I grew up with a very special person and I feel that this set the stage for how would I deal with my own son. My sister really had to fight hard for Patti’s education in a time where there was very little support. Cindy and Russ were good to her, and back then it was really hard to have a developmentally delayed sibling.

First Death

My sister Betty’s(she’s the oldest of the siblings) husband Russell passed away when I was about 3( I was 3, checked with mys sister , it was July 1954). He had Hodgkin’s Disease.Today suvrival rates are at 92.1 % for people under 45. In 1960( a few years after his death) survival rates were at only 44%. which on the opposite side is 56% mortality. ( more later why I might look at the negative). So what I remember is going to the VA hospital in Wilkes Barre and sitting on a porch with our family.I remember going to the cemetery , although not sure if it was the funeral or not. So the weird thing about the cemetery was going behind some bushes and peeing. Sounds so disrespectful…So  my question would be, does anyone remember being toilet trained?  Now that would be a memory.

First Memories

First of all, I may have bit off a little more than I can chew thinking I could do this everyday, but I am hoping as I get more used to this new blogging site it might go faster.

My first memories are from the early Fifties when we lived in Kingsley, PA. Kingsley is a  very small town in Northeast PA(pop 1818). One of the first things I remember was hiding in a flour bin in our kitchen. My brothers came in(they are 16 and 17 years older than me, very cool you guys, messing with a 3 year old :-)). They pretended to be my niece( she was 1 1/2 years older than me, are you seeing the screwed up unusual age dynamics of our family here?…more later) so I called out to let her know where I was. My guess is  I was about 3. There are a few other things I remember but not totally sure of the exact order. How many times have we all wanted to ask our parents questions after they died? Does it really matter what the real order was? Probably not.

A few other memories from that time almost always include my nieces and nephew from these pix. We were a real foursome.One of the memories was being in the car shown in the pictures, and being sprayed by a skunk. My niece Patti had her head out the window at the time( no car seats , seat belts, child proof locks or anything else to keep us safe) and an adult in the car yanked her in just before it happened. That smell stayed on that car for what seemed forever.

My niece Cindy(the oldest of the 4 of us) started her medical career( she is now a nurse as are her 2 daughters, and myself)by removing a wart from my thumb, with a knife. There was some kind of cover up( don’t tell or else) but since there was lots of blood, band aids just couldn’t hide the damage. Yes I do have a functioning thumb…wow scarey stuff.

I had a cocker spaniel named Freckles. Freckles was killed by a truck and my Dad was so traumatized, he refused to get another one.

The beginning of the movie A Christmas Story is a picture of what my winter memories are like. I think most baby boomers would say the same thing if they lived in a cold snowy place like my family did.