Ok--
here we go again. I live near Glasgow, Scotland, one of the most metropolitan addresses I have ever lived in. Like when I said I went to Rochester to college. I actually went to Geneseo, and for one reason only. I went there because it was as small as Camden, my home town. I need neighbors, and I don't mean the kind you grunt hello to as you get in your car each day. Let me explain what I mean. I hope you know people like this in your own life.
Mrs Price, our neighbor on Liberty Street, is my first neighbor. I do not know if I even met her, but she was vital to my family. One day my toddler brother fell on a mug and cut himself badly. My Mom absolutely flipped out. In those days you had to get the operators attention to make a call, and my Dad was in McConnellsville at work. Finally somehow Mom remembered there was a nurse next door helping to care for the Prices and she ran right out the door. Shortly Mr Price came over, got me dressed and sat with me until my Father came. I am sure I babbled about little girl things, but he was patient and kind. That is one kind of good neighbor my family had.
The next neighbor was Mrs Manchester. She lived on one side of our house and Arsenio (Sam)Gratch lived on the other. Mrs Manchester was about a thousand years old when we moved on Preston Hill as a young family. We were gone all day at work and school so she kept watch if a strange car should appear in our driveway. She (her family) had originally owned Preston Hill from her house to the Tates I think up the hill. Parcels got sold and we all got homes. She even sold my Father another piece of land to make his property square. My Dad did little errands for her around the house and she rewarded him with baked goods. My Dad had a sweet tooth and he was very happy with the arrangement. I enjoyed her as a neighbor because Mr Gratch would pretend to flirt with her, and she thoroughly enjoyed putting him in his place. Eventually Mrs Manchester moved across the road to her daughters and we hardly ever saw her after that. I think Mrs Manchester was one of the first people I loved that I had no blood relations with. I had so many Uncles, cousins and etc. that until I went to school I never made friends outside my family. My kindergarten class had my cousin Barbie, and our Uncle David. David was Grams last baby and Barbie and I were our mamas' first. We were all due at the same time, but Aunt Barb slipped off a porch on ice and Barbie came into this world very premature. We Reeds are a hearty lot, and Barbie survives to this day.She was born in January, and David and I came out in April, two days apart. Maybe Barbie was meant to come in the day between us, but we will never know now.
Anna and Lloyd Watkin are next. They lived across from us on Durr Ave. They had a bit of garden on their tiny lot, and they grew flowers and veg and we were allowed to touch them. They spent hours trying to teach us how things grow, and I think they were instrumental with my Dads obsessively large garden after Mom left. Anyhow they were never one to shoo you away, and they had lots of time for us as children. People moved on and off the hill, but they, like Mrs Manchester, were constants. Kids need that, that kind of stability.
Here are just a few names I can recall from the 15 years or so I lived on Preston Hill. Durr Ave was the Brando's, Littlers, and Yerdons. For a short time when we first moved in, Doc Mellon and his family were at the base of Preston Hill across from Camden Wire where the Kinney Drugs is now. Snyder's lived on the first bend, and also had a farm higher on Preston Hill.A butcher named Frank lived where Curries lived next. Mary Currie taught me how to make bread, and peanut brittle. Mary was a good friend when i was a teen.
One family was from the Air Force Base-well I mean their father was stationed there, and the MacGregor's lived in what became Luke Haley's' house. The Macs had a lot of kids and as I recall I was in love with one of them as much as a 7 year old can be. In truth I loved them all, because something was always going at their house. I can even remember their Father bringing home a parachute to show us how they packed them. They were cool and when they left I wanted to go too.
Another large family was the Grinnells', The Spellicys', Baisters and some more people who lived just up the road but I just cant recall their names.
Mrs Collins was the bus driver who got us all to school, and did we make her earn her pay. Thanks Mrs Collins and, well i am sorry. Like I thought of my parents at the time I didn't think of you as human, just my transportation to school.
I hope you had good neighbors like this when you grew up, kids can never have too many people around who care about them. Now i know my neighbors names, but we live in a high rise, and we all pretty much keep to ourselves. Sad, but life as we made it. Our old house has strangers living in it now, and for the first time I don't know the people who walk around our house. I like the think Dad is in his garden though, remembering his adventure with the twin albino Billy goats. Their escape and the eating of Julies flowers led me to believe they would be goats head soup, but she was too kind.IN his last days Dad found Julie and she helped him put his life back together. She could literally stand toe-to -toe for hours in the garden, planning and dreaming over the new Burpee seed books, and she also baked. I think my Dad was in love. The hardest part of a relationship after a divorce is the kids from the previous marriage. For my part I am sorry. If I had known Dad would go so young maybe I would have been a nicer person.Maybe not. I don't live with regrets, I move on. Ahhh I am homesick for Preston Hill with my folks still together and Billy home every night. Impossible now except in my dreams. I wish my kids knew the blessings of a large family, but I try to tell my stories and bring everyone back to life for a just a few magic moments in time.
God bless.
here we go again. I live near Glasgow, Scotland, one of the most metropolitan addresses I have ever lived in. Like when I said I went to Rochester to college. I actually went to Geneseo, and for one reason only. I went there because it was as small as Camden, my home town. I need neighbors, and I don't mean the kind you grunt hello to as you get in your car each day. Let me explain what I mean. I hope you know people like this in your own life.
Mrs Price, our neighbor on Liberty Street, is my first neighbor. I do not know if I even met her, but she was vital to my family. One day my toddler brother fell on a mug and cut himself badly. My Mom absolutely flipped out. In those days you had to get the operators attention to make a call, and my Dad was in McConnellsville at work. Finally somehow Mom remembered there was a nurse next door helping to care for the Prices and she ran right out the door. Shortly Mr Price came over, got me dressed and sat with me until my Father came. I am sure I babbled about little girl things, but he was patient and kind. That is one kind of good neighbor my family had.
The next neighbor was Mrs Manchester. She lived on one side of our house and Arsenio (Sam)Gratch lived on the other. Mrs Manchester was about a thousand years old when we moved on Preston Hill as a young family. We were gone all day at work and school so she kept watch if a strange car should appear in our driveway. She (her family) had originally owned Preston Hill from her house to the Tates I think up the hill. Parcels got sold and we all got homes. She even sold my Father another piece of land to make his property square. My Dad did little errands for her around the house and she rewarded him with baked goods. My Dad had a sweet tooth and he was very happy with the arrangement. I enjoyed her as a neighbor because Mr Gratch would pretend to flirt with her, and she thoroughly enjoyed putting him in his place. Eventually Mrs Manchester moved across the road to her daughters and we hardly ever saw her after that. I think Mrs Manchester was one of the first people I loved that I had no blood relations with. I had so many Uncles, cousins and etc. that until I went to school I never made friends outside my family. My kindergarten class had my cousin Barbie, and our Uncle David. David was Grams last baby and Barbie and I were our mamas' first. We were all due at the same time, but Aunt Barb slipped off a porch on ice and Barbie came into this world very premature. We Reeds are a hearty lot, and Barbie survives to this day.She was born in January, and David and I came out in April, two days apart. Maybe Barbie was meant to come in the day between us, but we will never know now.
Anna and Lloyd Watkin are next. They lived across from us on Durr Ave. They had a bit of garden on their tiny lot, and they grew flowers and veg and we were allowed to touch them. They spent hours trying to teach us how things grow, and I think they were instrumental with my Dads obsessively large garden after Mom left. Anyhow they were never one to shoo you away, and they had lots of time for us as children. People moved on and off the hill, but they, like Mrs Manchester, were constants. Kids need that, that kind of stability.
Here are just a few names I can recall from the 15 years or so I lived on Preston Hill. Durr Ave was the Brando's, Littlers, and Yerdons. For a short time when we first moved in, Doc Mellon and his family were at the base of Preston Hill across from Camden Wire where the Kinney Drugs is now. Snyder's lived on the first bend, and also had a farm higher on Preston Hill.A butcher named Frank lived where Curries lived next. Mary Currie taught me how to make bread, and peanut brittle. Mary was a good friend when i was a teen.
One family was from the Air Force Base-well I mean their father was stationed there, and the MacGregor's lived in what became Luke Haley's' house. The Macs had a lot of kids and as I recall I was in love with one of them as much as a 7 year old can be. In truth I loved them all, because something was always going at their house. I can even remember their Father bringing home a parachute to show us how they packed them. They were cool and when they left I wanted to go too.
Another large family was the Grinnells', The Spellicys', Baisters and some more people who lived just up the road but I just cant recall their names.
Mrs Collins was the bus driver who got us all to school, and did we make her earn her pay. Thanks Mrs Collins and, well i am sorry. Like I thought of my parents at the time I didn't think of you as human, just my transportation to school.
I hope you had good neighbors like this when you grew up, kids can never have too many people around who care about them. Now i know my neighbors names, but we live in a high rise, and we all pretty much keep to ourselves. Sad, but life as we made it. Our old house has strangers living in it now, and for the first time I don't know the people who walk around our house. I like the think Dad is in his garden though, remembering his adventure with the twin albino Billy goats. Their escape and the eating of Julies flowers led me to believe they would be goats head soup, but she was too kind.IN his last days Dad found Julie and she helped him put his life back together. She could literally stand toe-to -toe for hours in the garden, planning and dreaming over the new Burpee seed books, and she also baked. I think my Dad was in love. The hardest part of a relationship after a divorce is the kids from the previous marriage. For my part I am sorry. If I had known Dad would go so young maybe I would have been a nicer person.Maybe not. I don't live with regrets, I move on. Ahhh I am homesick for Preston Hill with my folks still together and Billy home every night. Impossible now except in my dreams. I wish my kids knew the blessings of a large family, but I try to tell my stories and bring everyone back to life for a just a few magic moments in time.
God bless.
My grandfather was arsenio(Sam) gratch. I came across your blog trying to do some ancestery research. Nice to know hes still remembered =)
ReplyDeleteI am please to meet you, and as i recall he had a daughter lena.
ReplyDelete