Life was good. I wish we knew how much life would change. How when your young all you have to do is go to school and learn life's lessons and just be a kid. Be a kid. I knew what that was supposed to be like but it seemed to be slipping away.
The kids role in our house was changing, well the older kids roles were. Barb and I were in charge more of the house. We had certain rooms to clean living room and dining room were rotated and the kitchen was whose ever mom made do it. Mostly mine or it just didn't get done.
On Saturday we would go to the grocery store and she was praised at how well her kids behaved themselves in the store. All of us knew our place. You talked when spoken to and smiled cute when talked to and always said please and thank you. Mom always had 5 kids with her.
Then we had to carry it all in and help put it away.
I hated doing dishes, it seemed like nobody would finish the dishes and we would just keep using them until there weren't anymore in the cupboard. The water would sit for days sometimes and when you stuck your hand in to get the dish cloth, the water was so gross that it was slimy and that got all over your hand. SO NOBODY wanted to drain it. GROSS!!! We started getting Cockroaches. The house was getting dirtier. The clothes were starting to pile up, we always had clean clothes. They just didn't smell as nice as other peoples did. I couldn't figure out why.
I HATED doing dishes and to this day I hate them and I have a dishwasher.We weren't very good at being in charge I was only 9 and Barb was 11.
Saturday was deep cleaning day and we would sweep and mop the floors and wash the walls and the doors. Linda was still coming over to help.
The bunk beds were gone and mom and dad gave us their double bed now we had two. Carol slept in one with Tammy and Barb had her own single bed and I shared one with Lori. At night we had a hard time getting Lori to go to sleep. So we would sing to her. One night we made up our own, the words were: GO TO SLEEP DEAR LORI... GO TO SLEEP REAL SOON ..GO TO SLEEP DEAR LORI ..CUZ MOMMY'S ON THE MOON...THE MOON DOES NOT HAVE BABIES..THE MOON IS MADE OF GOLD...EARTH IS THE PLACE FOR BABIES...WITH PARENTS AND A HOME. We thought it was great and Lori loved it because she didn't know any better.
It was a hit, we sang it to her every night. When we weren't singing or me in the corner we would ask mom to sing to us. I loved her voice. I can only remember certain lines of the songs she sang. She did sing things like...Jesus Loves Me This I Know ...Michael Row Your Boat A Shore ..Someones In The Kitchen With Dinah, Zachius, Amazing Grace, I'm Sorry, D..i..v..o..r..c..e.., A mother went out to a party....and if we didn't go to sleep she would just keep singing from her room and when she was tired she would say OK one more song. We knew one more would be mostly 3 more, she loved singing to us as much as we loved her singing. She also said our prayers with us, she would start them and we would jump in and add stuff or remember someone somebody forgot. And morning would come.
Connie and her mom Louise lived next door to us in the duplex. I loved Connie she had beautiful blond hair and she was carefree and fun. I would go to her house and she would bring her radio on the porch and sometimes her phonograph and she would play the "BEATLES" she told me there were four of them..Ringo..Paul ..John.. and George. Ringo was the drummer. She said Paul was the best. Linda liked the Beatles as well, but not like Connie. When ever Tim was around Connie would smile lots more that normal, later I figured out that she liked him. And a couple of years ago Connie told me that my brother had saved her from an attack, and he was her hero. He was always mine too.
Connie was so much fun to be around. We would dance like crazy I learned how to do the Jerk, Belly Roll and another dance too I can't remember the name but Connie called it dirty dancing, I loved it. Louise, Connie's mom sold Avon and mom bought Avon nail polish called Fireworks and there were all different colors, ones you see today but would never dream of wearing then.Mom did.
Louise had a dog that was going to deliver puppies," Jeannie run home and ask your mom if you and Carol can watch the dog have her puppies. you can only watch if your mom says yes", so I ran next door and asked, I was excited " Mom, Louise said we could watch the puppies be born if you say so, so can we? Please?", " I don't care" her favorite words." Just don't touch them and if Louise tells you it's time to go you do it.". I ran out the door. She let us in the back door, the dog was in a box in the kitchen. There was blood in there. I started to get anxious. One Puppy, two puppies, three, she was getting tired, poor mama dog, I felt sorry for her she kept getting up and moving around trying to get comfortable. Also trying to keep her babies close and then another this time it seemed to be harder for her and the babies was born lighter, the others were a very pretty brown, more milk chocolate but this one was lighter. Mama pushed it away she wouldn't let her be with the rest of the litter, " Louise the mama dog is being mean to the new baby", I said, "There must be something wrong with it, when a mama animal rejects a baby there is something wrong." I got it. "SO how will it live?" I asked and then I heard a crunching noise and I looked in the box and started to cry," Louise she's eating her baby!! Why? why would she do that, help her." Louise was such a quiet soul, she took me aside," Jeannie, that's what they do when there is something wrong, a good mama will eat her baby instead of letting it just die, do you understand?" " I think so", I replied. but I don't think I really did. Carol just sat there and watched..not a word from her lips she was just amazed or horrified. I was so sad she moved. First Connie left and then Louise did. I missed them for years.
Debbie, my cousin was starting to get into trouble all the time. Debbie's mom used to make her go to the store and steal cigarettes for her when she didn't have any money, Debbie was one of three kids, and the oldest, she was 2 years older than me. Debbie was Barbs age. Robin, Debbie's sister was Carols age and Jeff her only brother was Tommy's age but they aren't born yet.
Debbie was always more like my sister than my cousin and even lived with us many times over the years. I had so much fun with Debbie when we were young. I could spend the night at her house when her mom worked and we would dress up in lace curtains and make dresses out of them and I would wear Audrey's beautiful high heels. we would put on her make up and the the fun would begin. I didn't use her perfume though it was called Chantilly and she poured it i the tub and washed her hair with it I just couldn't stand it anymore.
I was Crystal Ball and I was a lounge singer, we would put on Audrey's phonograph and play Doris Day albums, Nancy Sinatra, Leslie Gore and a few more and we would sing our hearts out. We would pretend we were adults living on our own and our pop was champagne and made tiny sandwiches, we had such imaginations. Sometimes we played Batman and Debbie was Batman's girlfriend and I got Robin, I didn't care I liked Robin better. Then Batman wasn't Michael Keaton or George Clooney, It was Adam West. Yes an OK Batman for the time I guess, but not for me.
We would also play Star Trek and she would get Capt. Kirk, I was totally fine with that. Still don't like him today, but I liked Scotty. We just had so much fun acting and pretending. Going swimming at Lake Calhoun was also always fun. Debbie would always get cold and want to leave, but they only lived 4 or 5 blocks from there so it was OK. We always went back. Audrey lived in the upper floor of a duplex and some young guys had lived in the bottom. We would spy on them or play pranks on them, like water balloons from the attic and knocking on the door and running, they finally moved.
That was the last year I had so much freedom, then it was like Jeannie C, Riley would sing,( and I would blast when I cleaned,) " it was work Jeannie, work Jeannie,work Jeannie work, the hard times had just begun" I couldn't have written a more appropriate song for myself.Oh Yeah, MOM WAS PREGNANT AGAIN!!!!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
More Memories
Christmas was always fun at our house. Mom and dad made sure we had presents even if they had to go to a loan company, We may not have had lots but we got the things we wanted most.
They went once to a place called Getten Finance it was family owned and they asked them a few questions, their credit wasn't the best. They were buying the house on a Contract for Deed. The Getten's were very trustworthy and gave them the loan, mom was late a few times but they always paid it in full on time. After that if they needed any money they went to Bob Getten. Mom and dad paid for almost everything with cash.
Mom hated balancing her checkbook so she would make me run into Northwestern Bell and pay the phone bill, downtown. Or the Minneapolis Public Works building for the water, Minneagaso was also downtown and we paid that at the window as well. Oh and I can't forget Northern States Power, needed electricity. Mom didn't keep the house cleaned very well anymore. The kids would take their clothes off and throw them on the floor. Mom was a smoker and half the time she didn't use an ashtray, she would use a pop bottle to put it out and would let the ashes fall on her and the floor.
It was embarrassing to return the bottles to the store like that. She didn't go buy them so she didn't care. Ann would get them all.
We had Sunday Night at the Movies, we all had to sit and watch whatever was on. Monday Night at the Movies, again we had to watch with mom, I think back then we thought it was like a punishment, but it was really away to keep us together. After the movie we had to discuss what had happened and if we liked the movie or not. We watched The Wizard of Oz, Helen Keller, Cinderella, I will never forget seeing Leslie Ann Warren she was so beautiful, and Stuart Damon who could ever forget his eyes and his voice. Not me. We watched all the old westerns on Saturday and Sunday. Mom made us watch Shirley Temple movies. The most important night for us was with our dad, we had to watch WWF.
After the show Barb and I would wrestle and she would try out the moves and I could hardly ever get out of them. It wasn't funny. We would star out having fun and then it would be hurtful. Barb would get me in a figure 4 lock with our legs and OMG did that hurt. Barb would squeeze harder and harder until I either gave up and said "UNCLE" for her or I would cry because I was tired of saying uncle.
Some days we just had fun, but it all depended on what kind of mood Barb was in.
Some times at night when we would go to sleep we would talk and giggle like most kids do.
" Jeannie shut up!!" my dad would yell. We had wallpaper on the wall that was peeling and I would try to make images out of it, like elephants and such. Barb would make scary faces at me and would hang over the side of the top bunk and make herself look witchy, I was such a big chicken, I was scared of almost everything.
" It's not me dad, Barb is talking too" I would defend myself. "One more word out of you and you have to go in the corner. Now shut up." He would say. Barb would lean over her side of the bed, we had bunk beds, and she would make a bunch of spit and let it hang out of her mouth until it dripped on me, and then she would lay back down and laugh." Knock it off Barb that is so gross!!" I would get mad and say. " In the corner Jeannie" dad, would yell.
I would try to plead my case as I climbed out of bed to stand in the corner. I needed to defend myself and tell what Barbie had done but to no avail. " If you don't stop talking you'll stand there all night." I just silently cried to myself. It didn't matter I was going to stand there until he told me to get out. SO I stood. Then I heard him snore."Dad, you fell asleep can I get out now?" " I said I would tell you.And not until" he said, " But..." " But nothing be QUIET!!" So again I shut up. He snored I woke him up, I stood there sometimes until 2 in the morning when he would realize I was still there. You would think I would have been smart enough to just climb in bed, but oh no ..not me.
I would watch TV shows like Gidget and the Patty Duke show, My 3 Sons and the Monroe's, Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train. I could just go on and on. Not all in the order, I don't remember the years they came out, just that we watched them as a family. That was our together time, if we weren't at our cousins houses visiting.
I remember the first boy I admitted liking his name was Steve Benedict, he was so cute. I would give him notes, " I like you do you like me? Circle yes or no" I'm sure he was embarrassed, but I wasn't. Steve's sister would bring the notes back and forth.
I wanted to try out for the school play of the Wizard of Oz, I didn't want to be Dorothy I wanted to Glenda the good witch, I got the role as yup, the Wicked Witch..ROFL..of the West even. I went home so sad, why the ugly mean old witch, I was determined I was going to quit, there was still plenty of time to find someone else.
I told my mom and she was so proud of me, " Jeannie don't you know that your teacher picked you for that role because it wasn't an easy one. She knew you could do it. How hard is it for a pretty little girl who is so soft and gentle to play the part of an ugly, mean witch?, I am so proud of you Jeannie, but if you think you can't do it then you should quit, and tell the teacher right away because you don't want to let everyone down." Mom was right, she was most of the time even if I didn't like it. Not that I thought I was pretty or special in any way, I was always reminded that I was just the plain girl. I was so disappointed when the teacher made Wendy, Glenda, but she was pretty, had blond hair and blue eyes, When you looked at you thought Glenda, I didn't care who Dorothy was and really don't even remember to this day. I guess I was what I was, I couldn't change things.
The play was a hit and melted on cue, right down in to my large black skirt and when the curtains closed I got up and ran out. The water was silver confetti.
I couldn't wait for the next play, maybe then I could get the part I wanted. I did! The Carpenter and His Wife. Danny Steven was the carpenter and I was his wife. There was a part in the end when he had to kiss me, it was supposed to be on the cheek but he went for the lips, it shocked me because we didn't rehearse it that way. Just as his lips touched mine I heard," That's my sister, Hi Jeannie!!" I looked over and it was Carol waving to me, she was in First Grade. I just smiled and the curtain closed. That was the last play I did. I was starting to not like school anymore. I didn't see Tammy, she was in Kindergarten that year. I had to walk them home all the time.
Mom had promised me a Barbie that had hair dye, for Christmas if I walked the kids to school and picked them up, she never let us go do anything alone, because of the man in the trench coat last year. Carol was in Kindergarten. Today we laugh and tell Carol it's why she is so perverted.
When Barb, Carol and I would walk home sometimes we would go down 29th ave and cut through the yard next to the Grundun's yard, we couldn't go through theirs because the Mr. Grundun was too mean and yelled at us all the time. Barb would mouth off at him and make him chase us.
This one afternoon , it was about 3:45pm a guy was walking towards us, " Be careful you guys this guy looks a little creepy," Barb said. I was walking next to Barb and we had Carol a couple of steps behind us. "Why do you think he's creepy Barbie?," I asked, " Look he looks like he doesn't have pants on, you can only see his shoes and socks." I then, saw why, it made me scared. " If I say run, run as fast as you can, and keep going until you get to our house." I was ready and as we got closer the man opened his coat and there he was stark naked, I had never seen a man's penis before, " RUN!!! RUN!!!" Barb yelled. I ran so fast I could feel my heart beating in my chest, we got to the alley and Barb turned to see if he was following us," Jeannie where is Carol?", I turned and looked behind me.
"Barb she was right behind my I swear," I answered. I thought she was. " We need to go back let's go get her!!" We ran back through the yard and there was Carol and the man still standing where we had left them, Carol's mouth was wide open and she was frozen, as was the man. " Grab her!" Barb yelled. I did and pulled her with me, she almost fell a couple of times, but we made it.
We ran into the house, Barb and I screaming to our mom, she made us stop and talk one at a time.
When we got done my mom, 5'5 about 375# walked over to the telephone and called the 3rd precinct, " My name is Mary Ann Terwey, I have 3 daughters that just got home from school and said there was a man in a trench coat exposing himself to anyone he comes across, I called to tell you I am grabbing a baseball bat and if I find the Son-of -a Bitch before you do I'll kill him. So you better find him first. 2616 30th ave so,but you won't find me here I'm leaving right now. The girls said he was heading to the school and that's where I am going." She hung up the phone told Barb to watch us until dad got home and tell him what happened. Then she was gone.
Hours went by, dad decided to go find her, a few minutes later he came back with her. The police had found the guy going into the park and my mom was right there. They took her statement and our names. The police told her she could be assured he would be locked up because of how they found him, and that she should be proud of us girls. He would get some help.
My mom, give her a bat and she would take on the biggest of men, she didn't care.
They went once to a place called Getten Finance it was family owned and they asked them a few questions, their credit wasn't the best. They were buying the house on a Contract for Deed. The Getten's were very trustworthy and gave them the loan, mom was late a few times but they always paid it in full on time. After that if they needed any money they went to Bob Getten. Mom and dad paid for almost everything with cash.
Mom hated balancing her checkbook so she would make me run into Northwestern Bell and pay the phone bill, downtown. Or the Minneapolis Public Works building for the water, Minneagaso was also downtown and we paid that at the window as well. Oh and I can't forget Northern States Power, needed electricity. Mom didn't keep the house cleaned very well anymore. The kids would take their clothes off and throw them on the floor. Mom was a smoker and half the time she didn't use an ashtray, she would use a pop bottle to put it out and would let the ashes fall on her and the floor.
It was embarrassing to return the bottles to the store like that. She didn't go buy them so she didn't care. Ann would get them all.
We had Sunday Night at the Movies, we all had to sit and watch whatever was on. Monday Night at the Movies, again we had to watch with mom, I think back then we thought it was like a punishment, but it was really away to keep us together. After the movie we had to discuss what had happened and if we liked the movie or not. We watched The Wizard of Oz, Helen Keller, Cinderella, I will never forget seeing Leslie Ann Warren she was so beautiful, and Stuart Damon who could ever forget his eyes and his voice. Not me. We watched all the old westerns on Saturday and Sunday. Mom made us watch Shirley Temple movies. The most important night for us was with our dad, we had to watch WWF.
After the show Barb and I would wrestle and she would try out the moves and I could hardly ever get out of them. It wasn't funny. We would star out having fun and then it would be hurtful. Barb would get me in a figure 4 lock with our legs and OMG did that hurt. Barb would squeeze harder and harder until I either gave up and said "UNCLE" for her or I would cry because I was tired of saying uncle.
Some days we just had fun, but it all depended on what kind of mood Barb was in.
Some times at night when we would go to sleep we would talk and giggle like most kids do.
" Jeannie shut up!!" my dad would yell. We had wallpaper on the wall that was peeling and I would try to make images out of it, like elephants and such. Barb would make scary faces at me and would hang over the side of the top bunk and make herself look witchy, I was such a big chicken, I was scared of almost everything.
" It's not me dad, Barb is talking too" I would defend myself. "One more word out of you and you have to go in the corner. Now shut up." He would say. Barb would lean over her side of the bed, we had bunk beds, and she would make a bunch of spit and let it hang out of her mouth until it dripped on me, and then she would lay back down and laugh." Knock it off Barb that is so gross!!" I would get mad and say. " In the corner Jeannie" dad, would yell.
I would try to plead my case as I climbed out of bed to stand in the corner. I needed to defend myself and tell what Barbie had done but to no avail. " If you don't stop talking you'll stand there all night." I just silently cried to myself. It didn't matter I was going to stand there until he told me to get out. SO I stood. Then I heard him snore."Dad, you fell asleep can I get out now?" " I said I would tell you.And not until" he said, " But..." " But nothing be QUIET!!" So again I shut up. He snored I woke him up, I stood there sometimes until 2 in the morning when he would realize I was still there. You would think I would have been smart enough to just climb in bed, but oh no ..not me.
I would watch TV shows like Gidget and the Patty Duke show, My 3 Sons and the Monroe's, Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train. I could just go on and on. Not all in the order, I don't remember the years they came out, just that we watched them as a family. That was our together time, if we weren't at our cousins houses visiting.
I remember the first boy I admitted liking his name was Steve Benedict, he was so cute. I would give him notes, " I like you do you like me? Circle yes or no" I'm sure he was embarrassed, but I wasn't. Steve's sister would bring the notes back and forth.
I wanted to try out for the school play of the Wizard of Oz, I didn't want to be Dorothy I wanted to Glenda the good witch, I got the role as yup, the Wicked Witch..ROFL..of the West even. I went home so sad, why the ugly mean old witch, I was determined I was going to quit, there was still plenty of time to find someone else.
I told my mom and she was so proud of me, " Jeannie don't you know that your teacher picked you for that role because it wasn't an easy one. She knew you could do it. How hard is it for a pretty little girl who is so soft and gentle to play the part of an ugly, mean witch?, I am so proud of you Jeannie, but if you think you can't do it then you should quit, and tell the teacher right away because you don't want to let everyone down." Mom was right, she was most of the time even if I didn't like it. Not that I thought I was pretty or special in any way, I was always reminded that I was just the plain girl. I was so disappointed when the teacher made Wendy, Glenda, but she was pretty, had blond hair and blue eyes, When you looked at you thought Glenda, I didn't care who Dorothy was and really don't even remember to this day. I guess I was what I was, I couldn't change things.
The play was a hit and melted on cue, right down in to my large black skirt and when the curtains closed I got up and ran out. The water was silver confetti.
I couldn't wait for the next play, maybe then I could get the part I wanted. I did! The Carpenter and His Wife. Danny Steven was the carpenter and I was his wife. There was a part in the end when he had to kiss me, it was supposed to be on the cheek but he went for the lips, it shocked me because we didn't rehearse it that way. Just as his lips touched mine I heard," That's my sister, Hi Jeannie!!" I looked over and it was Carol waving to me, she was in First Grade. I just smiled and the curtain closed. That was the last play I did. I was starting to not like school anymore. I didn't see Tammy, she was in Kindergarten that year. I had to walk them home all the time.
Mom had promised me a Barbie that had hair dye, for Christmas if I walked the kids to school and picked them up, she never let us go do anything alone, because of the man in the trench coat last year. Carol was in Kindergarten. Today we laugh and tell Carol it's why she is so perverted.
When Barb, Carol and I would walk home sometimes we would go down 29th ave and cut through the yard next to the Grundun's yard, we couldn't go through theirs because the Mr. Grundun was too mean and yelled at us all the time. Barb would mouth off at him and make him chase us.
This one afternoon , it was about 3:45pm a guy was walking towards us, " Be careful you guys this guy looks a little creepy," Barb said. I was walking next to Barb and we had Carol a couple of steps behind us. "Why do you think he's creepy Barbie?," I asked, " Look he looks like he doesn't have pants on, you can only see his shoes and socks." I then, saw why, it made me scared. " If I say run, run as fast as you can, and keep going until you get to our house." I was ready and as we got closer the man opened his coat and there he was stark naked, I had never seen a man's penis before, " RUN!!! RUN!!!" Barb yelled. I ran so fast I could feel my heart beating in my chest, we got to the alley and Barb turned to see if he was following us," Jeannie where is Carol?", I turned and looked behind me.
"Barb she was right behind my I swear," I answered. I thought she was. " We need to go back let's go get her!!" We ran back through the yard and there was Carol and the man still standing where we had left them, Carol's mouth was wide open and she was frozen, as was the man. " Grab her!" Barb yelled. I did and pulled her with me, she almost fell a couple of times, but we made it.
We ran into the house, Barb and I screaming to our mom, she made us stop and talk one at a time.
When we got done my mom, 5'5 about 375# walked over to the telephone and called the 3rd precinct, " My name is Mary Ann Terwey, I have 3 daughters that just got home from school and said there was a man in a trench coat exposing himself to anyone he comes across, I called to tell you I am grabbing a baseball bat and if I find the Son-of -a Bitch before you do I'll kill him. So you better find him first. 2616 30th ave so,but you won't find me here I'm leaving right now. The girls said he was heading to the school and that's where I am going." She hung up the phone told Barb to watch us until dad got home and tell him what happened. Then she was gone.
Hours went by, dad decided to go find her, a few minutes later he came back with her. The police had found the guy going into the park and my mom was right there. They took her statement and our names. The police told her she could be assured he would be locked up because of how they found him, and that she should be proud of us girls. He would get some help.
My mom, give her a bat and she would take on the biggest of men, she didn't care.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Seward School
I started Kindergarten when I was 4 in 1963 because I would turn 5 before Nov.5 that was the deadline then. When we moved to the new house I was in 2nd grade at Seward School. It was a large school and old, but it had lots of character. When they decided to rebuild and tear the old one down, we were still using the old building. That year Barb and I were going to be in the school talent show and we sang " Going to the Chapel" Barb even wore a dress. We didn't win but it was really fun.
I don't know when things started to go bad but there was still a lot of good things yet to come.
I did not like being the new girl, I was so shy and such a nerd, thank God I liked to read. I met Kathy Grant she was a really nice girl, her grandma lived by the school. We became good friends, I would go to her house and pick her up so we could walk to school together. Her Grandmother would give us Honey with 4 oz. of Orange Juice,she reminded us that it would stop us from getting colds when everyone else got them. I remember thinking I wished it would stop strep throat, our family passed that to each other constantly and we got it bad!
There were a lots of kids in our neighborhood, and kids we already knew, imagine that Cedar Ave friends moved to the same neighborhood we were in.
Penny, her mom was Rita, my mom went to school with her. The Mitchell's were 2 blocks from the school, Cindy, Linda's friend, I would go to school with her brother Craig. I think they all went to the Children's Gospel Mission like we did, and Kenny Gray.
Anyway, we would have so much fun, going "Trick or Treating" sometimes we would meet and go together,Linda and Judy would walk with us so nothing would happen to us and then they'd go off to a party for themselves or have one of their own.
Going to the store was also fun, Ann and Art were the owners of Ann's Grocery, She was an older lady with red hair and red lipstick and she was bigger, her husband was a smaller man, both very nice people. The store was never the same after they sold it.
The Offerdahls lived across the street and Jan worked for Ann as a cashier, she had 2 sons that I remember, Carol had a crush on John. Then there was Monroe and all the girls had a crush on him, he was blond haired, they called him Punk, I guess that was a good name back then, he was always really nice to me when he was alone, but when he was with his friends, he lived up to his name.
And then there were the Johnson's, we also knew them, Pid was the mom, Her son Bruce was Tim's friend, one from Cedar Ave.
When we lived on Cedar Ave. us kids would play Army, I was an Army wife, my cousin Bobby was my husband who went off to war. Debbie was also an Army wife and Barb was her husband. LOL. If we had only knew. Anyway, we were playing Army and Bobby had to leave so I asked Bruce to take his place, Bruce was older I had a crush on him. He said yes just until he got home from the war. So I cleaned the pretend house and made a snack then I got a letter saying that my
husband would be home soon but they couldn't tell me when.
I was 7 then it was right before we moved from Cedar Ave. I think Bruce was 11 maybe..well I was making the bed when Bruce came in and grabbed me from behind and tossed me on the bed, it scared me. He started tickling me," Honey I'm back now I can stay home, no more war, no more anything, just here to be your husband and that's all from now on forever," he said as he kept tickling me. I laughed and couldn't catch my breath," So are you now ready to start a family?, How many kids do you want?" I stopped laughing now. " I don't know what you want me to say we never played like that before.' I told him," Well what did you do? I have to leave soon," He said.
"Well, when Bobby came home from the war he would just hug me and give me a quick kiss, we never talked about having babies" We probably didn't because we were only 7-10 years old.
"So then he would kiss you and hold you huh?, Like this?," He put his arms around me and pulled me close to his body and kissed me a very long time.It was only the second time I felt a tongue on my mouth, Bruce was slowly trying to lick his lips because they were dry,as he was kissing me.
Even at 7, I liked it. I had a funny feeling in my stomach. I learned what that was years later.
I never told anyone but Tim and he said I shouldn't let anybody ever kiss me like that until I was an adult.
Well, back to 30th Ave, Bruce also had a brother Kevin he was between Carol and I.
And the Jewitts lived down farther and then on the corner was a crippled man named Barney.
On the other side was Brad Brandt and later the Larsen's, and going towards the store was the Johnson's, Bob was another one that was really cute, but he wasn't so nice either. His family was large like ours. The Grundun's lived across the alley from us, A really Large woman Named Barb lived next to them and then the Clausen's and the Jarvis' lived on the corner behind us. Steve Stegura lived on the alley line. Steve's sister Patsy had a crush on Tim, he liked her for a little while. Across the street from them was Butch Straka, He wanted to be Elvis. And then the Benedicts were next to him. The Loges were across the street from the Jarvis' Family.
When winter came we all met on the corner and had snowball fights. It was boys against the girls. Dang they threw those balls hard, Barb started making ones with ice in them so we could do some damage back, because we didn't touch them otherwise.
I learned to ice skate at Seward Park that year, I took Carol, I was 9 and mom let me take her. I would get so mad at her because she didn't want to go halfway there, she was too cold. I made her go anyway. One time I let her wear my little girdle to hold up her socks, mom had bought me one so I could wear thigh highs, you had to wear them with nylons and thigh high socks.
Carol went to school and pulled up her dress and said" Look I'm wearing Jeannie's Girdle" I was so embarrassed, but it was cute it had pink flowers all over it. It resembled today's Boy Shorts underwear. That was my job, to walk Carol to school.
Summer came and the weather was nothing like the year before. We picked up our books and stuff and moved in to the new Seward School and watched them tear down the old one. I really liked the old building , the new one didn't have windows in the classrooms. I did in the hallways. And on the doors.
We were waiting by the doors to go in one afternoon, we also used to go home for lunch if we were walkers, kids who took the bus had to have lunch at school. So we had 45 minutes to get home, eat and go back to school. On my way in Punk stopped me and cornered me up against the fence and asked me" Are you wearing that flowered girdle, your sister was wearing last week?"
He grabbed the hem of my dress and was going to pull it up," NO!" I said as I grabbed his hand.
He walked away laughing. I just went in, sighing. This was the beginning.
In 3rd grade I was already developing, Then I was not allowed to go too many places unless supervised.
The old man Barney, had crutches and he couldn't mow his own lawn , but he tired a few times. He didn't go to the store either, he hired neighbor kids to do it and shovel snow for him.
As we got to know him he took us to work with him. He was a key maker and had a small shop on Lake Street and Chicago. Going to work with him was fun and he paid us a little bit.
Across the street was an elderly black man named Mr. Harris, he was just old and didn't like walking to the corner store. He would pay us a nickle or dime to go for him. That was when you could get a little bag full of candy for a nickle. Mr. Harris told us stories about the "old days" when the business across from his house was a man made lake and that it had dried up, and the house that was on the corner across the street from him was an old lighthouse for barges on the river, the building had been turned into rented rooms. Linda rented a room from it for a little while, then it was caught on fire and they tore it down.
Christmas was here and dad took me and Barb to find the perfect Christmas Tree. I would get so frustrated with him because he was so picky. It had to be 8 feet tall or larger he could cut it down, no bare spots at all.The branches had to be perfectly proportioned. It was annoying, and took FOREVER! When he finally found the right tree, he would sit it in water for 2 days and then he and only him would put the lights on. He would go through every light to make sure they would work as mom would hold them, she was enjoying herself, NOT. It was always so quiet until Linda got there.
Tim would pop the popcorn and Barb got the cranberries in a bowl,I got the needles and thread and then we all sat and Linda and Mom would start singing," Away in the Manger" and "Silent Night" we could join in, they sang beautifully and they harmonized, I always ended up in tears because they said I sang off key, and maybe I did, I'm sure did but I was a kid. I don't want to sound like I'm feeling sorry for myself but it seemed like because I was such a sensitive soul I was an easy target to pick on. They called me Jeannie with the 10 pound weenie. I dunno, maybe I was just too touchy.
Barb was Hertz and I was Avis always #2 and trying harder. That's what dad would say, and the commercial. Oh well. Number too wasn't last, or was it?
I don't know when things started to go bad but there was still a lot of good things yet to come.
I did not like being the new girl, I was so shy and such a nerd, thank God I liked to read. I met Kathy Grant she was a really nice girl, her grandma lived by the school. We became good friends, I would go to her house and pick her up so we could walk to school together. Her Grandmother would give us Honey with 4 oz. of Orange Juice,she reminded us that it would stop us from getting colds when everyone else got them. I remember thinking I wished it would stop strep throat, our family passed that to each other constantly and we got it bad!
There were a lots of kids in our neighborhood, and kids we already knew, imagine that Cedar Ave friends moved to the same neighborhood we were in.
Penny, her mom was Rita, my mom went to school with her. The Mitchell's were 2 blocks from the school, Cindy, Linda's friend, I would go to school with her brother Craig. I think they all went to the Children's Gospel Mission like we did, and Kenny Gray.
Anyway, we would have so much fun, going "Trick or Treating" sometimes we would meet and go together,Linda and Judy would walk with us so nothing would happen to us and then they'd go off to a party for themselves or have one of their own.
Going to the store was also fun, Ann and Art were the owners of Ann's Grocery, She was an older lady with red hair and red lipstick and she was bigger, her husband was a smaller man, both very nice people. The store was never the same after they sold it.
The Offerdahls lived across the street and Jan worked for Ann as a cashier, she had 2 sons that I remember, Carol had a crush on John. Then there was Monroe and all the girls had a crush on him, he was blond haired, they called him Punk, I guess that was a good name back then, he was always really nice to me when he was alone, but when he was with his friends, he lived up to his name.
And then there were the Johnson's, we also knew them, Pid was the mom, Her son Bruce was Tim's friend, one from Cedar Ave.
When we lived on Cedar Ave. us kids would play Army, I was an Army wife, my cousin Bobby was my husband who went off to war. Debbie was also an Army wife and Barb was her husband. LOL. If we had only knew. Anyway, we were playing Army and Bobby had to leave so I asked Bruce to take his place, Bruce was older I had a crush on him. He said yes just until he got home from the war. So I cleaned the pretend house and made a snack then I got a letter saying that my
husband would be home soon but they couldn't tell me when.
I was 7 then it was right before we moved from Cedar Ave. I think Bruce was 11 maybe..well I was making the bed when Bruce came in and grabbed me from behind and tossed me on the bed, it scared me. He started tickling me," Honey I'm back now I can stay home, no more war, no more anything, just here to be your husband and that's all from now on forever," he said as he kept tickling me. I laughed and couldn't catch my breath," So are you now ready to start a family?, How many kids do you want?" I stopped laughing now. " I don't know what you want me to say we never played like that before.' I told him," Well what did you do? I have to leave soon," He said.
"Well, when Bobby came home from the war he would just hug me and give me a quick kiss, we never talked about having babies" We probably didn't because we were only 7-10 years old.
"So then he would kiss you and hold you huh?, Like this?," He put his arms around me and pulled me close to his body and kissed me a very long time.It was only the second time I felt a tongue on my mouth, Bruce was slowly trying to lick his lips because they were dry,as he was kissing me.
Even at 7, I liked it. I had a funny feeling in my stomach. I learned what that was years later.
I never told anyone but Tim and he said I shouldn't let anybody ever kiss me like that until I was an adult.
Well, back to 30th Ave, Bruce also had a brother Kevin he was between Carol and I.
And the Jewitts lived down farther and then on the corner was a crippled man named Barney.
On the other side was Brad Brandt and later the Larsen's, and going towards the store was the Johnson's, Bob was another one that was really cute, but he wasn't so nice either. His family was large like ours. The Grundun's lived across the alley from us, A really Large woman Named Barb lived next to them and then the Clausen's and the Jarvis' lived on the corner behind us. Steve Stegura lived on the alley line. Steve's sister Patsy had a crush on Tim, he liked her for a little while. Across the street from them was Butch Straka, He wanted to be Elvis. And then the Benedicts were next to him. The Loges were across the street from the Jarvis' Family.
When winter came we all met on the corner and had snowball fights. It was boys against the girls. Dang they threw those balls hard, Barb started making ones with ice in them so we could do some damage back, because we didn't touch them otherwise.
I learned to ice skate at Seward Park that year, I took Carol, I was 9 and mom let me take her. I would get so mad at her because she didn't want to go halfway there, she was too cold. I made her go anyway. One time I let her wear my little girdle to hold up her socks, mom had bought me one so I could wear thigh highs, you had to wear them with nylons and thigh high socks.
Carol went to school and pulled up her dress and said" Look I'm wearing Jeannie's Girdle" I was so embarrassed, but it was cute it had pink flowers all over it. It resembled today's Boy Shorts underwear. That was my job, to walk Carol to school.
Summer came and the weather was nothing like the year before. We picked up our books and stuff and moved in to the new Seward School and watched them tear down the old one. I really liked the old building , the new one didn't have windows in the classrooms. I did in the hallways. And on the doors.
We were waiting by the doors to go in one afternoon, we also used to go home for lunch if we were walkers, kids who took the bus had to have lunch at school. So we had 45 minutes to get home, eat and go back to school. On my way in Punk stopped me and cornered me up against the fence and asked me" Are you wearing that flowered girdle, your sister was wearing last week?"
He grabbed the hem of my dress and was going to pull it up," NO!" I said as I grabbed his hand.
He walked away laughing. I just went in, sighing. This was the beginning.
In 3rd grade I was already developing, Then I was not allowed to go too many places unless supervised.
The old man Barney, had crutches and he couldn't mow his own lawn , but he tired a few times. He didn't go to the store either, he hired neighbor kids to do it and shovel snow for him.
As we got to know him he took us to work with him. He was a key maker and had a small shop on Lake Street and Chicago. Going to work with him was fun and he paid us a little bit.
Across the street was an elderly black man named Mr. Harris, he was just old and didn't like walking to the corner store. He would pay us a nickle or dime to go for him. That was when you could get a little bag full of candy for a nickle. Mr. Harris told us stories about the "old days" when the business across from his house was a man made lake and that it had dried up, and the house that was on the corner across the street from him was an old lighthouse for barges on the river, the building had been turned into rented rooms. Linda rented a room from it for a little while, then it was caught on fire and they tore it down.
Christmas was here and dad took me and Barb to find the perfect Christmas Tree. I would get so frustrated with him because he was so picky. It had to be 8 feet tall or larger he could cut it down, no bare spots at all.The branches had to be perfectly proportioned. It was annoying, and took FOREVER! When he finally found the right tree, he would sit it in water for 2 days and then he and only him would put the lights on. He would go through every light to make sure they would work as mom would hold them, she was enjoying herself, NOT. It was always so quiet until Linda got there.
Tim would pop the popcorn and Barb got the cranberries in a bowl,I got the needles and thread and then we all sat and Linda and Mom would start singing," Away in the Manger" and "Silent Night" we could join in, they sang beautifully and they harmonized, I always ended up in tears because they said I sang off key, and maybe I did, I'm sure did but I was a kid. I don't want to sound like I'm feeling sorry for myself but it seemed like because I was such a sensitive soul I was an easy target to pick on. They called me Jeannie with the 10 pound weenie. I dunno, maybe I was just too touchy.
Barb was Hertz and I was Avis always #2 and trying harder. That's what dad would say, and the commercial. Oh well. Number too wasn't last, or was it?
Sunday, April 29, 2012
1966 a Tornado Hits The Neighborhood
It was nice to have a new house, mom and dad, had a small room upstairs and then there was a really large bedroom up stairs as well, in the front of the house. Barb, Carol, Tammy and I shared that room and Lori was in with mom and dad. In between there was a large bathroom.
When you walked in from the porch there was a living room a formal dining room with a closet next to a small built in buffet. In the closet was a secret small hiding spot with a door. Barb and I found that right away. We loved to hide there until Barb locked me in one day. It was scary as heck, you never know what kind of bugs were there, mainly spiders.
The kitchen was pretty big and there was a small mud room off the kitchen.The basement was a crawl space with an area big enough to stand up in that was about 6'x10' maybe, and then it was just big enough to crawl under the house to fix thing if you were brave enough. It was all dirt.
There was a bedroom off the dining room, Tim got that room, with a small bathroom off to the back.
The backyard was a nice size and we didn't have to be watched all the time and we could walk around the block and not have to worry about "old bums with chains".
That summer another family moved in down the block. There were 2 teenage boys and a girl. The girl became one of my best friends for awhile, Blanche. We played school and dug through her closet all the time to find shorts her mom would pack away.Her grandmother would come and stay with her, she was a Norwegian woman who spoke mostly Norwegian and she was so funny. I had never heard anyone talk like that before. Blanche would tease her to make her scold us so we could laugh at her.
If Blanche had sandals that were broken "Grandma Mithun" would sew them back together.
It made me miss my grandma who had, passed away, Actually they both had by then.
I never had a best friend before. Well my cousin Debbie was the closet thing to a best friend I had.
Blanche was 1 1/2 years older than me and was 1 year younger than Barb. Sometimes we all hung out together and played school and other things.Once we were jumping on cars that needed to be worked on, there must have been at least 5 of them in her backyard. We had so much fun until I cut the inside of my thigh, well actually took a gouge out of it. Marion, Blanche's mom put a butterfly on it after I begged her not to tell my mom.Had she told her I wouldn't be able to go to her house anymore, because she told Barb and I not to mess with the cars, our theory was she didn't tell us we couldn't play tag on them or jump from one to another.
A couple of days later we heard sirens, a storm was moving in and we were all told to go to our basements, we didn't have one. Well, one that was worth trying to go into.
So we hid in the back room.Tim was trying to keep us girls quiet, we were scared. There was a loud sound, like a train was coming down the street and then it was quiet. At the end of the block were railroad tracks. So we knew what they sounded like. When the rain came again mom and dad told us we could come out of hiding. And because it was late and there was no electricity we had to go to bed. In the morning we couldn't wait to check out the neighborhood. Lights were back on, the TV said there was a tornado that hit..it had knocked down a tree in the front of our house along with a few others in the neighborhood. Our friends house that had just been built, had a tree fall on it.
Under the train bridge it was so flooded that we helped push cars out. Timmy made lots of money helping people. The worst thing was down near the railroad bridge, an electrician was working on the wires and he had accidentally touched something and he was killed. His whole body that we could see was black. I cried. Barb tried to cover my eyes so I couldn't see him.We ran home and Barb called the police, he had been dead for a little bit.
A few days later Barb found a cat that didn't have a place to go so she brought it home and asked mom if we could keep it. It was kinda ugly, the poor thing. Mom said yes, after Barb begged a bit more. One night Barb went to the park and I had to stay home. All the kids were in bed, we were waiting for my dad to come home from work. Mom and I were in the dining room playing cards when we heard a really strange noise. It sounded like something gasping for air. "Jeannie go see if Lori is OK!!!". I jumped up to see if it was Lori ,she was about 4 months old or so. "Mom Lori is fine. She's sleeping." So I went back to play my hand. A little while later I thought I heard a noise, so I looked back to see Lori . Nothing. About an hour later we heard a really loud noise and I snuck into the living room and looked in at Lori. There she was with the cat holding her down with his mouth over hers sucking out her air, I screamed for my mom and she ran into the room, she grabbed the cat and threw it towards the door. Barb walked in as it was all going on my mom screamed, " Get that cat out of here and don't ever let me see it again!!!!"
Barb picked up the cat and let it go outside," What happened?" she asked when she came back in.
I told her. I don't think she believed me at first, but when she looked at Lori's face you could see where that cats paws were and teeth marks from trying to suck the air of of her or was trying to suck the milk off her face from her bottle. She knew the cat had to go.
We learned a valuable lesson that night.
When you walked in from the porch there was a living room a formal dining room with a closet next to a small built in buffet. In the closet was a secret small hiding spot with a door. Barb and I found that right away. We loved to hide there until Barb locked me in one day. It was scary as heck, you never know what kind of bugs were there, mainly spiders.
The kitchen was pretty big and there was a small mud room off the kitchen.The basement was a crawl space with an area big enough to stand up in that was about 6'x10' maybe, and then it was just big enough to crawl under the house to fix thing if you were brave enough. It was all dirt.
There was a bedroom off the dining room, Tim got that room, with a small bathroom off to the back.
The backyard was a nice size and we didn't have to be watched all the time and we could walk around the block and not have to worry about "old bums with chains".
That summer another family moved in down the block. There were 2 teenage boys and a girl. The girl became one of my best friends for awhile, Blanche. We played school and dug through her closet all the time to find shorts her mom would pack away.Her grandmother would come and stay with her, she was a Norwegian woman who spoke mostly Norwegian and she was so funny. I had never heard anyone talk like that before. Blanche would tease her to make her scold us so we could laugh at her.
If Blanche had sandals that were broken "Grandma Mithun" would sew them back together.
It made me miss my grandma who had, passed away, Actually they both had by then.
I never had a best friend before. Well my cousin Debbie was the closet thing to a best friend I had.
Blanche was 1 1/2 years older than me and was 1 year younger than Barb. Sometimes we all hung out together and played school and other things.Once we were jumping on cars that needed to be worked on, there must have been at least 5 of them in her backyard. We had so much fun until I cut the inside of my thigh, well actually took a gouge out of it. Marion, Blanche's mom put a butterfly on it after I begged her not to tell my mom.Had she told her I wouldn't be able to go to her house anymore, because she told Barb and I not to mess with the cars, our theory was she didn't tell us we couldn't play tag on them or jump from one to another.
A couple of days later we heard sirens, a storm was moving in and we were all told to go to our basements, we didn't have one. Well, one that was worth trying to go into.
So we hid in the back room.Tim was trying to keep us girls quiet, we were scared. There was a loud sound, like a train was coming down the street and then it was quiet. At the end of the block were railroad tracks. So we knew what they sounded like. When the rain came again mom and dad told us we could come out of hiding. And because it was late and there was no electricity we had to go to bed. In the morning we couldn't wait to check out the neighborhood. Lights were back on, the TV said there was a tornado that hit..it had knocked down a tree in the front of our house along with a few others in the neighborhood. Our friends house that had just been built, had a tree fall on it.
Under the train bridge it was so flooded that we helped push cars out. Timmy made lots of money helping people. The worst thing was down near the railroad bridge, an electrician was working on the wires and he had accidentally touched something and he was killed. His whole body that we could see was black. I cried. Barb tried to cover my eyes so I couldn't see him.We ran home and Barb called the police, he had been dead for a little bit.
A few days later Barb found a cat that didn't have a place to go so she brought it home and asked mom if we could keep it. It was kinda ugly, the poor thing. Mom said yes, after Barb begged a bit more. One night Barb went to the park and I had to stay home. All the kids were in bed, we were waiting for my dad to come home from work. Mom and I were in the dining room playing cards when we heard a really strange noise. It sounded like something gasping for air. "Jeannie go see if Lori is OK!!!". I jumped up to see if it was Lori ,she was about 4 months old or so. "Mom Lori is fine. She's sleeping." So I went back to play my hand. A little while later I thought I heard a noise, so I looked back to see Lori . Nothing. About an hour later we heard a really loud noise and I snuck into the living room and looked in at Lori. There she was with the cat holding her down with his mouth over hers sucking out her air, I screamed for my mom and she ran into the room, she grabbed the cat and threw it towards the door. Barb walked in as it was all going on my mom screamed, " Get that cat out of here and don't ever let me see it again!!!!"
Barb picked up the cat and let it go outside," What happened?" she asked when she came back in.
I told her. I don't think she believed me at first, but when she looked at Lori's face you could see where that cats paws were and teeth marks from trying to suck the air of of her or was trying to suck the milk off her face from her bottle. She knew the cat had to go.
We learned a valuable lesson that night.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
1964 - 1965
Linda had to get back on track to graduate. It wasn't easy. Mom went to the principal had asked him to extend finals for Linda because she had been helping with the kids because mom was sick. He listened and Linda was given an extension. Now it was all up to her.
Linda graduated, so did Barb, Judy and Cindy. They put their graduation hats on and took our pictures with them.
I don't remember much about that fall or winter but again I do that summer. We got a dog, they named her Laddie, she was a German Shepherd Collie.
We took her for a walk with us, when we walked our dolls in strollers. We lived on a busy street., Cedar Ave wasn't as busy as it is now but it was busy. We had to stay away from the curb and driveways, there were some next to houses so you could turn on Cedar into your driveway next to your house, but, you couldn't block the sidewalk you had to leave the sidewalk clear for people to walk.
Some guy decided to park over the sidewalk when we were coming back from the corner so we had to go in the street just a little bit to get home. I had Carol and Tammy walk closest to the curb and I walked in the street, Laddie was behind us. We didn't see where the car came from but it was headed right towards us and Laddie jumped on me and knocked me onto the curb and took the hit.
We thought she was dead and Carol ran home to get my mom while I sat with Tammy holding Laddie as we cried. I looked at her beautiful gray coat and she was breathing very slowly and blood was running out of her mouth, Laddie tried to move her legs, but she couldn't, she never tried to get up.
Mom came running out and was scared and crying, she was worried that we may have been hit. I saw the look on her face as she saw us little girls holding Laddie, Mom thought Laddie was dying too.
Timmy brought out a sheet and we helped mom and Timmy lie her on the sheet and then we picked her up and carried her back to the yard. A nice young man got out of his car to help and mom said to him, " If you want to help you better help the man who owns that car get the hell out of that house, because if I get to him before you do he'll wish it had been him that got hit instead of my dog!!." My mom was livid, her eyes told it all. Mom went in and called the police, the driver came back, he had panicked but couldn't keep going, " I'm so sorry," he told my mom, he had a tear stained face," I kept thinking I might have hit one of those little girls and I couldn't live with that! It's bad enough I hit a dog, but a little girl. All I heard was a little girl scream. over and over and over. Tell me they are all ok". My mom's anger turned to compassion. I will never forget how she held his hand. He told her that he was late and driving too fast and thought there was enough room and then all he heard was a loud thump.
The man that owned the car now had come out of the house when he heard the sirens. Mom was on her feet so fast, she walked over to him and quietly said," you are one lucky man today, God must be on your side, if one of my kids had been hit you would be in that ambulance instead of the dog."
Mom knew the driver of the ambulance they put the dog on the stretcher and took her to the pet hospital, I sat on the porch, I watched as the owner of the car got a ticket for blocking the sidewalk and while the police told him that he was lucky that one of us girls hadn't been hit or he would be in jail for a vehicular misdemeanor.
I had this huge heaviness in my heart, it was my fault, Laddie saved me and might die. I never felt anything hurt so much, what if it would have Tammy or Carol? I closed my eyes, covered them with my hands and just sat there. I would hate myself. Timmy came and sat by me," Not your fault Jelly Bean, it was just an accident." he tried to comfort me.
I cried on his shoulder for hours. What if Laddie died? I heard dads car drive up I went to the car and looked in the window, she was laying in the backseat. Her leg was broken and they said that something had been bleeding inside I don't remember what it was, but they thought they fixed it.. If Laddie was going to survive the next few days would tell us. Sadly her leg got infected.She wouldn't move she just laid there. They had to take her back and have her put to sleep. I remember my dad being angry about how much money he spent on her and she died anyway.
Linda got a job as a key punch operator, someplace down town.She was saving her money to get her own place. Linda was at work and mom was getting us ready to go to Weds. Aquatenial Parade, dad worked downtown too. We were to meet up with dad and Linda so we could watch the parade as a family. There was a knock on the door. A strange looking man was there and asked for my mom.
Mom was surprised. She just stood there looking at the man," Can I come in?", he asked,: Linda isn't here she's at work, and why are you here now after all these years? 17 years go by and you decide now that she's an adult to come and see her? I don't know if she'll talk to you or not. So your welcome to come with us Earl," Earl that name sounded familiar, oh yeah he was Linda's real dad.
We all walked to Hertz rent a car down town to meet dad and Linda. Linda walked over to us and sat down she looked at the man, and then my dad came out and shook hands with Earl," Nice to meet you," dad said. Linda just sat quiet, " Linda want to go for a walk and talk for a little bit? I'm your dad I would like to get to know you ask some questions and you can ask me." Linda very bluntly stood u and looked him directly in the yes and said to him, " You are NOT my dad, Bill is. He was there for every ache and pain I had, he was there for me when the hospital receptionist called me a negro and when I needed help in school and when I graduated. He has always been there for everything, I haven't always liked my dad, but he has been my dad no matter what, even when he didn't want to be. Even when I was so horrible he could have turned his back on me. So I have nothing to say to you Earl except good-bye."
Earl gave my mom 2 dollars and told her to buy us ice cream. Linda never seen him again. When she had her first baby I asked her if she ever wanted to call Earl and tell him about his grandson and she said," Why? my kids have 2 grandpa's Pete and dad and that's all". I never asked again, but I did talk about him with her once in awhile and she always said she didn't care.
Well, the owners were going to sell the house again, so we had to look for a house to move to. This time they decided to buy a house. Mom wanted to move before school started in case we had to go to another school.
They found a house in the Seward area, it was a very sought after neighborhood and still is.
It was a good thing we were moving mom was pregnant again and this time she was really sick.
The ladies from some church helped us clean out the house and move in and so did Judy, she even stayed to take care of us because Linda had to work and Judy wasn't working then.
Lori was born on Feb.25, 1966. We had been moved in for a few months. Mom wasn't bouncing back, she was sick a lot. Linda would come over and help mom clean the house.
That spring the weather men kept predicting terrible storms for the summer.
Linda graduated, so did Barb, Judy and Cindy. They put their graduation hats on and took our pictures with them.
I don't remember much about that fall or winter but again I do that summer. We got a dog, they named her Laddie, she was a German Shepherd Collie.
We took her for a walk with us, when we walked our dolls in strollers. We lived on a busy street., Cedar Ave wasn't as busy as it is now but it was busy. We had to stay away from the curb and driveways, there were some next to houses so you could turn on Cedar into your driveway next to your house, but, you couldn't block the sidewalk you had to leave the sidewalk clear for people to walk.
Some guy decided to park over the sidewalk when we were coming back from the corner so we had to go in the street just a little bit to get home. I had Carol and Tammy walk closest to the curb and I walked in the street, Laddie was behind us. We didn't see where the car came from but it was headed right towards us and Laddie jumped on me and knocked me onto the curb and took the hit.
We thought she was dead and Carol ran home to get my mom while I sat with Tammy holding Laddie as we cried. I looked at her beautiful gray coat and she was breathing very slowly and blood was running out of her mouth, Laddie tried to move her legs, but she couldn't, she never tried to get up.
Mom came running out and was scared and crying, she was worried that we may have been hit. I saw the look on her face as she saw us little girls holding Laddie, Mom thought Laddie was dying too.
Timmy brought out a sheet and we helped mom and Timmy lie her on the sheet and then we picked her up and carried her back to the yard. A nice young man got out of his car to help and mom said to him, " If you want to help you better help the man who owns that car get the hell out of that house, because if I get to him before you do he'll wish it had been him that got hit instead of my dog!!." My mom was livid, her eyes told it all. Mom went in and called the police, the driver came back, he had panicked but couldn't keep going, " I'm so sorry," he told my mom, he had a tear stained face," I kept thinking I might have hit one of those little girls and I couldn't live with that! It's bad enough I hit a dog, but a little girl. All I heard was a little girl scream. over and over and over. Tell me they are all ok". My mom's anger turned to compassion. I will never forget how she held his hand. He told her that he was late and driving too fast and thought there was enough room and then all he heard was a loud thump.
The man that owned the car now had come out of the house when he heard the sirens. Mom was on her feet so fast, she walked over to him and quietly said," you are one lucky man today, God must be on your side, if one of my kids had been hit you would be in that ambulance instead of the dog."
Mom knew the driver of the ambulance they put the dog on the stretcher and took her to the pet hospital, I sat on the porch, I watched as the owner of the car got a ticket for blocking the sidewalk and while the police told him that he was lucky that one of us girls hadn't been hit or he would be in jail for a vehicular misdemeanor.
I had this huge heaviness in my heart, it was my fault, Laddie saved me and might die. I never felt anything hurt so much, what if it would have Tammy or Carol? I closed my eyes, covered them with my hands and just sat there. I would hate myself. Timmy came and sat by me," Not your fault Jelly Bean, it was just an accident." he tried to comfort me.
I cried on his shoulder for hours. What if Laddie died? I heard dads car drive up I went to the car and looked in the window, she was laying in the backseat. Her leg was broken and they said that something had been bleeding inside I don't remember what it was, but they thought they fixed it.. If Laddie was going to survive the next few days would tell us. Sadly her leg got infected.She wouldn't move she just laid there. They had to take her back and have her put to sleep. I remember my dad being angry about how much money he spent on her and she died anyway.
Linda got a job as a key punch operator, someplace down town.She was saving her money to get her own place. Linda was at work and mom was getting us ready to go to Weds. Aquatenial Parade, dad worked downtown too. We were to meet up with dad and Linda so we could watch the parade as a family. There was a knock on the door. A strange looking man was there and asked for my mom.
Mom was surprised. She just stood there looking at the man," Can I come in?", he asked,: Linda isn't here she's at work, and why are you here now after all these years? 17 years go by and you decide now that she's an adult to come and see her? I don't know if she'll talk to you or not. So your welcome to come with us Earl," Earl that name sounded familiar, oh yeah he was Linda's real dad.
We all walked to Hertz rent a car down town to meet dad and Linda. Linda walked over to us and sat down she looked at the man, and then my dad came out and shook hands with Earl," Nice to meet you," dad said. Linda just sat quiet, " Linda want to go for a walk and talk for a little bit? I'm your dad I would like to get to know you ask some questions and you can ask me." Linda very bluntly stood u and looked him directly in the yes and said to him, " You are NOT my dad, Bill is. He was there for every ache and pain I had, he was there for me when the hospital receptionist called me a negro and when I needed help in school and when I graduated. He has always been there for everything, I haven't always liked my dad, but he has been my dad no matter what, even when he didn't want to be. Even when I was so horrible he could have turned his back on me. So I have nothing to say to you Earl except good-bye."
Earl gave my mom 2 dollars and told her to buy us ice cream. Linda never seen him again. When she had her first baby I asked her if she ever wanted to call Earl and tell him about his grandson and she said," Why? my kids have 2 grandpa's Pete and dad and that's all". I never asked again, but I did talk about him with her once in awhile and she always said she didn't care.
Well, the owners were going to sell the house again, so we had to look for a house to move to. This time they decided to buy a house. Mom wanted to move before school started in case we had to go to another school.
They found a house in the Seward area, it was a very sought after neighborhood and still is.
It was a good thing we were moving mom was pregnant again and this time she was really sick.
The ladies from some church helped us clean out the house and move in and so did Judy, she even stayed to take care of us because Linda had to work and Judy wasn't working then.
Lori was born on Feb.25, 1966. We had been moved in for a few months. Mom wasn't bouncing back, she was sick a lot. Linda would come over and help mom clean the house.
That spring the weather men kept predicting terrible storms for the summer.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
November 6th, 1963
It was now November 6th, 1963 mom was in labor again having another child. This was her 6th child.
Mom's health wasn't as bad as they thought it would be but she was told NO MORE CHILDREN her body needed a much deserved rest. The baby was born another Girl on Nov,6th 1963, her name was Tammy Jo. She was a cute small little girl. That made 5 girls and 1 boy, poor Timmy. He was 12 now and didn't have any friends in the neighborhood. He had to play with the kids next door and he didn't like them much. Mom did let him hang out with the football players that practiced in the field behind the house.
On, Nov.22, 1963 I remember walking into the living room of the house and looking at my crying mother on the sofa , "what's wrong mommy, " I asked feeling so sad for her..." President Kennedy was shot and he's dead!!' She cried. I started to laugh, really hard, I remember thinking, why would she cry over a man she didn't know?
"Stop laughing!!! what's wrong with you, a man died and now his 2 kids don't have a father.!!!!" I felt awful that I laughed, and his poor kids. I never talked about this until years later. I wasn't laughing because he died, I just thought my mom was silly.
Christmas was exciting as always, Linda would always get us singing Christmas carol's, while we trimmed the tree. Barb, Linda's friend moved in with us for awhile she left home because of her dad, not sure why. I don't remember, but it was really fun, it was like having another sister.
Barb, Tim and Linda had to keep the house clean, certain rooms were theirs. Swept, and mopped. If they didn't they were grounded.
My mom was ironing one day, I asked if I could help, she lowered the temperature of the iron and lowered the ironing board and gave me a stool, she gave me washcloths and handkerchiefs, and tea towels to iron. I loved it! I would have stood there forever.
Mom and dad sent us to bed, Christmas Eve was already here and we had to go to bed for Santa , Barbie and I weren't tired but we tried to go to sleep. We heard a noise so we got up to go look and see what it was. In a box there were presents wrapped beautiful with bows and I seen a small ironing board and an iron just my size. I knew it had to be for me, but Santa wasn't there so were did all the stuff come from? My dad turned and We thought he saw us, so we quickly went back to bed. We were glad he didn't see us. We fell asleep. It was Christmas Day and we were opening gifts, I was looking for my ironing board and iron but there wasn't one. I was so disappointed. When I got older I asked my mom what happened to it and she told me that if you see your gifts before your supposed to they disappear. I guess I should have stayed in bed.
Winter came and went, Summer was back again, Barbie and I were playing with the neighbor kids,
My mom came rushing out of the house and jumped into a cab, my dad had fallen off a ladder at work and broke his heel, he would be out of work and on crutches for a bit. He was miserable. He wasn't used to being home all day doing nothing and not with all of us kids.
For some reason the air smelled bad, Barbie and I decided to investigate and find out why there was such a terrible smell. We started in the back yard, walked through the thick bushes, lilac bushes but because it was summer there weren't any blooming. There were lots of them along the back of the neighbors yard. Nothing! Next yard. As we approached the next yard the smell got a little stronger and we saw droplets of blood on the sidewalk. As we got closer we saw a tree stump that was really bloody and blood all over the ground, I was scared and I got closer to Barbie, I was going to whisper to her but I couldn't get a sound out. We tip toed slowly to the yard and then we saw feathers,( they were killing chickens for food, you could do that then, they broke the neck of the chicken and then chopped off it's head).The suspense was killing me so I turned and ran. A few minutes later Barbie was right behind me. I never told a single person about that day. In my young mind I thought some body had been killed and if I told I might be next. Maybe it was because of the blood all over Renee's house and then this, ok face it I was just a big chicken.
Sometime before my dad got his cast off, us kids were playing in the yard and I was using a lightweight small pipe to practice baton twirling, I wanted to be leader of a band a twirl the baton in a parade. My mom had talked about how she was once Miss Flame and rode a float because of her red hair, she was chosen by the firefighters from the station she lived by.
Anyway I tossed it up and I missed it and hit one of the neighbor girls from down the black and she ran home and told her mom. I was so scared when my dad asked me about it I lied. Said it wasn't me, besides she wasn't hurt that bad. I didn't even see any blood.
Later that night I was taking a bath and Barb came running in the bathroom, " Jeannie get outside a man has dad by his shirt and says if he doesn't find out what happened to his daughter he was going to beat dad up!!! Go tell the truth.". I cried. I didn't want to go tell him anything, I put on my pajamas and slippers and I walked out side the porch door, the man had my poor dad with his broken foot in a cast up against the porch railing so he couldn't move. " You better let go of my dad mister," Linda yelled to him. "And what do you think your going to do little lady?, He asked Linda."If you touch him in anyway to hurt him, Your going to be one sorry man. I'll hit you with this hammer, My brother has a pipe, my mom has a bottle and believe me we'll all use them before you can do a thing!!" Linda warned him. I wanted to say, "let go of my dad it was all my fault but it was an accident," I was too scared to move. Linda then said," If Jeannie did hit your daughter I promise you she didn't mean to, Jeannie just wouldn't do that," The large man lowered my dad, fixed his shirt and apologized. He had been drinking and was told I hit her to be mean, and he never thought it might have been an accident. He never came back again and neither did his kids.
It was the last family camp of the summer and turned out to be the last one for us ever.
We had so much fun sitting around the camp fire and singing the Camp Manakiki theme song.
I fished, I did crafts we played family bingo and I won a huge Slow Poke sucker. It would take days to eat it all. I went swimming and played capture the flag.
Linda didn't go she wanted to stay home alone and said she could be trusted. NOT. Linda had a party and it got out of hand, the police were called and mom and dad had to go get her in the middle of the night along with her friend Barb. We woke up and Linda was on a cot dress with men work boots on and she smelled awful, Barb was on the floor sleeping. Boy, were they in trouble. We had to leave camp early and when we got home they had to clean the house from top to bottom there was sticky beer on the floor and food every where. I saw Linda scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees and Barb was washing walls, Judy came to help and Darrell was there cleaning I'm not sure but I think Cindy showed up to help and before it was all done mom had half of South High school graduating class there helping to clean up.
I was so glad that summer was over.It was going to be Linda's graduating year so mom really made her work, she had been such a good student, but now here grades were falling. What did you expect. Helping take care of kids and mom was sick off and on and Linda cleaning house it was too much for 17 year old girl. Linda was fast approaching 18 and couldn't wait. She was going to get a job and move. As soon as she could.
Mom's health wasn't as bad as they thought it would be but she was told NO MORE CHILDREN her body needed a much deserved rest. The baby was born another Girl on Nov,6th 1963, her name was Tammy Jo. She was a cute small little girl. That made 5 girls and 1 boy, poor Timmy. He was 12 now and didn't have any friends in the neighborhood. He had to play with the kids next door and he didn't like them much. Mom did let him hang out with the football players that practiced in the field behind the house.
On, Nov.22, 1963 I remember walking into the living room of the house and looking at my crying mother on the sofa , "what's wrong mommy, " I asked feeling so sad for her..." President Kennedy was shot and he's dead!!' She cried. I started to laugh, really hard, I remember thinking, why would she cry over a man she didn't know?
"Stop laughing!!! what's wrong with you, a man died and now his 2 kids don't have a father.!!!!" I felt awful that I laughed, and his poor kids. I never talked about this until years later. I wasn't laughing because he died, I just thought my mom was silly.
Christmas was exciting as always, Linda would always get us singing Christmas carol's, while we trimmed the tree. Barb, Linda's friend moved in with us for awhile she left home because of her dad, not sure why. I don't remember, but it was really fun, it was like having another sister.
Barb, Tim and Linda had to keep the house clean, certain rooms were theirs. Swept, and mopped. If they didn't they were grounded.
My mom was ironing one day, I asked if I could help, she lowered the temperature of the iron and lowered the ironing board and gave me a stool, she gave me washcloths and handkerchiefs, and tea towels to iron. I loved it! I would have stood there forever.
Mom and dad sent us to bed, Christmas Eve was already here and we had to go to bed for Santa , Barbie and I weren't tired but we tried to go to sleep. We heard a noise so we got up to go look and see what it was. In a box there were presents wrapped beautiful with bows and I seen a small ironing board and an iron just my size. I knew it had to be for me, but Santa wasn't there so were did all the stuff come from? My dad turned and We thought he saw us, so we quickly went back to bed. We were glad he didn't see us. We fell asleep. It was Christmas Day and we were opening gifts, I was looking for my ironing board and iron but there wasn't one. I was so disappointed. When I got older I asked my mom what happened to it and she told me that if you see your gifts before your supposed to they disappear. I guess I should have stayed in bed.
Winter came and went, Summer was back again, Barbie and I were playing with the neighbor kids,
My mom came rushing out of the house and jumped into a cab, my dad had fallen off a ladder at work and broke his heel, he would be out of work and on crutches for a bit. He was miserable. He wasn't used to being home all day doing nothing and not with all of us kids.
For some reason the air smelled bad, Barbie and I decided to investigate and find out why there was such a terrible smell. We started in the back yard, walked through the thick bushes, lilac bushes but because it was summer there weren't any blooming. There were lots of them along the back of the neighbors yard. Nothing! Next yard. As we approached the next yard the smell got a little stronger and we saw droplets of blood on the sidewalk. As we got closer we saw a tree stump that was really bloody and blood all over the ground, I was scared and I got closer to Barbie, I was going to whisper to her but I couldn't get a sound out. We tip toed slowly to the yard and then we saw feathers,( they were killing chickens for food, you could do that then, they broke the neck of the chicken and then chopped off it's head).The suspense was killing me so I turned and ran. A few minutes later Barbie was right behind me. I never told a single person about that day. In my young mind I thought some body had been killed and if I told I might be next. Maybe it was because of the blood all over Renee's house and then this, ok face it I was just a big chicken.
Sometime before my dad got his cast off, us kids were playing in the yard and I was using a lightweight small pipe to practice baton twirling, I wanted to be leader of a band a twirl the baton in a parade. My mom had talked about how she was once Miss Flame and rode a float because of her red hair, she was chosen by the firefighters from the station she lived by.
Anyway I tossed it up and I missed it and hit one of the neighbor girls from down the black and she ran home and told her mom. I was so scared when my dad asked me about it I lied. Said it wasn't me, besides she wasn't hurt that bad. I didn't even see any blood.
Later that night I was taking a bath and Barb came running in the bathroom, " Jeannie get outside a man has dad by his shirt and says if he doesn't find out what happened to his daughter he was going to beat dad up!!! Go tell the truth.". I cried. I didn't want to go tell him anything, I put on my pajamas and slippers and I walked out side the porch door, the man had my poor dad with his broken foot in a cast up against the porch railing so he couldn't move. " You better let go of my dad mister," Linda yelled to him. "And what do you think your going to do little lady?, He asked Linda."If you touch him in anyway to hurt him, Your going to be one sorry man. I'll hit you with this hammer, My brother has a pipe, my mom has a bottle and believe me we'll all use them before you can do a thing!!" Linda warned him. I wanted to say, "let go of my dad it was all my fault but it was an accident," I was too scared to move. Linda then said," If Jeannie did hit your daughter I promise you she didn't mean to, Jeannie just wouldn't do that," The large man lowered my dad, fixed his shirt and apologized. He had been drinking and was told I hit her to be mean, and he never thought it might have been an accident. He never came back again and neither did his kids.
It was the last family camp of the summer and turned out to be the last one for us ever.
We had so much fun sitting around the camp fire and singing the Camp Manakiki theme song.
I fished, I did crafts we played family bingo and I won a huge Slow Poke sucker. It would take days to eat it all. I went swimming and played capture the flag.
Linda didn't go she wanted to stay home alone and said she could be trusted. NOT. Linda had a party and it got out of hand, the police were called and mom and dad had to go get her in the middle of the night along with her friend Barb. We woke up and Linda was on a cot dress with men work boots on and she smelled awful, Barb was on the floor sleeping. Boy, were they in trouble. We had to leave camp early and when we got home they had to clean the house from top to bottom there was sticky beer on the floor and food every where. I saw Linda scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees and Barb was washing walls, Judy came to help and Darrell was there cleaning I'm not sure but I think Cindy showed up to help and before it was all done mom had half of South High school graduating class there helping to clean up.
I was so glad that summer was over.It was going to be Linda's graduating year so mom really made her work, she had been such a good student, but now here grades were falling. What did you expect. Helping take care of kids and mom was sick off and on and Linda cleaning house it was too much for 17 year old girl. Linda was fast approaching 18 and couldn't wait. She was going to get a job and move. As soon as she could.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Summer of "63
Mom was feeling very nurturing and had joined a woman's group at the PILLSBURY CENTER that was located down the block from our house. We had a really good time going to family camp with her.
Our neighborhood was changing, hippies were starting to hang out in the 7 corners area. and Mom was pregnant again! Dad didn't seem like he was too upset this time and I remember he was even excited that this time could be a boy. Dad was so busy working 2 jobs. He would do that often.
Some days Barb and I would go to the corner park to play, then we didn't need to worry about being safe because everyone watch us kids. Well, everyone except the scary BUM with the large chain around his neck, he must have been an old train bum, but he really scared us. Linda, Judy and Cindy went looking for him one afternoon because he threatened to hurt Barb and I. After they talked to him, he never talked to us again. I don't think I even seen him again after that.
Mom and dad had to move to a bigger place. They found a place across the street from the old South High off Cedar Ave. the football field was right behind our house.
We watched football games for free and Barb was able to go to South for a science program for kids in Preschool and Kindergarten. Barb loved to capture bugs and she would keep them in jars like lots of kids do, however the science teacher heard about some of the things she had and bought them from her because I guess some were pretty rare.
A family moved in next door to us, mom became fast friends of the mom, her name was Retha.
They also had a large family. Next to them was an older couple who had lived on a farm and moved to the city. And then there was another family that I remember that had 2 daughters mine and Barbs age.
We had so much fun that summer and then sometimes I think it was one of the scariest summers of my life, except for the night in the old neighborhood when Renee's sister was murdered in the hall way of their duplex, her sister had left her boyfriend, she was white and he was black, he had been abusive and she tried to leave him many times, this was another night. He wasn't going to let her go, she went to her mothers house and he broke the door down and shot her, Mom was walking Barb and I home from, someplace and we had to go passed all the police and when I looked to where I heard people crying I saw blood everywhere, mom hurried us home and then dad watched us while mom went back to see what she could do. That was a night I will never forget.
SO ...anyway, that summer was funny we played hide and go seek with the neighbors, Barb was getting tired of playing the normal way so she talked me into asking Vernon, the boy next door to hide in the washer. so I did. Then she said, "Jeannie wouldn't it be funny to have Vernon hide in the dryer. No body will find him there." So I went to Vernon," Hey Vern, let's go hide in our back porch and you can hide in the dryer, nobody will find you..I would but my mom said I can't but you can she didn't tell you not to." Barb's idea worked he answered," Yeah ok, don't tell anyone where I am".
"We won't!!" Barb and I said at the same time.
Barb was so excited Vernon climbed in and then Barb TURNED ON THE DRYER!!!! we both laughed uncontrollably and all you could hear was a large THUMP! THUMP! and you could hear a few noises from inside the dryer.
"What in God's name is that noise?" my mom was asking as she came out of the house, "What did you kids put in the dryer?" "Vernon" I answered.
"VERNON!?" mom yelled as she pulled the door open and Vern came out sweaty and dizzy. He fell to the ground. " Barbie, did you put him in there?" mom was trying to get a very dizzy and sickly Vernon to focus, " Look at me ...Look at me Vern are you ok?" mom kept talking.
" He climbed in himself, Jeannie told him to," Barbie answered, Vernon Stood up and smiled," Can I do that again? That was fun." he finally answered. Mom was very angry now, you could see it in her eyes, ( we always told her she had Betty Davis eyes) when she had that look you knew you were in deep trouble and RUN! Do I need to say we never did that again. Vernon had to go home.
Summer was over and mom and dad decided I could go to Kindergarten I went to Irving elementary school, Barb was told where to pick me up, I went to the wrong door and I couldn't find her, I went back in and the principal asked my name," I can't tell you, my mom told me not to talk to strangers," I started to cry. "We need to know your name honey so we can take you home," they kept saying. "Do you have a sibling here at school?" I just cried harder, I didn't know what a sibling was.
So they had to call the police and when they got there they asked my name, "Jeannie Terwey, my sister Barbie left me." I cried. One of them picked me up in his big arms and took me to the counter, he called my mom and told her I was safe and that they would be bringing me home. And had I told them before who I was I would have been home sooner, but because I was told not to talk to strangers they couldn't figure it out. My dad thought maybe I was to young to go to school, after all I was still just 4, but they let me go back. I waited for Barb at the right door from then on.
And...I got a spanking from my teacher a few days later for rolling my nap mat up too soon, when I KNEW she tapped me with her foot on the top of my head and she said she didn't tap me at all.The boy next to me got a spanking too, for not waiting to get tapped as well. I think her foot must have accidentally hit my head and she didn't know it, oh well..it made us better in the end.
Our neighborhood was changing, hippies were starting to hang out in the 7 corners area. and Mom was pregnant again! Dad didn't seem like he was too upset this time and I remember he was even excited that this time could be a boy. Dad was so busy working 2 jobs. He would do that often.
Some days Barb and I would go to the corner park to play, then we didn't need to worry about being safe because everyone watch us kids. Well, everyone except the scary BUM with the large chain around his neck, he must have been an old train bum, but he really scared us. Linda, Judy and Cindy went looking for him one afternoon because he threatened to hurt Barb and I. After they talked to him, he never talked to us again. I don't think I even seen him again after that.
Mom and dad had to move to a bigger place. They found a place across the street from the old South High off Cedar Ave. the football field was right behind our house.
We watched football games for free and Barb was able to go to South for a science program for kids in Preschool and Kindergarten. Barb loved to capture bugs and she would keep them in jars like lots of kids do, however the science teacher heard about some of the things she had and bought them from her because I guess some were pretty rare.
A family moved in next door to us, mom became fast friends of the mom, her name was Retha.
They also had a large family. Next to them was an older couple who had lived on a farm and moved to the city. And then there was another family that I remember that had 2 daughters mine and Barbs age.
We had so much fun that summer and then sometimes I think it was one of the scariest summers of my life, except for the night in the old neighborhood when Renee's sister was murdered in the hall way of their duplex, her sister had left her boyfriend, she was white and he was black, he had been abusive and she tried to leave him many times, this was another night. He wasn't going to let her go, she went to her mothers house and he broke the door down and shot her, Mom was walking Barb and I home from, someplace and we had to go passed all the police and when I looked to where I heard people crying I saw blood everywhere, mom hurried us home and then dad watched us while mom went back to see what she could do. That was a night I will never forget.
SO ...anyway, that summer was funny we played hide and go seek with the neighbors, Barb was getting tired of playing the normal way so she talked me into asking Vernon, the boy next door to hide in the washer. so I did. Then she said, "Jeannie wouldn't it be funny to have Vernon hide in the dryer. No body will find him there." So I went to Vernon," Hey Vern, let's go hide in our back porch and you can hide in the dryer, nobody will find you..I would but my mom said I can't but you can she didn't tell you not to." Barb's idea worked he answered," Yeah ok, don't tell anyone where I am".
"We won't!!" Barb and I said at the same time.
Barb was so excited Vernon climbed in and then Barb TURNED ON THE DRYER!!!! we both laughed uncontrollably and all you could hear was a large THUMP! THUMP! and you could hear a few noises from inside the dryer.
"What in God's name is that noise?" my mom was asking as she came out of the house, "What did you kids put in the dryer?" "Vernon" I answered.
"VERNON!?" mom yelled as she pulled the door open and Vern came out sweaty and dizzy. He fell to the ground. " Barbie, did you put him in there?" mom was trying to get a very dizzy and sickly Vernon to focus, " Look at me ...Look at me Vern are you ok?" mom kept talking.
" He climbed in himself, Jeannie told him to," Barbie answered, Vernon Stood up and smiled," Can I do that again? That was fun." he finally answered. Mom was very angry now, you could see it in her eyes, ( we always told her she had Betty Davis eyes) when she had that look you knew you were in deep trouble and RUN! Do I need to say we never did that again. Vernon had to go home.
Summer was over and mom and dad decided I could go to Kindergarten I went to Irving elementary school, Barb was told where to pick me up, I went to the wrong door and I couldn't find her, I went back in and the principal asked my name," I can't tell you, my mom told me not to talk to strangers," I started to cry. "We need to know your name honey so we can take you home," they kept saying. "Do you have a sibling here at school?" I just cried harder, I didn't know what a sibling was.
So they had to call the police and when they got there they asked my name, "Jeannie Terwey, my sister Barbie left me." I cried. One of them picked me up in his big arms and took me to the counter, he called my mom and told her I was safe and that they would be bringing me home. And had I told them before who I was I would have been home sooner, but because I was told not to talk to strangers they couldn't figure it out. My dad thought maybe I was to young to go to school, after all I was still just 4, but they let me go back. I waited for Barb at the right door from then on.
And...I got a spanking from my teacher a few days later for rolling my nap mat up too soon, when I KNEW she tapped me with her foot on the top of my head and she said she didn't tap me at all.The boy next to me got a spanking too, for not waiting to get tapped as well. I think her foot must have accidentally hit my head and she didn't know it, oh well..it made us better in the end.
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