The first house my parents owned was at 89-33 238th Street in Bellerose, Queens, NY. Coincidently, 13 years after we moved away, I had a girl friend who lived at 89-33 Gettysburg Ave, two blocks away. Things I remember...drying dishes with my sister while my mom washed them. I think I was sitting on the counter. Drinking the dregs of my father's can of Reingold only to find he was using it for an ashtray. My father digging the dirt from his side landscaping job out of his nails with a napkin and spelling words that way. My mom making boats out of our mashed potatoes. One-armed Farmer Walters who lived behind us who gave us fresh corn (who turned out to be the uncle of George Buck who owned a farm a few blocks from us in East Meadow). Picking the glass "marbles" out of the Meseroles' concrete pedestals. Playing in the mud with a truck. Hooking up the fire truck my Uncle Tom gave me to the garden hose to put water on the tree with the truck's hose.
Crawling around the living room with my father and breaking a knickknack my Mom had on the coffee table and laughing sheepishly about it. Christmas trees in the alcove. The little TV screen in the big wooden cabinet. Watching King Kong on TV and covering my eyes. Watching Hit Parade and American Bandstand, and dozens of cartoons, Our Gang, Abbot and Costello, Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy. My Dad with his face swollen up from poison ivy (or smoke inhalation). Standing up in my crib and picking the wallpaper off the window sill.
Little kid next door down who was a real weenie and accused me of something I didn't do. Karen Masel's beautiful black cocker spaniel. Running away with my sister and Karen and a baby blanket with books in it. Little blond haired girl who lived in the apartment on the corner. Kindergarten for a couple weeks before we moved - playing with wooden blocks there. Working the firehose when the lot across the street went on fire and my Dad took me over to the firemen when it was out.
Park on the other side of Braddock Ave with swings and sand box and metal wrought iron fence..
No comments:
Post a Comment