- First day of school, 1952
OK, I don’t know for sure if this photo was taken the first day of school. For that matter, I can’t say with 100% certainty that the year of capture was in 1952, but it’s a fair guess. It can’t be any earlier than 1952, and I’m sure it’s no later than 1954. These three girls are my sisters (well, they weren’t in this photo, because I hadn’t come along yet!), and the family didn’t move into this house until 1952. This is probably the only photo of my sisters together that exists on the Web. They still look the same.
Mom and Dad lived in this house until they died; Mom died in the hospital, and Dad died at home in his bedroom, the room behind the door at the left of the photo. The family sold the house in the late ’90’s after Dad passed away.
I drove by the old house the other day, and two of my favorite trees, a pine tree and a fruit-bearing pear tree, had both been cut down. I suspect they fell victim to this year’s drought. I was glad to see my “tree house” tree was still standing with only light pruning. The house had a new roof and a new front door, and it looked like all the windows had been replaced. I could see clearly into the room where dad died, and I could tell that the sliding doors to the small closet where he hung all his clothes had been removed.
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- Born virtuoso
I was not yet one year old in this photo, and you can see how quickly I took to the piano (*wink*). I don’t remember this particular piano, but about fifteen years ago I bought one that looked just like it. Gave it to the guy across the street before we moved, but there is a very interesting tale that goes with it concerning an old, nearly blind man by the name of Jahn Kohlert who came, with his assistant, to work on the piano. Perhaps I’ll tell you his story someday, but for now just know that it involves Joe Kennedy, Al Capone, and the Gestapo.
Neither do I remember the window in the photo – at least not with glass in it. I think I remember Dad crawling through what was left of it when he was building an additional bedroom and bathroom for my sisters. Before he finished the room, we were six people living in 640 square feet of space. As long as I lived there, though, I never felt cramped. It was home.
