1. The drawer in her dining room buffet where the cat had kittens--I don't remember a cat around there after that...
2. The stairway into the kitchen where we could sit and chat
3. Two Christmas trees, one in the living room, one in the family room. This is a big memory! I always thought it was so nice that Aunt Elsie let the kids decorate the tree in the family room anyway they liked!
4. The Christmas mantle with the angel hair--we never had angel hair at home because of the danger we might cut ourselves on it.
5. The bubble lights on the Christmas tree
6. That crazy mechanical horse we rode on the driveway in the backyard--I swear its name was Jocko or something like that, but Linda corrected me. Started with an M, she said, something like MoJo.
7. The garage where we put on a performance of The Wizard of Oz. I will never forget Lolly's starring role as Dorothy.
8. Linda's bed that we broke down bouncing our ages and our weights--
9. Aunt Elsie's coke rules--you could only have (seems like) one a day, but you could have it anytime you wanted it.
10. Riding Uncle Harvey's jeep around their backyard
11. The two fishponds, including the one in the front yard where Lynn nearly drowned. Mom pulled her out and held her upside down until all the water came out of her lungs. It's probably not a recommended first-aid measure, but I saw Lynn recently, too many years after the fact to mention, and she doesn't seem to be suffering any ill consequences.
12. The back porches that kept getting closed in to make family rooms and, later, bedrooms.
13. Probably the first walk-in closet I ever saw in my life
14. The big pots of chili and spaghetti sauce cooking on the stove, and my brother and I eating plain spaghetti noodles with butter, because that was what we liked. We were really picky eaters. I hate to think about what we missed.
I guess that does it for now. I will probably think of more things as the days go by and will add them as they come up. I'm old. I officially turn 63 today. Love to all, and God bless.
