Childhood

I had a very happy Childhood.
I was born in Williamsport, PA. Our first house I remember was a red brick three story "row house" (you yankees probably know what i'm talking about) on Wilson Street.
This was in the area of town called "East End" - where my Daddy grew up.
When I was about 3-4 we moved to a much nicer neighborhood called "Newberry" into a big old victorian house built in the 1800's.
It was on the corner of Diamond Street and Linn Street.
There were beautiful old stained glass windows, the doorknobs were ornate and heavy and the keys were the big skeleton keys.
This is my favorite house, the one I still dream about sometimes and the one I somehow wish.... I wish...... I guess I wish I could go back to that time once again. Just for a little while. Silly isn't it?
It had a detached double garage out back, an attic and a cellar and what was called a "summer kitchen" seperate from the house in case of fire. We used that for a play area though because by then there was a kitchen in the house. As well as a diningroom, livingroom, TV room, Sewing room, and upstairs five big bedrooms and a bathroom with a huge clawfoot tub and the kind of drain that had a stopper on a chain. I used to be sort of scared I would somehow get sucked down it. I was a silly kid. My siblings didn't help matters any by singing the "Alice" song. Anybody know that one? The ending goes "Oh my goodness, oh my soul, there goes Alice down the hole glug~glug~glug~" LOL
Dad was the head of Pepsi Cola and with five kids who never wanted for anything he had to be making some money *grin* but I never thought about that.
Never knew "rich" or "poor" just that I was a happy, happy kid.
The playground was a block away.
In the winter the blacktop was flooded and we could all go iceskating. My best friend Lori McDermott lived across the street from the playground on Pearl Street.
I went to Jackson Elementary School (still in existence and use) about six blocks away and we walked to school. Usually in big groups.
Our route took us past the James V. Brown Library and on Thursdays I would stop for "Story Hour". A magical time for me and what i'm sure fanned the fires of my love of books (along with my Mother).

Here is one of the first toys I remember playing with as a wee one. The Fisher Price Jalopy.
Another favorite, the Fisher Price Little People. If you remember the proper names for some of the family members were Patty (the redhaired girl), Mike (the brother) and Butch (the dog). I only remember those because that is my name, my brother's name and my Dad's nickname and when I was a kid it got kinda mixed up in my head LOL I somehow thought they were named for us.
This was the last babydoll my Mom bought for me. Rub-A-Dub Dolly. I think I was 9. Hey I played with Barbies up until I was 12 or 13. Childhood was alot more innocent then and it wasn't anything weird but today........ kids practically think they should be getting married at that age, sad to say :(
Ah the Big Wheel. We played on these things and literally wore holes in those plastic tires. Me and the neighborhood boys Ronnie and Shane Polson. We would ride them in the parking lot of Ascension Catholic Church and the mean old lady who lived next to the Church (Mrs. Gentz of whom i've spoken before) would try to run us off. I remember her one time smacking Ronnie's Dad, Ronnie Sr. across the face when he went to tell her to leave us kids alone! Yikes!
Then we moved down to South Carolina and life changed........ a lot. At first I never thought I would get used to it. We lived in the VERY rural Mars Bluff area with my Grandparents, Aunt and her three kids (that house was really big too) then when we moved into Florence on Cedar Street, I found my niche once again.
That was a real neighborhood (albeit one without sidewalks and no city buses) and I made friends and still see some of those people today.
Life can take some funny twists and turns can't it?
I often wonder what Madison's childhood memories will be.