In Her Own Words

Here is another early memory from my mom:

"The fire in the kitchen is the very first thing of me that I can remember.  I was about 3 1/2 years old. We had an oil cooking stove and somehow it caught fire.  My Uncle John was visiting us then (us is my mom and dad and sister Eva).  Well Uncle John got me out of the house. and he somehow put the fire out.

When I was growing up it seemed like an easy care free time.  The big war was over and for about 20 years there seem to be no more enemies, signs of conflict. Traffic back then was limited, few cars, people rode the street cars (sort of like a bus but went on tracks). And there were lots of bicycles in summer. And there were still a few horse and buggies (and in the winter lots of horse and sleds. They were real fun.)  And people walked to and from work or the stores or downtown. 

Through the years I told a number of people about this vision I seemed to have had.  There was never any one that I told that didn’t believe that I really did see such a beautiful sight and you know, I to do believe I did.

Guess I was about five years old when we moved to 111 Winnett St.  I don’t remember the move all of a sudden there we were.  So while my sister (Eva) helped our mother, I remember being outside on our big front veranda we had.  I sat on the steps and watched the strangers going by (a lot of people walked to the store, to the streetcars, to go downtown or just to visit someone, but hardly ever just to walk.)  I guess cause it was something that had to be done by a lot of people.  

There was this large field right across from our house.  It was a block long and almost a block deep, square.  Where I lived before there had been houses all around us. But here right in front of where I sat was this big beautiful field. I don’t remember my thoughts right then. But it surely must have looked like a fun big place to play in. There were about 5 big trees (I learned later they were apple trees) some neat looking bushes and a path that seemed to go right across the field to the back of a big house on the next block."

Stay tune next week for how my mom met her best friend Lilian. 

I Google Mapped 111 Winniett St, and found this picture. Not sure if it's the right house, it does have the numbers 111 on it thought.  Not a very big veranda, but it might have seemed huge for a little girl.

  

This store was across the street.