A Trip Down Memory Lane....

My mother and I went to decorate family members'

grave sites. Along the way, we took a little

trip down memory lane. My youngest daughter, Regan

went with us...so, we counted this as a "history" lesson!

We homeschool and we can do things like that....

This is where my mother grew up in Sand Springs. My Papa built

this house. See that front window on the left?

That is where my mother shared a room with

her blind grandma, Granny Hail.

I think every grandchild has the memory of trying to avoid the HEATER GRATE on the floor...which was so strategically put RIGHT in the doorway of the living room and kitchen. In the summer, it was covered with a beautifully braided rug, and in the winter.....OUCH!!!

Also, there was always a porch swing on that porch.

It is so strange to not have it on there now.

There were also two of those metal green chairs!

You can now find the retro ones at stores....if they

were heavy enough, I would have them on MY porch, except

the darn Oklahoma wind won't leave them be...they'd be yard

ornaments.

The detached garage is where he kept his red El Camino. It looked similar to the one pictured below. Every time I hear a blinker, I think of Papa.


I don't ever recall him listening to the radio while driving.

I would often ride with him to the local Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips to get the Sunday dinner. When that placed shut down, we resorted to KFC on Sundays.

What a fond memory.

This is a view from the back alley. It was such a shock to realize how small that backyard really was....it seemed like a mile for me to get from that back door to the fence. We would often have races.

The tree there has a lightning strike scar on it...unfortunately, we were unable

to get a picture of it. My mother was standing at that back door when it struck.

This is the little house beside my grandparents. My Papa built it also. It was for my mother and oldest sister, Terri, to live in. It eventually became a rent house.

You can't see it very well, but the porch of this house was a favorite hiding place of whatever renter's children and me. I would almost bet, you couldn't give me a million dollars to go under now....back then, it seemed as big as a bedroom to me.

Now we have moved on to my other Grandparents' home in Tulsa.

I don't have as many memories of this house since my parent's divorced when I was rather young.

What I do remember is the cement burro and wagon in the backyard, the Easter egg hunts, the bowls she served ice cream in....always smothered in Hershey's chocolate syrup from the can, and maybe one Christmas.

I can't remember the details of the house layout.

Now, we have moved on to the house where I spent a small portion of my childhood, but have so many memories.

It didn't look like this AT ALL....we were one of the first homes to get the "new" vinyl siding....some sort of brownish tan color. The porch used to have a long boxwood hedge around it. I borrowed some blocks from a friend and had to return them the same day....and by the time I remembered, it was dark outside. I was scared to death of the dark, so I dumped the blocks in the hedge and lied that I took them back. My dad found out and used the all curing belt on a wet bottom just fresh out of the bathtub! I have no memory after that....I'm sure I had to take the blocks back IN THE DARK though.

I remember having a pet duck, Puppy Duck.

I remember family pictures standing against the front door.

I remember a purple bedroom and my oldest sister had the coolest yellow and lime green bedroom.

I remember the hall was narrow enough that we could climb the walls and when my mother would come around the corner we could scare her.

We would also lay pillows down that hallway and my oldest sister would catapult us down the hallway just by using her feet to launch us.

Also, I could run down that hallway and do a flippy/spinny thing around her leg...just like a gymnast.

I remember GREEN carpet.

I remember the colorful neighbors.

My first boyfriend was in that neighborhood...Devin. I got to go on a "date" with him and his family...don't have a clue where we went, but I do remember sitting on the back of a cow and going to a BAR to hear the Speakeasy Singers. I guess back then, it was nothing to take a child to a bar....lol.

I remember one young couple never locked their door and we would just walk in on them and visit for a while....if I'm not mistaken, they would have kept my oldest sister if mom would have let them. I'm sure Terri tried to sell herself to them since she never really liked having sisters....she always thought she was destined to be an only child!

I remember a neighbor's dog attacking my middle sister.

I remember riding Tonka Toy trucks down steep driveways...and eventually getting stitches because I "wrecked" a pink El Camino.

I remember it was time to go home when the street lights came on....

We had an awesome piece of playground equipment in the backyard.

I have never seen another like it....I even googled for an hour to try to find a picture of one and couldn't find one.

It was a merry go round that had seats for four people.

Each person had a push and pull bar...and when you could get everyone participating, it was as if the thing would spin you into outer space!

I would have loved to have one of those for my children.

I remember when Casa Bonita opened and my oldest sister got to work there....

We were one of the first people to ride the Bell's Amusement Park's newest ride....The Phantasmagoria!

I remember going to the giant Sears to get get roasted cashews with my mom.

I also remember my middle sister pushing me in a stroller to that Sears....mind you, I was way beyond stroller age....she wanted me to be her "baby".

I remember a candy store called the "Happy House" that seemed to have endless supplies of taffy and wax bottled soda pop.

I remember sledding down the street in the snow.

Oh, the memories that shape our lives.....I am recording these here for my family.

So, I beg your pardon if it was a little boring for you. It was not boring for me and I thank my mother for my trip down memory lane yesterday.