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Friday, March 16, 2012

Visiting and Reminiscing~~~

For the past ten days we've been off enjoying the sunshine in the Midwest and visiting our grandkids. The three of us did lots of reading together, and this time the story of the Little Red Hen was read over and over and over again.

We slipped away for a couple of days to see my aunt who was widowed in February after almost 65 years of marriage. We also visited a sorority sister and her husband and had such a good time we forgot to take any pictures. They live right on Lake Michigan, literally a stone's throw from the water!

One of the afternoons we took a tour down memory lane with my aunt who also lived for a while in Shorewood. When I was four and just before my sister was born, we moved back to Wisconsin from Oklahoma to be closer to familyas my grandfather had just passed away. Unfortunately I couldn't remember the address of the first house we lived in, but it was one of these two.

I went to Lake Bluff School for kindergarten until halfway through second grade. The walk to school I remembered was really long; in truth, the school property began about six houses from the house in the above photo! The entrance to the school though was clear around the corner which did add to the distance.

My folks moved into this house, which was owned by my grandmother, when I was in first grade but didn't live here very long. It is a duplex, but I have no memory of the other family who lived there.
When the duplex was sold, we moved into the apartment above our father's appliance shop and lived there until I was halfway through my senior year in high school. (Now it's a hair salon but back then there was also a barber shop and a candy store in the building along with another apartment.)

Both my sister and I went through sixth grade at this school, the same place our dad went to high school. It was right across from the apartment, and we had fun playing at the playgrounds and ice skating on the flooded field in the winter.

Many of the individuals in our family attended high school here. I can remember my geometry teacher asking whether Howard Taylor was my uncle. He was.


The whole time I went to college I lived in this house. My parents moved to Brown Deer the day after my sister graduated from high school.

When I attended UW-Milwaukee, this was one of the few buildings there, and tuition was $110 per semester! Now I wouldn't begin to be able to find my way around the campus without a map.

Although I used to babysit for a family in this house, I never lived there. My sister did though when she was home from college. My folks bought a condo in Milwaukee after she graduated, and then they moved to New Mexico when Dad retired.


Gotta quit this reminiscing and get to work on a couple of knitting projects and my SBS stitchery........ Catch you later!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want that green house! LOL What neat architecture. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane. My Dad's parents lived above their business. The building looked a lot like yours, but their business took up the whole thing. My greanddaddy was a plumbing contractor.


You could get all your plumbing stuff from him OR have my dad do the work. I loved playing in the stock room.

Becca said...

Wow, what fun going down memory lane and seeing all these places again! Loved seeing the photos.

Lynn said...

What a great trip down memory lane! Those neighbourhoods look very much like the ones in which my parents grew up. The landscape is changing though. My family home is boarded up and slated to be torn down to make room for another bridge expanse to the U.S. My primary school has already been torn down. Such a shame to see that lovely architecture disappear.

kathy b said...

Very lovely tour~~~~!!! I enjoyed being a Chicagoan!

SusanB-knits said...

Great photos! Aren't grandkids the best?! I love to visit with mine but I sure do get wore out!

Charlene ♥ NC said...

Lovely reminiscing it is! And fun with the grands, to boot!

hakucho said...

Looks like you had a nice visit. It's good to go back to your roots. My mother(with my uncle) one time went back to the house they grew up in and rang the doorbell. The lady of the house was very gracious and gave them a tour. Not sure I'd ever do that.....

Merry said...

What a fun journey you had. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful photos.....love seeing all the different styles of buildings.

Cranberry Morning said...

Glad you're enjoying your visit! And that Little Red Hen can't be read enough to today's generation. Great idea. :-)

Wildflowerhouse said...

So you are off to the Midwest again. What great memories. Ihave not been back to Minnesota in 40 years. I would probably get lost. Ha. Have fun, don't hurry home, it snowed two days ago. Now cold and rainy. High winds... nothing to write home about. This is crazy weather.

jenclair said...

What a wonderful return visit to such personal landmarks!

Linda said...

Sounds like you had a great trip...it's fun looking at where we grew up after a long time!