MAKING MOVES, FRIENDS AND FAMILY - GROWING UP
MAKING MOVES, FRIENDS AND FAMILY
THERE WERE LOTS OF THINGS GOING ON IN MY EARLY YEARS. 1933 - 1944 WERE THE YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY FOR MANY.
Here I am at age 12, with Diane my sister, and Aunt Patricia who was happy to see us. Pat was 18 then, and very much "like a sister" to me.
She babysat me a lot. This photo shows me at my Grampa's and Gramma's cabin at the lake in Cheshire MA. I loved this place. Only went there about five or six times, but it was a highlight for me to go there. Peace, tranquility, lots of love shared, family coming and going, and love and laughter. I do not remember any fighting or arguments in the family when we visited.
Never a word of criticism for my parents, and never heard anyone out of sorts.
strange.
That was not what I found in the places we were in from time to time. We moved and moved and moved. Dad worked in construction and
so we followed the jobs.
For my first three years most of my time
was spent in Zylonite - a section of Adams, MASSACHUSETTS. Located in the Berkshires, Adams had a lot of Italian people living there, and here I am with my friend in 1937 happy to just be friends.
----
Here I am again in 1938,
The old car across the street was
familiar to me. It had a rumble seat.
I liked the rumble seat except when it rained.
I did not to lose friends when I moved. So
I decided to make friends wherever I went.
I did not choose friends from people who I could tell DID NOT ACCEPT ME. I KNEW
THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO DID NOT LIKE ME.
I did not know why.
I did not worry about it.
I only know that S O M E H O W
God showed me that
some people hate
some people are not friendly
and
so
I CHOSE MY FRIENDS FOR
JUST FRIENDSHIPS
Boston schools were like "jails" to me.
They had fences - chain link fences all around
the school. When we had recess, everyone was outside at the same time - and it was a melee of
human boys and girls milling around trying to find "someone" to be a friend.
I took to taking my jacks and had a small ball.
No one ever volunteered to include me in games such as they played - because I was NEW
on the block. But sometimes somebody
would sit with me, and just watch everyone
else playing.
1939 was also a year when I later realized
that people were worried about the Nazis.
So a lot of people just were plain quiet,
reserved, and did not try to be friends.
They were afraid in those days.
I was different.
I COULD JUMP.
I COULD PLAY JACKS
I COULD PRETEND A STICK WAS A CAR.
I COULD SMILE WHEN NO ONE ELSE WOULD SMILE.
AND I WAS NOT AFRAID TO MAKE A FRIEND.
----
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, JUNIE
WAS ON A JOURNEY.
CLIMBING HIGHER
AS I NOW SEE IT.
follow me and find out more
tomorrow.
bye for now.
junebug
I was nine years old in this photo.
I must have been holding something
wrapped - not sure what it was - but
I had a coat on - so I was outside -
and think maybe I had made something.
It did not take much
to keep me happy. I was a happy
child.
In 1937 Mother had Skipper born about
Thanksgiving. Here she is proudly showing him off. My brother and I were to be great friends.
Mother - our best friend.
This was taken in Boston MA where Skip was born.
So we moved back and forth from
Adams to Boston,
back again to Adams,
and back again to another place
near Boston,
like Worcester
or Waltham
or Cochituate
all in that area.
Back again to Adams,
and maybe
visit Cheshire,
and the Cheshire Lake
where the Grandparents had their cabin.
Aunt Althea lived in Savoy after 1940.
She never left Savoy.
In 1939 when I was 6, this was my
Auntie Esther and Althea. They made
me so proud to be their niece.
I was like a "little sister"
How I treasured them.
See you in my next post.
june
