Ours was the first in one of the two little rows of apartments. There were three in each row with doors staggered to face the street. The paved driveway separating the rows was also a great play area for the children who lived there. I have no memories of the inside of this place we were now calling home. But I do remember being happy. Daddy was with us now after it being just Mom and us kids for the past three years.
The Miyaki family lived across the street and next to the store in a big house. The children were Eddie, Nori, whose name was also Carolyn like me and the other sister, Patsy. I remember Nori most, and probably just because we share the same name. They were a nice family and we shared the fact that we were Oriental as well.
The Miyaki's introduced us to the Obon Festival where my sisters and I all got to participate in a dance. I don't know the name of it, but it was a dance where we did a shoveling motion. This was a fun experience for us. We got to dress in clothing similar to what our Mom wore growing up.
My sisters and I would take a sack lunch to school and each would have 3 cents that was to be used for buying milk to go with our lunch. Sometimes we would make a plan and one of us wouldn't buy milk, but would save the money for some penny candy. Mom didn't like us going to the store by ourselves, so we would hide behind the bush that was just around the corner from the door of our home. And when we felt it was safe, one of us would run across the street, most likely Joan since she was the oldest, and into the store to buy our candy. We would each get one small piece.
We learned about May Day when we lived on Benwiley. On May 1st, we would pick flowers, probably from the neighbor's yard and then lay them on someone's porch, ring the doorbell and run and hide. I remember doing this on one lady's porch. After we left the flowers and rang the doorbell, we hid near some bushes. She came out and found the flowers on her porch then tossed us out a coin.
Our Dad loved to go camping. We camped at a place called Davey Brown. There was water there, maybe a river. Daddy would sleep outside the tent, on the picnic table and Mom, Joan, Marie, James and I slept inside.
We didn't live on Benwiley for long. Our parents bought a house and we moved a little further north. From what I've been told the house cost $11,000. This must have been around 1968.
Watch for a Harding Street post in the future.
How interesting. I love your family photos. That’s the first picture I’ve ever seen of your dad. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Debra! Really! Wow … I guess I don’t really have a whole lot of pictures of him, but I do have more. 🙂 You’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
What a lovely remembrance! I love looking at older photos! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Thank you Connie! 🙂