Exploring the Nostalgic Memories of my Childhood Home
- moughty
- Apr 3
- 5 min read
I’m a little late getting this posted because when I began thinking about it I ended up researching house kits and looking through my boxes of photographs for pictures of the house.
When I was born, my parents and older sister lived with my paternal grandmother in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was not a home I lived in for long, as my father was building a house in Riverside, on the east side Greenwich. I do mean, building a house…what I was told was it was a Sears Robuck, do it yourself house. The topic made me do a bit of research as I began to write. I started with a google search for Sears Robuck kit homes and found that these were created from 1920 - 1940 (possibly as late as 1942). Our house was build in the 1949-1950 time frame. A bit more research limiting the timeframe to 1949-1950 provided information on Homart Homes: Prefab Kit Homes sold by Sears. This could be it. The property was on a steep hill, so the foundation included a full basement with a garage underneath the house. The original home, a cape cod style, had two bedrooms, a bath, eat in kitchen and living room. When I was about 4 years old, and with another child on the way, the attic was finished adding two bedrooms (for my older sister and me) and a bathroom with a shower. I do have some memories of the addition as one of the workmen would tease me, taking one of my stuffed animals and hiding it. We had a large back yard, great for summer parties, and a large hedge marked the back of the property separating us from the New Haven Railroad line. The downside for summer get togethers, was commuter time with trains going back and forth to New York City. I lived in the house until at 18 I moved out into my own apartment.
I have some great memories from that house. Many of my memories center around holidays, especially Christmas. My Mother loved to entertain and there was always a party on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus decorated the tree, so my Father would bring in the tree and put the lights on, but the first time we saw the tree decorated was on Christmas morning. At one of the parties, I must have been about 6 years old, we were sent to bed and my maternal Grandmother came up to my bedroom and laid cross the bottom of my bed. A few hours later, my Grandfather came up to wake her and I heard him say, “come on Sally, we finished trimming the tree and it’s time to go home.” Well that burst that bubble!
My Father was not so much into entertaining. He was a hunter and fisherman, and in the fall, on weekends he would leave home between 3 and 4 am to take the boat out and sit either on a rock or in a duck blind and hunt the ducks. I guess that’s why he wasn’t into late night parties! He would hang the ducks outside and one time my younger sister took them down and put them in her doll carriage to walk up and down the street. One of our neighbors commented to her, are you taking your baby doll for a walk, and her response was, no, “dead ducks,” quite a surprise for this very proper southern lady.
I had a a tendency to wander off when my older sister was supposed to be watching me. On one occasion, I walked down the street to the park at the foot of the hill. When my Mother discovered I was missing, she had the neighbors, the mailman and eventually the police out looking for me. Eventually I was found sitting on a bridge dangling my feet overlooking a water fall. Another time, the next store neighbor brought me home after I climbed out a window into a bush to slide down to the ground. I have to say that I don’t remember either of those two incidents but they are legendary in the family. The one I do remember is having an argument with my older sister that resulted in both of us being sent to our bedrooms. I decided I was going to run away to my Grandmother in Greenwich. I had to walk about a mile to the Post Road to get a bus but didn’t have any money, so my sister gave me the bus fare. I packed my Davy Crockett suitcase and was off. When our Mother came to look for us she asked where I was and was told by my older sister that I had run away and that she gave me the money for the bus. Needless to say, that didn’t sit very well. Shortly after this, my Dad came home from work and they piled into the car to find me. I was about half way to the bus and my father pulled up next to me and ask me where I was going. I told him I as going to Nanny’s house and he offered me a ride. He took me home and I can’t say I remember the talking to I got, but I don’t remember running away after that!
One last memory. My Dad was a member of the Pitney Bowes Rifle Team. It may seem strange now, but most of the large corporations had a Rifle Team, and so did the schools. This was for .22 Caliber Indoor Target shooting. I started shooting when I was about 7 and was a member of a local Rifle Club which had a youth program. My Dad was a State and Regional Champion and we would go to the matches together. We had a Gun Cabinet in the living room with 8-10 different guns for both target shooting and hunting, and a large display with all of Dad’s medals and trophies is the entrance hall. We were taught never to open the cabinet (and we didn’t). In High School I was in the Rifle Club and on Wednesdays I took my rifle to school with me, stopped at the Office to drop it off and picked it up at the end of the day to head to the Rifle Range. My daughters just shake their heads at this.
This is the first time I’ve written about my childhood memories. Have you written about yours? I’ve pieced this together from what I remember and what I’ve heard. Unfortunately my parents and grandparents are no longer with me to verify my memories. Don’t wait too long to write down your memories, especially if you still have family members to help.
Happy Hunting!
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