Filling a Request

I had a request to post the rest of the house pictures I took in Ashtabula County. We did not live very long in the two houses on East 44th St. The first one belonged to Uncle Lawrence and Aunt Austa. My parents rented it from them. The young Watson family purchased the second house on East 44th St. We sold that one to Alan and Dorothy Sheppard. The third house is in Williamsfield, a small town near Andover. The 4th house, a red one in Jefferson was also a rental. We lived on the first floor, and the Postmaster of Jefferson lived on the second floor. When I was about three, I decided to go find my father by myself. He found me crying on some street corner later that afternoon. It just shows to go that one never knows what children will do.

Covered Bridges, Old Houses and a Few Memories

On Tuesday, October 20, my brother and I took a field trip to Ashtabula County. It is the largest county in Ohio, and I think we covered most of it. Ron showed me various houses we lived in. Suffice it to say they were all old, so I will only insert one picture. My Watson grandparents lived in this white house in Saybrook Township. I do remember the enclosed porch on the side of the house. I had to stay with my grandparents at the age of three when my mother had pneumonia. They were nice to me, but I did not enjoy the visit. I guess I missed my Mom.

Next I saw two houses on East 44th Street. I knew I lived on this street, but did not recognize either house. I came home from the hospital to one of these houses. No wonder I did not remember. After this part of the tour we crossed over the longest covered bridge in the United States.

We traveled to Jefferson and watched the ongoing demolition of the Jefferson schools we attended from elementary school on up through the time we left that town in 1955. I wish I could have walked though the building before they tore it down.

We stopped briefly at the Court House, the Jefferson Historical Society and the Congregational Church before joining my school friends for lunch at the Wild Side. It was the same location where I went with my date for toasted cheese sandwiches after dances in the 7th grade. What were my parents thinking? I did not need to be dating in 7th grade - let alone hanging out in a bar. It had a different name then, but still a bar.

The lunch was fun. Ron knew several of the attendees. My friend Donald can tell some pretty funny stories about his escapades. This group of friends meets every month for lunch somewhere in Ashtabula County. I go whenever I can. It is nice they include me as I moved away before high school.

After lunch we took off for Williamsfield. I'm not sure I could find that town again even though I was just there. Ron showed me another old house of ours. We lived there for two years. A chicken pecked my hand in the backyard in Williamsfield. I did not remember the house, but I surely remembered that chicken.

When we returned to Jefferson, we noticed that the Methodist Church was serving a free dinner that day. We thought it would be interesting to see the inside of the church we attended before switching to the Congregational Church. The dinner was delicious, and we enjoyed meeting the pastor. Ronnie pointed out the pew where my family sat. I had a twinge of recognition.

Ten hours after we left on our field trip, we returned to Stow.

Fall Update

I planned to do more blogging in October. So far that has not happened. I've been far busier than expected of late. My lovely sister-in-law Linda passed away in September. We saw her last March when we visited in Arizona. I certainly did not think I would return so soon.
After the trip to Arizona, we went to Florida to wish Mom Rinehart a happy 91st birthday. We celebrated by listening to music and watching the sunset on the beach at Treasure Island. We also saw my cousin Don while in Florida. He will be 93 in December. His mission in life is to make someone else feel better every day. I think that is great.
The Taylors came for a visit last weekend. We made smoothies for Lily and Charlie when their parents were someplace else. They went over well.