Thanksgiving 1956

My first home (a rental) was a house at 30 East Oneida Street in Oswego, New York.  It was actually one building with a second house around the corner at 104 East Third Street, occupied by the Potter family.  

My home (painted white, but now blue) was two-stories with an unfinished basement and a spooky attic, full of cobwebs and a spinning wheel.  

The first floor contained a living room (with a TV), dining room, kitchen with an adjacent pantry (a good playroom) and an alcove by the stairs where the piano was kept.  The second floor contained three bedrooms (the master bedroom for my parents and two for my three brothers and me) and one bathroom (for six people) with no shower.

In November 1956 (66 years ago), my family moved to 327 West Seneca Street also in Oswego, a ranch style, pink brick house that my father bought for my mother, her dream home.  It was all on one level, again except for an unfinished basement (which had a half-bathroom).

There was a master bedroom for my parents (with their own bathroom), a bedroom I shared with my brother Ted, a guest room (my elder two brothers Joel and Paul had gone their own ways), a second bathroom with a walk in shower (for Ted and me), a living room that was almost never used, a family room (with a TV), a dining room, an eat-in kitchen, my father's office and another half-bathroom (for my father).  There was also an attached two-car garage.

The story goes that my father traded his interest in land (developed for residential housing known as Ridgeway [named for General Matthew Ridgway] Sites, a little north of Minetto, NY) in exchange for the construction of our house on West Seneca Street.  

I remember leaving our old house for the last time one day at lunch time.  I cried.  I was picked up after school (sixth grade) and driven to our new house.  Everything was an improvement, so I quickly forgot the old house.  

As the move to the new house was almost on Thanksgiving 1956, my mother didn't have a chance to prepare the annual turkey dinner.  That was all right with me since her turkeys were always dry and tasteless.  But I did get to see the annual Detroit Lions (20) - Green Bay Packers (24) football game on TV.

I went away to college seven years later.  After 15 years, my parents sold the new house (now a dental office) and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida where they spent the rest of their lives.