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Carol Perkins: Life's Chapters

Previous Column: Them Bones

By Carol Perkins

I once thought of writing a book called "Chapters." After all, life is divided into chapters, depending on how many years we are given.

In thinking about my chapters, I would naturally begin with my birth. I was born at my grandmother's Sullivan's home, but within the year my new home was completed (mostly) and we moved to the location where my mother lives today.

My house was a 40s craftsman with a pitched roof, which was good for playing ante-over. I never knew life without an indoor bathroom with a tub except my overnight stays at my grandparents' houses.


My mom chose a large enamel tub, which she still has, and all of us grew up taking baths every night in hot, running water. When the basement was finished (finally), my dad installed a shower. Nothing much has changed since then in the way of the basics.

The house had two bedrooms. My brother and I shared a twin bedroom until I was old enough to have my room. My dad turned the upstairs space into a huge bedroom, but it also had no closet. I used a wire in the attic space to hang my clothes.

He made my bed frame and took a chest, attached a door across it, stained it, and that was a dresser and desk. It is still upstairs. My room was large enough for slumber parties of ten or more girls. My parents didn't sleep much during those gatherings, but they never complained.

Like in the movies, we had a white picket fence around the front yard, but I don't remember the beauty of it as much as I remember the work involved in its upkeep. When weeds grew between each board, my brother and I (and my mother many times) clipped the grass with scissors. We had no "store-bought" clippers. Blisters barely healed before time to clip again. The fence served as a barrier for our many baseball games. When one of us hit the ball across the highway, we feared for our life going after it because Highway 163 has always been busy.

We had the picket fence, the indoor bathroom, and a Collie. However, I wanted to live in town like my friends Judy and Connie. I wanted to be in the middle of the excitement. That will be chapter two.


You can contact Carol at carolperkins06@gmail.com.


This story was posted on 2021-11-13 10:35:26
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