Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

The first two weeks that I was working at the house [ed: Charlie/Skip's house] I was assigned the task to paint all of the windows on the outside [ed: trim] with black paint. While he and Doris would be at the farm with the kids Everett and Bob.

He also instructed me that if I needed more paint to go to the hardware store as he had made arrangements with the owner to give me what I needed and he would settle when he returned.

I started the job. Skip was away then and I opened a gallon and started. The paint was so thick that I had a hard time spreading it. So I used some turpentine to make it liquid. When Skip came back he asked me how much paint I ordered. I said none. He got upset. Doris asked him what's wrong? He said he painted the sills with turpentine. He looked at the job and said Well let's see what happens.

While he had to give up the house. Because he also landed a job in Waltham to establish the Boy's Club. He kept in touch with me. And after his first year he said when I graduated he would give me a job.

He had also told the Director [ed: of the Center] that he should consider giving me some leadership job and the Director did.

I was assigned to run the Saturday night dance.There was a number of young people my age that came. The charge was five cents for coffee and doughnuts.I got $11.00 a month and had a good time as well. We also had an orchestra.

It was at the Center that the girl who would grow to adulthood became a regular. and I would walk her home. Once in a while I would get her an ice cream and we'd walk home together.

She was a small little girl, cute, and very naive. Her name was Mary Riccio and would in the future become your mother.

June of 1938 came around and it was graduation time. My mother walked to Chelsea to get a job to buy my white flannels and everything else I borrowed. [ed: some facts that Dad omitted. His mother walked to work about 2 miles so she could save the money from taking the subway and/or ferry. She used the money she saved to buy the flannel material needed to make the trousers Dad had to have for graduation. She begged her husband, since he was a tailor, to make the trousers for his son.]

Photo: My parents before they were Ma and Dad. He's wearing the white flannel trousers his father made him for gradation. The photo was taken from the roof of one one of their homes. Not sure who's house. Logan Airport is in the background. Circa 1938 - 1941