Thursday, April 4, 2019

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:

We made arrangements to move out and the landlord would call us when he did some painting. While we lived with Mary's parents we were on the lookout for furniture and we did window shopping. I think it was during a lunch hour that Mary went into a furniture store within the area. Just walked in, spotted what she liked and spoke with the salesman. Since she was in her work clothes he asked her "Can  you pay for it?" Mary said, I can. I went with her to look at it and I said ok. And made arrangements to deliver when we were ready.

In due course we did get an apartment and moved. And by that time her parents accepted the fact that we were out.And your Aunt Josie [ed: 5 years younger than Ma] was happy to get her room back.

Our stay in East Boston was nice. We visited our friends. My sister, Olga, with the people upstairs, I forgot their name. Out of sight out of mind. The woman was a person who looked at the world with a healthy attitude. She was always good for laughs. But she could also face fact and deal with them. She had a son and Domenic [ed: Dad's father-in-law] took to the boy and treated him and he would be in Domenic's house, etc.

We also went looking for things that we would need. Kitchen set, parlor furniture. I think these we bought in East Boston from a furniture store that we made a hit with the salesman or manager. The room you had was bought there and also your brother's room. And that was a steal. The manager was leaving or was fired. Whatever we go that for about 50% less of cost.

We began to get along with our life. We were happy. The rent was $40.00 a month and that included heat. It was not so hot at first as the heat was turned off early. The time was extended and it got better.

On the third day, or when we hadn't bee there too long. We were on the proch. It was a duplex and we were talking with our next door neighbor when my name was called and I turned just in time to catch a young lady that was familiar at the East Boston Center. Her brother was a volunteer there even from Cambridge. It surprised Mary and our neighbor. The young lady lived across the street with her parents. She had two sisters both married. One was named Mary. We made friends. The women in the area decided to have a klatch and met at different houses. They were happy moments. Also the Arnolds came back into Massachusetts at an Elder Center in the Back Bay area. It was not too far from us so we visited back and forth.

I was still going to [law] college at night and still working with the Veteran's Administration.

14 comments:

  1. Ah, renting a place for 40$! But wages were also lower back then. It must have been heaven to have a place for themselves! Valerie

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    1. And inflation hadn't taken hold yet so the dollar went a lot farther. And I'm sure they were thrilled to have their own little, nest. At her parent's there would have been 6 adults in a small apartment

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    1. I like seeing what memories stood out to him.

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  3. good to read these again. Wow, 40 a month. This has made me want to go back and reread or finish....some of my dad's stuff. He also wrote a lot of poems during the time and after my mom died he took a cross country trip in his truck with his dog and wrote a poem and add a photo with every state he visited. He becames so prolific in his later years.

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    1. $40 a month plus heat! What a journey you dad took and what a sweet read.

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  4. Wow! I bet you couldn't even find rent in East Boston for $400 now, never mind $40. Glad your grandparents got over them moving out. Hugs-Erika

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    1. I bet the cold-water flats where my parents grew up have all been turned into condos for beaucoup de bucks. And some places you spend a year's salary on parking spaces

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  5. $40 for rent. Shaking head.
    I can remember my parents bought a fixer upper when I was a youngin' for 3K. It didn't even have a bathroom.

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    1. Where my parents grew up, the bathroom would have been on an outside landing. What my grandmother called the buckhowsa (the back house) :-D

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  6. How wonderful your father and mother were finally able to be out on their own. It's SO different from the year he was a juvenile delinquent. I bet his teachers would have been proud to see how he turned out.

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    1. I think they would have been proud of him, too.

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  7. $40.00! WOW! Sounds like a nice place, with a lot of great people around them!

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    1. Ma used to talk about the nice neighbors they had when they lived there.

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