Sara Drive, Torrance
I lived here during my 7th, 8th, and 9th grade years.
It was here that I first had my very own bedroom.
My best friend from church lived in a house with the exact same floor plan. We had the same bedroom in our respective homes.
We moved to this side of town because it was a nicer neighborhood and closer to our church.
Shortly after moving in, kids chemically burned a profane word into our lawn because they thought we kicked out the previous renters.
The previous renters was a family whose daughter was one of the "popular" girls. The other popular kids made it obvious that I was not welcome in their school.
Our pets (and I didn't have many growing up) were a dog named Patches and a rabbit named Thumper.
I took piano lessons and sang in the church's youth choir.
My parents started letting me stay up later than my sister and brother. I remember feeling very grown up while watching the eery show, Night Gallery. Other favorites from that time; The Carol Burnett Show, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, and Gilligan's Island.
I started my short lived babysitting career while living here. My favorite family was the one that lived across the street. They allowed me to play their albums and in doing so, I was introduced to and fell in loved with the Beatles.
I remember playing hide and seek late into the night with all the neighborhood kids. My favorite place to hide was that shelf under the window in the front of the house (left side of picture, actually the garage). The hedge was higher back then and one could lay down and be virtually invisible. No one ever discovered my secret hiding place.
We lived next to a sump and I loved exploring for and collecting frogs. There were a lot in the area.
We also lived right next to the high school. Actually, closer to the huge school's practice field. I would walk home from middle school or church through this field instead of going the long way via the street. One night I was walking home just after dark and was approached by a man who attempted to grab me. I screamed, he turned one way and ran and I turned the other way and ran all the way home. I never walked through the field again once it got dark.
This is where I lived when my parents decided to divorce.
10 comments:
These are interesting Diana as you walk through memory lane.
Susan
I have very fond memories of the hide-n-seek games!
My parents have only lived in two homes. And I was 4 or 5 when we moved out of the first one. The only thing I remember about that house is the neighbor's dogs. If you went outside they would attack the fence and they scared me to death. Great memory, eh?
I'm surprised you didn't mention feeding Patches under the table. How did you get into that high fenced area around the sump? That was a no trespassing area anyway.
Of course I never did anything like that!! Oh how I loved my obedient (?) children, even more so today.
3 short years and a lot of memories.
I lived in one house my entire life living with my parents and they just recently moved into a smaller home.
It's awful that those kids burned your lawn because they thought you kicked out the previous residents. :(
Kids can be so mean! I can't believe they did that to your grass. Scary that that guy tried to grab you. Gives me chills thinking of my own kids! Is this a painful house for you knowing that your parents decided to divorce while you lived here. I'll never forget my parents sitting us down to tell us that my dad was moving out. I was a senior in high school and I will never forget that night, that house, or the furniture we were sitting on.
That was a cool house. I liked lots of things about it.
I don't remember a profane word thing, which surprises me.
I love reading your memories!
More fond memories! I loved the hid & seek games too, and the whole neighborhood where we roamed free. We also had (prevous to Patches) a wienerschnitzel named "Snoopy" and a hamster and a bird. We'd have tent campouts in the backyard. I remember our babysitter named "Arrow" and the Dodger fan neighbor on the right and the crazy neighbor on the left! And, yea!, we all got our own rooms and you got your first phone!
The good and the bad, eh? We've had a lot of both in the one I grew up in. I am fortunate that my parents still live there today. It is nice to truly call something home.
I remember watching the same t.v. shows and playing outside with all the neighborhood kids. It makes me sad that my kids don't have that same neighborhood experience.
I love how you're visiting each of your past homes and recalling the memories. I'm tempted to do this myself, at least in my journal.
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