THE REUNION

In the late spring of 1950 my parents bought a small house and several lots at the end of a dead end road on Cody Avenue. Country living in the suburbs was new to us and delightful. We had a barn and fields to play in and woods to explore. We also had an outhouse which was the only thing I didn't like.

My parents bought the place from a Mr. Nolen. We didn't know anything about him except he had died in the house. That was spooky!

After marrying and raising my family I moved back to the old neighborhood and live across the street from the little house where I grew up. One day about 12 years ago a lady was visiting from Maryland and asked me questions about the little house. I told her I had lived there and she mentioned her friend had once lived there too and asked if I would send him some pictures of the place. I did and a few months later he called and we have been good friends since then. In November John came for a visit and we got to know each other better. We had loads of fun, talking about when we were kids and the things we did and all the fun we had while living on Cody Avenue. I learned that after his stepfather, Mr. Nolen died, his mother sold the place and they moved to California. His older brother had gone back to Maryland to live with his father by then. Eventually John did the same.

 This picture of the little house was taken when there was some construction going on, but it's the house John lived in from 1948 to 1950, and I lived in from 1950 to 1955 when I married. My mother owned it until 1998.

 There was a foundation built across the road from the house. Dad is building a boat on it in this picture, but when John lived there, his stepfather bought an army tent and cot's and fixed it up for John and his brother. They even had electricity and a radio out there. The boys loved it.

 John's mother loved flowers and kept them looking very nice. When we move in there were many beautiful plants for my mom to care for. In this picture my sisters and I are in the back yard. John remembers planting petunias on the white lattice in the picture. He rode his bike through the neighborhood and sold them.

 Back then, there was an orchard across the street from the house. My little sister Barbara and neighbor Nettie are in this picture. Nettie now lives in Georgia and we keep in touch via Facebook. John has talked many times about the orchard and all the apple trees.

Here my dad is digging something. Behind his head is the famous outhouse that was there when we moved in. We had to use it for a few years before we got inside plumbing. John did not remember this little building. LOL! The larger building is where mom kept chickens and turkeys.

 John remembered dragging cardboard up the big hill across from the house and sliding down the dry grass. My sisters and I did it too and in this picture my own kids are enjoying the same fun. The hill is now overgrown with brush so unless it's cleared the new generations won't get to have this thrill.

 Here John is walking down Cody Avenue. So many times during our phone conversations over the past years he told me he wanted to walk down Cody avenue again. I'm so glad he got to experience this. Not the same little nine year old boy anymore, but the child still lives in his heart.

 Here is my sister Bonnie sitting in the living room under a very famous window!

John told me that his stepfather drank too much and that one time he opened one of the sliding windows from outside the house, climbed up with his BB gun and shot the bottle of whiskey that was sitting on the table in front of his stepfather. He said hs stepdad was too drunk to chase him and was very surprised when the bottle exploded. Wish I could have seen his face. Both of them. LOL

 In this shot, John is reinacting this famous moment in his life. It's the same window but my pellet gun instead of his BB gun. The neighbor wasn't home at the time we staged this scene. Good thing!

 When he was a boy this old Gravenstein apple tree was growing right where it is now. He isn't exactly a 'tree hugger' but maybe remembering all the sweet juicy apples he ate as a boy gave him a moment of gratitude. Actually he was just kidding and having a lot of fun. He's good at that. Did I mention that he is Irish?

 We were surprised to learn that we were in the same second grade class at Larrabee grade school back in 1948. He in the middle row far left in the picture, me top row second from left. We don't remember each other back then. In those days our thoughts were of recess and lunch time.

 In November we went back to the same little school and were given a tour by the principal who is a very nice young man. Somehow I visualized a principal like we had when we were students there. Mrs. Bruff was at least 280 years old, wore long black dresses and wore her hair in a bun and looked mean as heck all the time. Really, she never smiled at all. Above is the very same classroom John and I
 were in in 1948.


 The kind principal walked outside with us and even offered to take our picture together in front of the Larrabee sign. Wasn't that nice of him?

 Thanks to my Daughter Cyndi and her husband we were invited to go on a ferry ride. My SIL works for a shipyard here and they had just completed work on a ferry and were doing a second test run. They even served us refreshments.

This is John at the airport when he was leaving. We had a wonderful time when he was here and are hoping he can return.
Now the prayer request. Of course you must have known it was coming.
John has been fighting prostate cancer for over two years. He has had radiation, and a lot of chemo. The last chemo treatment in October was something new and nearly killed him. He got a new doctor. Last week he had blood tests done that show that his PSA count went from 41 to 117. This is just since last October, His new doctor told him that in his experience when numbers climb that fast the patient usually only has about two more years left.
John is a Strong Christian and knows that God alone is in control of his life. We believe God is the author of Miracles and we are asking everyone to pray that he will be healed. So if you feel led please pray. If you don't feel led then pray anyway. It's good for what ails you. :)
Thank you for listening and for your concern and prayers.

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