Places I Have Lived
(Work In Progress)

Larkspur Ave in Cincinnati, Ohio- Mom and Dad moved into the second floor when they were married in 1948. I was born here in August, 1950 and lived here until 1954 or 1955. I was badly burned here at the age of 3. We lived on the second floor and I was waiting for Dad to come home, looking out the back window. When he pulled in the driveway, I started to run to the stairs to meet him and tripped over an electrical cord, pulling a deep-fry roaster full of 350° hot grease on my belly. Mom was very good about doing the right first aid and Dad got me to the hospital fast. I spent 6 months in the hospital and recovered fully.

Foraker St, Norwood, Ohio - We lived here for about 3 years and I have a lot of fond memories from this house. Dad worked at Albers Grocery Store as the produce manager over in Peebles Corner. I think Gary was born here in June 1954 or he was very young when we moved here.Gail was born here in March, 1957. We lived on the first floor, a single mother and her daughter lived on the second floor, and one of Dad's co-workers lived on the third floor. Nancy, the girl on the second floor was my age and she was my first girlfriend. I had my first dog here, Rin-Tin-Tin or Rinty. I learned to ride a bike here. I also started to take accordion lessons and Dad used to take me to Lutsch's Cafe on the corner and I would play for the drunks. They would even give me money! I also used to play for the nuns at St. Elizabeth, where I attended school. We lived next to the railroad tracks and I remember that hobos would come to the house once in a while and Mom would give them food. One of my best memories is sitting on the huge registers in the morning eating peanut butter toast before I walked the 10 blocks or so to school. But I was glad to move because the nun I had in the thrid grade was really mean and used to hit us kids with her ruler. We moved to Madisonville after only two weeks in the third grade.

1958 - Homer Ave, Madisonville, Ohio - We only lived here for about a year, but stayed in Madisonville for the rest of our youth. We lived on the first floor and another single mother with a young daughter lived on the second floor. This girl was a year older than me and she was a real tomboy. She could play kickball better than anybody. A boy that we called Punky lived down the road and he was a wanna-be bully, but he never bothered me. I remember I used to practice my accordion in the dining room by the bay window and Punky used to harass me from outside but it was no big deal.