Category: Childhood Memories

Kenwood Park is located down the street from my childhood home at 500 N. Edgeworth.  The park opened in the fall of 1956.  I had to walk about a half a block to get there.  Starting when I was about ten, and running through my teens, I made that walk three times each summer day.  …

Baby boomer kids had a plethora of children’s shows to entertain them during their early years.  Every show included a character to bump up the interest in the show.  Detroit was full of them: Soupy Sales, Milky the Clown, Poopdeck Paul, Auntie Dee, Captain Jolly, Johnny Ginger and Sagebrush Shorty all graced the television set.  …

My grandson, Brady, has started doing work for pay.  I saw him at Christmas and he told me that he and a friend had started a business raking leaves and shoveling snow for their neighbors.   They worked in tandem and picked up their jobs by offering their services to carefully selected prospective clients.   …

Our neighborhood was full of young families with children.  By the time kids stopped being born the head counts went something like this: Tebo (that’s us)  3  Ruff (left side of us) 4  (later replaced by the Benedicts with 3) Graham (across from Ruff) 2  (underachievers) Coatta (right side of Graham)  6  (There is about …

The neighborhood where I grew up was full of young families who moved into their new homes shortly after the end of World War II.   We moved into ours in the spring of 1950. The new St. Dennis parish was established later the same year, and St. Dennis became our church of choice. My …

Please note that I have invoked my French heritage in the development of this blog’s title.  We can all use a bit of culture and refinement. The saga continues. My youth was spent in the 1950’s.   I was two years seven months when they started and twelve when then ended. (You officially stop counting …

My dad bought me my first bicycle when I was six.  It was a brand new, beautiful blue, wide-tired, girl’s bike.  I’m sure that he bought the girl’s bike because:  1. He was planning ahead for Sharron to have the bike when she was old enough to ride.  2. He got a great deal on …

There are many stories about “the girl next door”.  I learned this summer that one of my friends married his.  They lived next to each other in Jackson, Michigan in their early teens  (he was 16 and she was 14), started dating and eventually married.  I expect a lot of neighborhood relationships evolved in such …

We moved into our home in Royal Oak in 1950. This was just before, or just after, my sister Sharron being born.  My memory is not totally clear on the time frame. (I was still a child myself)  I suspect that the move was planned because of her arrival.  Our family was outgrowing our home …

Social media is a permanent fixture in today’s world.  We are a Twitter with Instagram, Pinterest  and Facebook.  I’m told that you can identify a generation by the media it prefers.  Old timers, such as myself, prefer Facebook.  Generation X is into Twitter, and  Millennials are fans of Instagram. Some people celebrate social media. Others …