I don’t remember us posting on this. When I read it this morning, I cried. What a beautiful writing by Tom Bergeron on his hometown, growing up, his family, and how he got to where he is today. From The Boston Globe, “From Haverhill to Hollywood”. A must read….and while you do so, keep in mind Tom wrote this a month before his Dad died….

‘A little shack by the railroad track.”

That’s how my parents would affectionately refer to my childhood home in Haverhill. “Shack” was crucial for achieving the rhyme but inaccurate for describing the house. Built in 1925, it might not have been a mansion, but it was hardly a candidate for Shanty Town. Literally the “last house on the left” on a narrow dead-end street, it had one small bathroom, three modest bedrooms, and, beginning in my high school years in 1971, a comparatively sizable addition that quickly became the home’s social centerpiece.

Not all of the rhyme was exaggerated. We did live near an active railroad track, a winding river, and thick, inviting woods, which, taken together, provided a setting for countless flights of imagination.

As I child, I convinced myself that the adjacent tangle of trees was, at various times, populated by Nazi soldiers, extraterrestrials, Dracula, the Mummy, and Bigfoot. So of course on a given summer’s day, or after a grueling few hours in grade school, I would bravely disappear down its haphazard dirt path to see whether I could find them. I never did. A stray bunny, occasionally, but never a goose-stepper or vampire.

I ran away from that home once. This was due, no doubt, to some cruel indignity foisted upon me by my parents (“No, eat ALL of your vegetables!”). I “ran” about 20 yards to an opening in the brush by the dirt path. I brought with me a pillow, a wind-up alarm clock (a runaway doesn’t want to oversleep), and a peanut butter sandwich….


From Haverhill to Hollywood

By Tom Bergeron GLOBE CORRESPONDENT SEPTEMBER 13, 2015


https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/real-estate/2015/09/12/dWT7rPMOVEPyWQwpOgulpK/story.html



 

Not to much to post this morning...Will see what is out later today.

Have a good Sunday...

Glad CEK that you survived the storm.  Sounds like a dozy.  How did your daughter fair?  I bet she will be digging out for awhile.

LuvSeason18 wrote:

april6263 wrote:

ok so I was going to post some things from One Day at a Time.....LOL...well I realized I never watched the show much so don't know hardly anything about it other than Valerie Bertinelli was on it......sooo....LOL.....I decided to play a game instead......I am going to post just a few pics of casts from 1970's sit-coms to see if you guys can guess them  any one interested??????....here's a few just in case

Sorry that I missed the party last night.  Was watching skating.  It was a great ladies competition.  I am going to guess.....Alice, MASH, The Munster's, Laverne and Shirley (which was my favorite as a kid).  Loved Boo Boo kitty.  Even named my Calico cat...Magic Marble Boo Boo Kitty. LOL  Ah....the memories of a child....hehe.

I remember them all very well...

CEK40 wrote:

LuvSeason18 wrote:

Glad CEK that you survived the storm.  Sounds like a dozy.  How did your daughter fair?  I bet she will be digging out for awhile.

Hey Luv...we did ok here...only about 2 inches there was some sleet and freezing rain but nothing like just north of us...I think my daughter in DC had over 3 feet...I know my SIL parents live near DC and they had about the same amount.

How is your weather there?

Wow, sounds like they will be digging out for days.   The pictures showed on the news look bad.  We have been extremely lucky so far this winter.  We have had several cold snaps of  highs not getting above freezing, but most of the snow has missed us. The storm hitting the East brought some ice, but that was cleared off by the next day so no bad driving conditions.  I am so surprised with this winter, not at all what we usually get.  I am kind of afraid of a big "something" happening at some time. lol  This winter has been a "strange" one, that is for sure.  We are suppose to get close to 50 today and then I think maybe around 60 possibly for next weekend.....which is unheard of for January/February lol   We will see...the weatherman has been "off" this whole winter season, all of the big storms forecasted at the last moment change direction and miss us. lol