Late 1950s - early 1960s • La Habra ~ In 1956, Orange County, once acre-after-acre of orange and lemon groves, was transformed into row-after-row of identical single-story crackerbox houses sold on the GI Bill to young families with lots of kids. Chuck and Carleen bought one in 1957 for $12,950: a … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2018
3.01 La Habra 1958
June 1958 • La Habra, Orange County, California ~ I had my picture taken with our neighbor Renie, said goodbye, then Mom boarded me on a plane for California to stay with Carleen for the summer. Having traveled alone on buses I wasn’t afraid to fly by myself. I knew as long as I got on the right … [Read more...]
Opening Doors
It doesn’t matter that I’ve lived here since 1973, nor does it matter that Sonoma Valley is a relatively small area. I’ve been practicing real estate here since 1982 and I still get lost. A lot. That's why I'm not crazy about showing houses to buyers. Sellers are easier to work with because I can … [Read more...]
Wait! What?
This May was a big month in the personal arena. My check-off list: ✓ Found my driver’s license that had disappeared three months ago ✓ Auto registration tag came, stuck atop the eight others ✓ New passport arrived, not that I plan to wander away anywhere ✓ Renewed driver’s … [Read more...]
Through Any Given Door, Part II (in full)
the mid-story… Through Any Given Door, a Family Memoir Part II Torn Pictures San Jose, San Francisco, Hawaii 1954 – 1958 by Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau ~~~~~~~~~ 1954 • San Jose, California ~ I’d reach up and rap the doorknocker twice. I’d say, knock, knock. She’d say, who’s there? I’d … [Read more...]
2.39 Kakaroach
1958 • Oahu ~ Claudia and Mom stayed in Hawaii for four months after I left, walking the beach, sightseeing, going to movies, swatting mosquitoes and smashing cockroaches. No matter how carefully my sister cleaned, how much she sprayed, or how many she nailed with a magazine—from tiny … [Read more...]
2.38 What Did I Know?
1958 • Honolulu ~ I remember a Friday afternoon soon after what happened with Bobby: a girl and I were playing the cigarette game on our way home from school, racing and keeping score of who stomped first on the empty packs of Kents, Kools, and Lucky Strikes flung from car windows and littering the … [Read more...]
2.37 Let. Me. Go.
April 1958 • Hawaii ~ I remember that Saturday afternoon. I don’t know where Mom and Claudia were, probably off to the commissary for groceries or cigarettes, so Bobby and I were alone in their apartment. He was propped up with pillows at the head of the bed. I sat on the bottom corner, … [Read more...]
2.36 I Remember Bobby
1958 • Honolulu, Hawaii ~ I have other memories of Hawaii. I remember Bobby. He was blonde, tan, and handsome, a Georgia cracker with a slow Southern drawl and a boyish, white-toothed smile, a swabbie in bell-bottoms of pressed blues or crisp whites. He was nineteen and in his third year in the … [Read more...]
2.35 With Open Arms 1958
1958 • Whittier, Southern Californa ~ On February 1, 1958, Betty married Tony Duchi, the handsome admirer she’d met at Kinney Shoes the prior summer. The first time she laid eyes on him she fell in love with this man who was her measure, who adored her, and who would protect … [Read more...]