1959 • La Habra ~ My brother-in-law’s idea of a family outing was a Sunday drive in his 1956 two-door Mercury Monterey, a two-toned gray and salmon (“titty-pink,” my sister called it) hardtop with a 312 engine, white-walled tires, and big chrome bumpers. He didn’t take us to the local fair or … [Read more...]
3.10 Tie Pin and Cufflinks
1959 • San Francisco ~ In the late afternoon on August 7, 1959, my step-mother, while stepping off a downtown bus in San Francisco, fell, had a heart attack, and died shortly after. She was 73. Carleen flew to San Francisco to be with Dad for the funeral; she was more broken up than … [Read more...]
3.09 The Amana
1959 • La Habra ~ Carleen had this thing about never running out of food. Her cupboards were loaded with bags of pasta, rice, and beans. Boxes of Cheerios, Wheaties, Trix, and Kix were lined up next to loaves of Wonder Bread, rolls, and buns. There were Twinkies, Oreos, HoHos, and Snowballs. There … [Read more...]
3.08 KRLA and KHJ
1959 • La Habra ~ Cruising Whittier Boulevard, we took a spin to the A&W for frosted mugs of root beer or to Tastee Freeze for fried taquitos and banana splits with extra chocolate and whipped cream, Debbie and Randy in the back, Carleen and me in the front, riding low in the seat with the … [Read more...]
3.07 Saving Grace
1959 • La Habra ~ Along the rear side fence I planted three huge sunflowers, a patch of blue lupines, and vines of sweet peas. I loved the sweet peas; they were Dad’s favorite flower. And that’s what Carleen called me, “Sweet Pea.” My sister was my sun and my saving grace, and along with my … [Read more...]
3.06 My 1954 plain
1959 • La Habra ~ I had the two coin collections Larry gave me when I lived in San Jose with Mom. The Album for 20th Century COINS of the WORLD was a large, green, four-paneled book with plastic strips sliding over 144 holes which held the coins in place. I had forty-seven holes filled with coins … [Read more...]
3.04 Nana
1959 • La Habra ~ We had a boxer named Nana. Debbie wanted a puppy and when a guy at Chuck’s work brought in a passel of puppies he brought one home for her. Debbie got to name her. Nana was good with us kids but rambunctious, jumping up and knocking over the little kids. She wasn’t allowed in the … [Read more...]
3.03 Sierra Vista School 1958
1958 - 59 • La Habra ~ I knew the way to Sierra Vista Elementary; up our street two blocks, left at the corner, then six blocks up the hill. My grades improved and I became a “B” student in Mr. Powell’s fifth grade room. He had a way with kids: when any of the boys disrupted class, he’d … [Read more...]
3.05 A Mother’s Instinct 1959
1959 • La Habra ~ Mom moved back to California soon after I did, and upon her return stayed with us for a short time. Taking me shopping, she had me try on a blue and white ruffled one-piece bathing suit, flowered shorts, matching crop top, and Capri pants. Then she had me put my own clothes … [Read more...]
3.02 Orange Groves and Crackerboxes
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...]
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...]
2.34 Christmas Eve
1957 • Honolulu, Hawaii ~ I remember that Christmas Eve. I wanted us to have a tree, so I made it from a beautiful branch of dark wood I found near our house earlier that day. At each tip where its small thorns crooked out I stuck a sugared gumdrop, then carefully bow-tied the mid stems with colored … [Read more...]
2.33 Come Hell or High Water
Nov 29, 1957 • Honolulu ~ I remember the Friday afternoon the hurricane hit. I was walking home with a girl from school who’d invited me to her house, me doing a small skip alongside her, happy to have made a friend. I heard it before I saw it. I turned my face to the sky and felt the insistent air … [Read more...]
2.32 Worrisome Prayers
1957 • San Francisco ~ Letter from Aunt Elizabeth to her brother, my father: March 13, 1957 Dear Carl: Just now writing the date, I happened to remember that this is Carleen’s birthday. If it weren’t so late, I would call her. We are having Mass on Wednesday evenings during Lent and with a … [Read more...]
2.31 Needs Improvement
October 1957 • Honolulu, Hawaii ~ Once again I was in a new school. There were four other haoles (mostly the white children of Navy families from the States stationed in the area) in my class and the rest of the kids were locals of mixed heritage, Chinese, or Japanese descent. The locals … [Read more...]
2.30 Manoa Valley
1957 - 1958 • Honolulu, Hawaii ~ Mom and I settled in upper Manoa Valley, a trolley ride from Honolulu. A valley with a higher elevation than sun-drenched Waikiki, it squatted at the foot of a tropical rainforest shrouded in low rain clouds. When they passed, brilliant rainbows broke through, … [Read more...]
2.29 Off to Paradise 1957
October 1957 • San Jose to the Islands ~ A year and a month into Bobby and Claudia's marriage, Bobby was transferred to Barbers Point, a naval air station about 20 minutes from Honolulu. My mother got the notion that she and I would move there too. Mom wanted to be near Claudia, she and Ray had … [Read more...]
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