I was born on December 5th, 1966 in Boise, Idaho in the same hospital my daddy was born in back in 1939: St. Lukes. We lived in Boise until I was 5 or 6 years old. I have a few sketchy memories from that time including attending The Euclid Church of the Nazarene. I even remember when this picture was taken:
At least I think I remember that day. It could be that I've just always loved the picture and I've created my own memories about it. My whole Sunday School class filed out of the church along the sidewalk into the warm sunlight and we were called up one at a time to have our pictures taken. I'm sure Scotty Phelps, my first boyfriend, was in the class, too. We probably even held hands that day. We waited until we were 5 to get married, though. My sister and his sister officiated.
We lived in several different places in Boise and I should probably ask my mom the true details but this is an exercise in my brain power not hers so I'll put down what I remember.
We lived next door to the church in the parsonage for a couple of years but I don't remember more than the stories I've heard. Like the one where my sister was so excited to go to Sunday School that she ran next door without her panties on. My mom had to fetch her out of class to rectify the situation.
My parents were (and still are) entrepreneurs and so we owned and ran a couple of motels. The kind people rent weekly, monthly, etc. All I know about the first one is that it was white and has always been referred to as "The White Motel" and it had funky, multi-colored metal chairs in front of each door that led into the individual rooms.
The second motel was affectionately called "The Green Motel". Because it was green. This motel is still in existence and I drive by it quite often at the corner of Fairview and Orchard. It is no longer green or huge like it was when I was 4 and could probably even be called "seedy" by many standards! I'm sure it was top-of-the-line when I was a kid though. I remember the front office because it had a large, glass display case that my mom had filled with Oriental dolls and bright colored fans and lamps with fringe. Every once in awhile my mom would take one out for me to look at and I remember being in awe about the details. I wish I knew what happened to those.
I have vague memories of using a vacant, run-down motel room as a playhouse although I wonder why my parents would allow it! We would climb through a window to get inside this dark, musty room and we kept toys there. I remember showing it to my favorite Aunt Pat when she came for a visit and being SO proud. Did that really happen? I'll have to ask.
I'm not sure of the time frame for the ownership of the hotels but I must have been around the same age when my parents owned a drive through restaurant. It was on Vista across from where the Taco Time sits now. It was torn down to build an overpass or something but the only thing I really remember about it was going into the walk-in freezer and eating the frozen french fries right out of the bag. It's funny that I still eat frozen french fries occasionally and I always think of that place.
I was a HUGE fan of Raggedy Ann and Andy back in those days. I still have the Raggedy Ann from my 4th birthday up in my attic today. She was so loved on that her hair had to be replaced and she has an arm and a leg that are hanging by a long thread made of stuffing but she comforted me on many occasions! My mom replaced her with a new one when I was around 8 years old but it was never quite the same.
Before we moved away from Boise we lived in a white house on Liberty Street. For some reason I just loved that we lived in a White House on Liberty Street. It made me feel very patriotic. I have a lot more memories of this place since I was 5 and 6 years old. Two of the things that stand out in my mind were the detached garage that was broken into one night when we were sleeping. My sister heard noises and tried to wake up my dad but he told her to go back to sleep. The next morning all of my dads tools were gone. I'm sure that started my obsession with burglars. It was also around that time that we heard on the news that String Bean from Hee Haw had been murdered by burglars in his house when he walked in unexpectedly. Those two incidents gave me more than one sleepless night right into my 20's.
The second thing that stands out about living on Liberty Street were the chickens. A kid, probably in his early twenties stopped by one day and asked my dad if he wanted to buy some chickens and a rooster. I have no idea of any of the details but I remember sitting in the yard, just me and this guy, playing with the chickens. Not something you'd do today! I also remember that the chickens ended being stolen property and we had to give them back. So much theivery!
I went to a little Christian Kindergarten that still operates today on Roosevelt St. It had a merry-go-round that I loved more than life itself and my best friend's name was Candy. I wanted my name to be Candy so badly. My mom had to make all of my dresses because the school insisted that all girls wear dresses below the knee. I remember my mom being very irritated about this. I don't know if it was the dress code or my dad's transfer but I became a Kindergarten drop-out. We moved to Twin Falls when I was 6.
Time to give my brain a break. To be continued. . .
1 comment:
Tanya, this is so great! I'm glad you're doing it, and am/will enjoy reading.
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