We were finally settling in as one big happy family. 1967, we lived on Fulton Rd, in Cleveland Ohio. The house seemed  big, but I was just a little one then. It had 3 bedrooms & bathroom upstairs. A living room, dining room, my dads room, kitchen, a back room with a bedroom for my Uncle Johnny and 2 bathrooms. There was a smaller room off the kitchen that led down to the basement. This small room became my bedroom.  My step dad made a bunk bed above the basement trap door. It was pretty cool, it was a great hiding place.

The ironic thing about this house was, it sat right next door to a bar. And three houses down the other way, was another bar. With my mother being a recovering alcoholic and my Step Dad being her sponsor, it didn’t make sense. But I guess it was what they could afford at the time and it was big enough for all of us kids.

Life was good. Memories will come through sparatically, no real time line when they do.

It was a great neighborhood. A fun neighborhood. The house was close enough so we could walk to school. I can remember in the winter time, my brothers would pour water out on the sidewalk to make it icy, so they could slide back and forth. One would run and start sliding and i would yell "hitching a ride" and I would grab onto the end of their coat and I would slide with them. We had a back yard, but it seemed like I always played in the front yard. Even the neighborhood kids would get together and play ’Jail Break" and the boundaries was the block, no crossing of the streets except for the street to where we designated the jail.  It was a fun game. It consisted of 2 teams of even number of players. One team would go out and hide, and the other team would have to go out and find them. If you were found or caught, you were put in jail. One of your team mates could break you out if they were fast enough to run in and tag you before they were caught by the person who guarded the Jail. We also used to play hide and go seek in the Grave yard. We did have a curfew, we had to be in the house before the street lights came on. Exceptions were made if we asked before we started playing jail break, it was alot more fun in the dark. And if we were late, we caught hell. I remember one night, I was late. The street lights were on and I was running with all my might. I turned the corner where the bar was, and they had a corner step that led up to their door. I hit that step and tripped, falling on my face scuffing it up. Mom and Dad said that was punishment enough. There were a few times my brothers would be late and Mom would get out the belt. From the door of the kitchen all through the house and up the stairs, she was swinging that belt. My brothers punishments were pretty harsh, but this story is about me and not them. All I can tell you is what I saw them go through. There was a time or 2 where they did something and their punishment was to kneel on rice. Another was when someone drank all the milk, my mom got so mad, saying the milk was for the baby (meaning me) She went out and bought 4 or 5 gallons of milk and sat my brothers down, telling them they couldn’t go anywhere until all the milk was drank. My one brother couldn’t take it, so he ran upstairs, crawled out the window and ran. Another episode was when my one brother got into the potato salad. My mom sat him down at the table and made him eat the whole bowl. Of coarse he didn’t, he got sick. Punishment was tough and severe. I can recall if I got out of hand, I would have to sit in a chair what seemed to be forever. Sometimes my one brother would get the same and we would sit and talk, until we got caught. More minutes on the chair.

The scary things that went on in that house. The one night a bat got in the kitchen, and my bedroom was right off the kitchen. I was screaming cause I didn’t know what it was.  My step dad was in the tub at the time, he got out quick. He and my mom was doing all they could do to catch that bat. Til the opprotunity came and Dad opened the kitchen door and it flew out. Then there was the thunderstorm with tornado warnings arrived one night. We was huddled all together in the living room. With the flashes of the lightening,  we seen a shadow at the window of a person trying to open it. We were all scared, thinking it was a burgler. My mom went over to the window to do something, and found out that it was my Dad trying to get in because I forgot his house key. He’s lucky he didn’t get a frying pan up along his noggin. There was another storm, it was more in the afternoon. It was bad enough it caused the chimney to tumble down. I remember that day, cause my older brother was watching us and I remember running up the stairs and he got mad. My punishment was to "Walk" up and down the stairs quietly until I learned my lesson of how to walk up the stairs.

I had one good friend, her name was Lisa. We did alot of stuff together. But being 5 or 6 years old, how much can you do? Until one day, Lisa told me that my dad wasn’t my real dad. I got so mad at her and said yes he is! But she argued that he was my step father. I was so hurt and angry, I punched her and ran into the house crying. This is where I learned for the first time in my young life that my step dad was just that, he was my Step Father. That my last name wasn’t the same as his last name. But how I felt about him never changed. I still loved him and was that much closer to him because he was the only Dad I had. I never did talk to my friend Lisa ever again.

A memory that sticks with me til this day, is when my one brother and his friend were tossing a baseball back and forth in the front yard. Well, it was on the sidewalk, we didn’t have much of a front yard. I was standing off to the side, watching. And they started throwing the ball harder and faster. His friend lost control of his throw and the ball hit me right in the face. It just felt numb when it happened. Then the blood started and I started screaming and crying. My brother tried to stop me by saying "wait, let me see" I ran into the house and my mom took me to the hospital. I suffered a broken nose. Not much they could do, but days following both my eyes were black/blue and they were swollen shut. I got to sleep on the living room couch. I guess so I would be closer to my Moms room. I remember what I looked like, horrible. To this day, my nose is very sensitive. Don’t mess with my nose.

Another accident that I went through. My sister and my one brother always was at odds with each other. Always arguing and fighting. There were a couple of times, while my sister was doing dishes, my brother would do something to get  her mad. She threw a spoon once,  in his direction and it hit me right in the head. Blood started rolling, up to the hospital for stitches.

We used to play hide and go seek in the house sometimes. With me being so small, I could fit in just about anywhere. There was a small cubby space under the attic stairs, in the back room of the house. I told myself, that I could fit in there. So, I opened the door and crawled in and gently closed the door, leaving it ajar a little so light would come in. I guess one or both of my brothers found me, because they shut the door and locked it. I was so scared, in a small little space, in the dark. I was kicking and screaming, pleading for them to let me out. Needless to say, I never played hide and seek ever again.

I don't recall how old I was, but there was a time when I put my hand on a hot iron and burned the palm of my hand. I don't remember how bad, but I knew not to ever do it again. I memory I recall about when I was little. I guess I was too young to blow my nose with a tissue, so my mom used to clean my nose out with a Q-tip. I remember one day sitting in the kitchen with my Mom and Grandma. I was sucking on a sour ball, and it got caught in my throat. The solution at that time was, my mom gave me coffee to try and melt the candy until it was small enough to go down.

The animals of the house. I owned a hamster. His name was corky. I loved that animal. I kept him in a big bird cage. He loved to climb. He always knew when I was coming with a treat, cause he would climb up to this one perch I made for him, and he would sit up on his hind legs, as to beg. I took real good care of Corky and I had him a long time. My sister had Gerbils. We had a family dog, her name was Princess. She was a good dog. I think she was just a mutt. I remember one time, I was sleeping and she jumped up on my bed and had her puppies in my bed. I didn’t know what was going on, and I yelled for my Mom. I got to sleep with my mom that night. One of her many littlers, we kept one of the puppies. He was white and had one black eye. We named him Terrington-like the cigarette. But someone liked him better, cause he disappeared. We had a cat named Dutchess. She was a smart cat. When she wanted out, she would go to the door and meow. When she wanted in, she would jump up on the outside porch ledge and actually knock on the door window. If my memory serves me correctly, she had a littler of kittens in my sisters dresser drawer. I do believe we had another Cat. It was a siamese and we called him Charlie. But I think that was the cat we got rid of because it seemed possessed. I’m not 100% sure.

Cool stuff around the neighborhood. It wasn’t cool, but the bar next door, Nagys, And the other bar 3 houses up the other way was called The Copper Mug. 2 blocks away, we had a movie theater. I believe my mom took me there and we saw Bambi. It later caught fire and they replaced it with a drug store. Caddy corner to that was a real old bank. Next to the bank was a White Castle. And if you went through the alley behind White Castle and cross the street, there was the Cleveland Public Library. Walking further past the Library and across the street was St. Patricks church. This is where our Elementary school was. Caddy corner to our house was a gas station. Across the street from the gas station (on the same side as our house) was the Cemetary. You could walk down the side street called Siam, about 2 blocks, there was a public swimming pool named Greenwood Pool. Across the street from there was a small corner store. This is where I used to by my candy with the allowence I was given. It was a cool little neighborhood, safe and sound.

House rules were followed. There was a chart drawn up and it hung on the kitchen wall. We each had a chore to do everyday. My mom always had me call her at work when I got home from school. I would go to by room and watch cartoons. I always had to finish my dinner. I couldn’t leave the table til I was done. There were times when I would fall asleep at the table, cause I just didn’t want to eat no more. I can remember my grandma tell my mom, "she is just a little girl, with a tiny stomach." I would eat slow, and my sister would get so mad at me because of it. She would have dishes that night and she had to wait for me. She had to have her chores done before she could go out and play. I remember one night, and I don’t even know why I remember this. We had I think fish and fried zuccini. ick! But I managed to eat it all, and my mom blamed my brother for helping me clean my plate. So I got served another serving. And my brother had nothing to do with it. The one time I do finish my dinner, and I get punished for it.