Tony Becomes a Neighbor

One day in 1964 my son Tony and I were alone. He said, “I would like to talk to you.”

I couldn't imagine what he wanted to talk to me about, so I said, “Okay, go ahead, talk.”

Tony said, “Do you think Dad would sell me a piece of land reasonably? Lorraine and I would like to build a house on it.”

I said, “I will talk to your father about it. Does your wife know about this?”

He said, “Yes, we have talked about it.”

“Well,” I said, “I don't want you or your wife ever to say that we pulled you to live near us, because Dad and I have gotten used to living alone. Although, we would love to have you living on the same street as us. We just want you and your wife to be happy making the move.”

I talked to my husband about it. He thought it would be nice having a son living on the same street. We were getting a little older. If we ever needed anyone we could get him quick. We decided we would give Tony a lot to build his home on for $1.00. When my husband told Tony our plans, he was so surprised he couldn't believe it.

He said, “Dad, is this true? No strings attached?”

My husband said, “We just want you and your family to be happy.”

They built a large Colonial home with eight rooms. It had four bedrooms, a large dining room and a large living room, an extra large kitchen, a big recreation room with a fire place, an entrance hall, two bathrooms and a two car garage.

They moved in with six children. The oldest, Judy, was 12 years old. The youngest, Linda, was two months old. Their hands were full. My husband helped as much as he could. I helped my daughter-in-law by ironing clothes and baby-sitting. In return they were good to us. Lorraine took me shopping and to different school affairs. She has always been proud of me.

We were very happy we gave them the land to build on. Now they have a new Colonial home and we have an old Colonial home. Ours is over 180 years old; it is very well built. We surely have had many nice parties and gatherings in these homes.