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Last
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THIS....is the story of My Life!
(also known as)
You've been around HOW LONG???
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More familiarly, I am ...
... and counting |
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| I arrived in the
world on Wednesday, September 2, 1953 at 1:15 am. Somehow
I think my mother would have preferred a daytime arrival...but
then I've never really been on time for anything. This arrival
occurred at St.
Joseph's Hospital in Paterson,
New Jersey. Weighing in at 8 pounds, my eyes were blue
when I was born and my hair was a reddish blond. Wanna See??
Just click "Me
in 1953!" ---- HERE.
Dr. C.R. McCune along with a nurse named Shirley assisted
during the exciting event. |
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Its my life, I must look like somebody! On a whim, I visited myheritage.com and did their "facial recognition thing". I'm impressed! Check it out, click the button to the left and see who I look like...even if it IS scary! |
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I have learned that
my birth was registered in Paterson,
NJ. When I left the hospital to go home....I found it at
718 Colfax Avenue in,
Pompton Lakes, NJ, at one time just a small town in
Passaic
County. The Tri County Chamber of Commerce serves Pompton
Lakes as well as many other municipalities around the area.
Click on Chamber
of Commerce to get there. There
are some strange (to me anyway) things in this book, for
instance, the first toy I played with was a "rattle" ...gee...I
wonder if that has meaning??
My father, who was working as a Medical
Service Representative for White Labs, was 29 years old
when I was born and my mother who was a "typist" before
marriage, was 27 years old. |
| Also from my "Baby's
Early Years" book as well as from things my mother has told
me she remembers, I have other things I can tell about those
early years. First, the book itself was a gift from my Grandparents,
Valdora (Desjardins) and Lawrence J. McKenna. They signed it, as you
can see on the right. There is
a question in the book that asks "Who does the baby resemble?"
My Mother answered ... "Father"
My first visitor was "Gert Daly" a neighbor...
and the first time I ever left home was to go to Grandma's
for Thanksgiving dinner on November 23rd, 1953. Pretty
amazing stuff, huh?? |
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| Of course, I received gifts from
strangers when I arrived. Just a note...I feel certain that
everyone was strange at that point. And, I can only assume,
the gifts were nice!. These people gave me something...I
have no idea what.
- Mom and Pop Mckenna (Valdora and
Lawrence Joseph)
(my grandparents)
- Betty and Eddie Anderson
(Friends of Mom and Dad from Orange, NJ) Also my
God Parents from what my mother tells me. My mother
worked with Betty at some point in the past (late 1940's
I assume, but I don't know where).
- Lucien and Adrienne Sutton
(my cousins on the Desjardins side)
- Antoine and Clarise Lachance
(my "blood" grandfather & his 2nd wife)
- Aunt Rose and Uncle Harvey Lachance
(my great aunt and uncle on the Lachance side)
- Florence and Norman Dube
(my cousins on the Lachance side, daughter of Uncle
Harvey and Aunt Rose)
- Mr. & Mrs. (Elaine) Eugene Wendling
(Val, my grandmother, used to work with her making hats)
- Jean and Henry Anderson
(Friends of my grandparents...apparently of my Grandmother.
I am told they had a daughter, Gloria, and later moved
to Winter Park, Florida where they owned and operated
a Mobile Home Park.)
- Joe and Janet Carhart
(Neighbors on one side of our home in Pompton Lakes
... they had two boys whom both my brother and I visited)
- Mom Bussell (May Eleanor Eshleman)
(my grandmother on the Bussell side...also known as
"Nana")
- John and Hazel White
(they were neighbors across the street and they had
a daughter named Donna. Donna was either born at the
same time or somehow or another, very close to my age.
A picture of Donna with me, sitting on the front steps
of our house in Pompton Lakes is below.) |
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| This handy little
book also tells me that I was baptized on the 15th day of
November 1953, by Mr. Heemstra at the Pompton Reformed Church
in Pompton Lakes...or was it Pompton Plains then...there
seems to be some confusion about the town. I do believe,
however, that I do NOT remember. It made for a nice picture
anyway. Our neighbors besides
John and Hazel White across the street included Joe and
Janet Carhart and their children on one side, Gert and
(...can't remember his first name) Daly on the other side
and another couple, Frank and Dot Briggs also across the
street. Frank and Dot had two girls, one named Nancy.
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Donna
White and Larry Lachance
June 1955 |
So now, I'm here....living in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey... I
have little to no recollection of actually living there.
I suspect there may be several issues involved as to why
I can't remember it, but primarily, I don't think I
even knew I was alive yet!
I recently came across a newspaper article
(from sometime in late 1954) about my mom, while we lived
there. She entered a contest and WON!!! Amazing....I play
the Florida
Lottery every week and yet....I haven't won! There
were a number of other names of people from the area that
were called. They are:
(Jack RUTLEDGE; Mrs. E.L.
MERKTINGHOUSE; C.O. MITCHELL; M. BAYER;
Anna FEBE, Mrs. M. HIGGINS, Mrs. E HARVEY,
Mrs. W.H. REITER, Jas. V. CANDUSLO, S.W.
ROSS, Mrs. H. UPSHAL; Mrs. C. CLARAMELLA;
and Mrs. Buelah HAMMERSTONE).
Click
HERE if you'd
like to read the article. |
| One memory I have is of my Dad telling
me he used to watch Joe
Lewis, (who in 1949 was the undefeated heavyweight boxing
champ), jogging around and training for fights. My mother recently
confirmed this when she told me she could see the training
camp from their bedroom window. She has a very clear memory
of Sugar
Ray Robinson driving around town in his Purple convertible.
We didn't stay in Pompton Lakes
very long...well, not in my life anyway...I guess Dad
had ideas about a bigger, newer house, or maybe it was
my mom...but someone got the idea so here we go...it's
1957 and we're moving...off to the next town over...Oakland,
NJ. |
Make your choice to continue on to... Chapter 2 - The Oakland
Years or go back one page. |
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Click here
to continue - Chapter 2 |
Click here
to go back. |
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