Franklin Street

What Is It About A Street Or A Neighborhood That Is Stored In Your Memory Bank? My Years Of Growing Up At 713, Directly Across The Street From Franklin Grade School. So Many Memories, So Many Stories To Tell. Growing Up There Was The Only Life I Knew. Recently I Have Been Watching Old Reruns Of The Walton's On Television.
John Boy Would Sit At His Desk And Write About Life Growing Up On Walton's Mountain.
Of Course Danville Is Nothing Like The Blue Ridge Mountains Of Virginia. I Believe Life Is What You Make It. You Could Accomplish Anything If You Put Your Mind To It.
Life In The City Is The Only Life That I Know. Maybe Someday When The Time Is Right Things Will Change And We Can Find A Nice Little Spot In The Country. I Think I Would Enjoy That Someday.
Life On Franklin Was A Story In Itself. The People Who Live There Today Continue To Write North Franklin As Their Address. South Franklin Was Eliminated Many Years Ago.
Everybody Knew Each Other. Hardly Anyone Kept To Themselves. What I Mean By That Is We Didn't Have Neighborhood Picnic Days, But We Spoke Or Visited On A Pleasant Day.
There Were Lots Of Kids Of All Color. Besides Us Caucasian, We Shared The Hood With Greeks, Mexicans, African American, Eskimo's, Philippino's,& Germans. Maybe More But That's All My Brain Will Allow Me To Remember At The Moment.
The Only Color We Knew At That Age Were From The Dozen Or So In A Box Of Crayons.
Life Seemed Simpler Back In That Day. Today We Know Of A Couple Of Our Neighbors. Today I Don't Feel Safe In My Home. I Have Had To Install Defensive Devises For Our Home Security.
I Really Don't Want To Right Away, But I Would Like To Find A Quiet Spot Where Your Neighbor Is Out Of Shouting Distance.
I Really Do Like The Nature And Wildlife. Maybe Someday.
Living Across From The School Had It's Benefits. After School I Had Access To The Playground In Which I Spent A Lot Of Time. Got My First Kiss There. It Was Moe.
Moe Eventually Became Mary Who Was The Neighborhood Tom Boy. She Was A Year Older Than Me And Tougher Than Me Too. I Was Her Subordinate Until The Age Of 11. We Never Fought Before That, But It Was A Mutual Understanding She Was Tougher Than Me Because Of That Year She Had On Me. One Day At The Schoolyard It Was Decided Once And For All By Sitting On Her Until She Said Uncle, This Understanding Was All We Needed Just For Us Alone. From That Moment On We Were Equal Friends. Friends Who Drank After The Other, A Big 16 Ounce Bottle Of Pop At Pappy's Gas Station.
An Old Saying Is Back In The Day The Poor People Lived In The Country And The Rich Lived In The City. Today You Have To Be Rich To Own Land In The Country.
Growing Up In The 1960's Was Kind Of Cool. The Day Of The Hippy, Love And Peace. Even Though Peace Was Just A Symbol, Our Involvement In Viet Nam Eventually Led My Brother To Enlist In The Navy. Two Years Later I Would Follow.
Through The Assassination Of Our President And His Brother. Civil Rights Leader Slain, And University Students Gunned Down By The National Guard.
The Landing On The Moon Brought A Religious Man To Our Door On That Historic Day Asking To Watch This Memorable Event. He Never Owned A Television Set.
All In All Franklin Street Saw Changes Throughout The Years, Some Good And Some Not So Good. The Only Mischief We Got Into Was Ringing Someone's Doorbell, Then Running Away.
My Parent Opened Their Doors To Foster Children. Mom Never Knew How Many Kids Would Be There At Supper Time. One Thing Was For Certain Though. Each Child Felt Welcomed And Wanted. There Were Only Three That Would Stay The Longest. Unfortunately Two Of Them Have Passed On.
What Would We Do Without Memories? Memories Of Our Upbringing. I Have Often Asked Various Questions To My Father Since He Rarely Spoke About It.
I Often Wondered About His Days Growing Up Without Electricity And Indoor Plumbing.
I Grew Up Never Knowing Who My Grandfather Was. Not Knowing What Kind Of A Man He Was. I Was Though Fortunate Growing Up With Loving Grandparents On My Mother's Side. I Lost My Grandfather When I Was A Young Adult With Small Children. My Grandmother Passed Away Just A Couple Years Back. Even Though Alzheimer's Took Her Memory Away, The Love She Had For Her Family And Her Lord Was Far More Powerful Than The Disease Itself.
I Hope To Share More Memories Of My Life Growing Up On Franklin And Danville Too In Blogs To Come.