I follow a genealogy blog called Genea-Musings and occasionally participate in their:
1212 Gretchen Lane, Bossier City, Lousiana was a small 3 bedroom,1 bath green brick house in the subdivision of Pecan Park, just outside the gates of Barksdale AFB. We had moved there from Pinecastle AFB in Orlando, Florida. We lived here from either the end of 1957or beginning of 1958(?) to Aug of 1962. Daddy took much pride in maintaining a lovely yard and added a kidney shaped patio in the back yard as well as play house that Karla and I, along with our friends, loved to play in! I have many fond memories of our neighbors and the time we lived here.
It's Saturday Night -
time for more Genealogy Fun!
(I never get to it until Sunday morning though!)
2/20/2016 challenge was: Who were your neighbors? ... I decided to accept the challenge on 2 separate fronts, as a "AirForceBrat" my youth was very transitional, so picking just one address was too difficult. The 2 address' I chose were very impressionable on me.
Our house was one down from the corner and I have absolutely no recollection of who lived in that house on the corner, but I clearly remember the neighbors on our right (to the left in this picture)!!! Nell & Paul Heitt with their daughter Paula, and Mary and Ray Corley. Nell and Mary were sisters and they & their husbands shared their house. For the longest time it was just the 4 of them then Paula surprised them after they had given up on having a child and she was their only child. All four of them doted on Paula. They had a Boston Terrier named Bouncer who loved to eat onions! Paula was about a 2 years older than I and 2 grades ahead in school, but we were good friends none the less. Paula played the French Horn and was in the band. Paul and Paula were avid "RazorBack" fans and often traveled up to Arkansas to watch games. Mother and Nell were the "stay at home" mothers of the Leave it to Beaver, June Cleaver era. They shared coffee every morning after the morning chores were done, and shared a bond of friendship that lasted their whole lives long. They shared cups of sugar, talked "over the fence" and shared their deepest thoughts and secrets. Karla was a colicky, fussy baby and Nell was a big help for mother as daddy was frequently away "TDY" during this time in his career. Nell and Paul bought our house when we transfered and moved to Bangkok Thailand.
Directly across the street lived another military family. Their mother was an extremely tall woman, even as a 9 year old I was aware she was uncommonly tall. They had 5 children. All very talented musicians, who played various instruments by ear. The children never invited us into their home to play, they were not allowed to have friends come into their house. They were visiting with us on one occasion and several of daddy's coins out of his coin collection went missing, when asked about the coins all denied having taken any of the coins, but later they bandied about some proof coins in their possession that were very like the ones missing from his collection. When daddy confronted their parents they denied their children would take anything. On another occasion while at our house they were "horse-playing" and broke the television screen. Again when confronted the parent denied it could possibly have been their child to have done such a thing. Several other neighborhood families experienced similar situations too. Needless to say after that visit, the family was never invited into our house again. We did continue to play with them but only outside in our front yard or in their yard. Their father soon thereafter failed to make his promotion and was washed out of the service.
The house still stands. .. There is a Google picture of the house taken in 2016 at this web address: https://www.google.com/maps/place/1212+Gretchen+Ln,+Bossier+City,+LA+71112/@32.4946295,-93.6862147,3a,60.7y,166.85h,91.99t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJFqlPCSNA5UHnX-e6TNzGw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DJFqlPCSNA5UHnX-e6TNzGw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D172.03189%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x86313272738d18f3:0x268634c48b5eaa8!8m2!3d32.4944094!4d-93.6861797
Ambassador Court Apartments, Bangkok, Thailand
We moved into this aparment complex after the house we were renting was "kamoi'ed" ที่ถูกขโมย , robbed or stolen from. (While we slept in our beds!!!) Mama was adamant that we find a "safer" place to live, ergo.... 76/1 Soi Langsuan, Khwaeng Lumphini, Khet Pathum Wan, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10330, Thailand, an entry guarded, 2 bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor. Though my sister, Karla, nor I were thrilled about sharing a bedroom, we did love having a swimming pool. We lived here Spring of 1963- Summer 1964
Neighbors most remembered were 1) Nancy and Jessica - don't remember their last names!!! I baby sat for them they were the most precious little girls
2) Col & Mrs McVickers. They lived just one floor down from us.
They were the 1st Catholic people I remember knowing. Their children were grown and back in the US... Mrs.McVickers bonded with me a bit, I think because she missed her daughter, she was a bit depressed and occasionally may have imbibed a bit more than she should I think, as I reflect back on her countenance, she took me to church with her several times and I was fascinated with the genuflecting, holy water, kneeling and LATIN... it is the only reason I eventually took Latin in HS! I loved her. She seemed so very special to me... gorgeous red hair and a very classic beauty.
One of my most vivid memories while living here was going down to the small convenience store located on the ground level and, pleased as punch that I could speak Thai , asked for bread, "ka'noom pang ping", everyone fell over laughing! I had asked for toast!
ขนมปัง
K̄hnmpạng =Bread was just ka'noom pang"
I also had my 1st "crush" here... one of the guys who worked the grounds was named "Dang" and I thought he was just the cutest.... he got fired because daddy found out he "visited" me (all we did was talk through the windows) he would sit on a widow ledge across from my window. He professed to love me & wanted to marry me -ha - I was 14, he was 20 (Karla told on us) - as I look back today I think he wanted an opportunity to come to the U.S.A. But I must say, I remember him as a real cutie.
Ambassador Courts are still available in Bangkok ... they look some different...
