Monday, June 6, 2016

Memory Monday... remembering our old house on Monmouth Ave.


I haven't done a Memory Monday post in a while!
I often dream about this kitchen.
Many a time I washed dishes at this sink.
Many times I had my hair washed in this sink.
I would stretch out on the counter, and my Mom would suds my hair and rinse it.
Oh the happy days!
I learned how to bake at this kitchen counter.
I made pancakes on Saturday mornings.
The first cookie I baked was "Joe Froggers".
I made a chicken and rice dish for Robert when I was dating him in 1981.
There are just so many happy memories associated with this room!
I did all my homework at the kitchen table, and I learned how to sew on Mom's sewing machine at this table. I wrote in my diary, I composed poems and stories, I coloured for hours, and I had good chats with my Mom here.
That's my Mom, Susan Williams, in the photo above, dated Feb 13, 1998.
She and Dad had sold their house for the vast sum of $285,000.
They bought a lovely brand new condo in Burnaby, and are still there.
I love how my parents kept their house so nice and spotless. The house sold in one day.


And here I am many years ago, when the house was brand new.
We'd moved in at the end of 1963. I can still remember going to look at this house at 
3382 Monmouth Avenue in Vancouver BC. There was brown paper on the floor and I had to stay on it and I couldn't figure out why. I remember the drain holes in the basement and outside the basement door. The whole house seemed huge! At first Leona and I had our own bedrooms, but in 1965 Marlene came along, and then Leona and I shared. I didn't get my own room until 1977 when my Dad built a room for me downstairs. I stayed in it for 5 years when I got married in 1982 and went on in life to acquire my own houses.
What memories two photos can bring out! 
My parents re-did the cupboards in the 1990's, and had a new sink installed.
In both cases the sink was white porcelain. It's much better and much prettier than stainless steel!

By Loretta Houben

No comments: