It was time to start school. It was the first time I had ever been away from home, but I remember it all with fond memories. I started school at Roseborough Elementary. This small town that we had moved to was wonderful and the whole community setting, although I definitely appreciated it at the time, I now realize was a picturesque life. I would grow up in this same community with friendships and families who all knew each other and there was lots of FUN and no fear!! When I was in first grade, my mom began working at the school where I was. She had always been home with all of us, so when I started school, it would have been the first time in 22 years that she would have had some time to herself. Later in life, she said that that first day to herself, she saddled up the horse and went for a ride. She said she got back on the property behind us and realized that if i got sick or hurt at school, there was no way for her to be reached (because there were no cell phones then) so she came back home and sat by the phone. She said it was then that she figured if she was going to just sit at home, she should at least go get a job at the school. So, she did. and she worked there for 20 years. My dad worked Monday through Friday and our whole family was home in the afternoon and evenings together. Our world revolved around school, church, and family life. There was such a community connection within everyone. It was wonderful! We visited the library (across from the current sunbank), would eat lunch at the Peppermint Stick (i'm really dating myself there), get our prescriptions from Seabrook's pharmacy (with the recording--"watch your step, watch your step" when you walked in the door---and often the recording skipped), have a coke float at the Rexall drug store, and a saturday morning visit to Vincent's dime store was always the best. At home, I LOVED riding the horses. Ginger, our Tennessee Walker, was a favorite to ride. I remember on the weekends we would all be sitting around and I would ride the horse. I always loved to run her, but they would tell me not to. Afterall, I was only 5 or 6. So, when I would reach the back of the house, I would take off running her and stop when I would get around to the front where they could see me. (that was probably the extent of my rebellious streak) haha!
And something really dorky that I would do (now i was probably 7 or 8), I would drive the car around the property (our property only). I would drive and drive and drive and I would put Beau, our Irish Setter in the front passenger seat. He would have been bigger than I was. There was this tree that was "the bank." Beau and I would pull up to the tree to make our bank deposits.
So, here I was in elementary school and Jody was in high school. On our way into town, we would beg our mom to drive the route by 5th Avenue and Lake Franklin and we would pick whether we took the route that make the big bump or the route where it dipped down around by the lake for a different approach to a thrill ride. Ohhhhhhh, the things that thrill children. LOL !!
My memories of Roseborough were wonderful ones....family, friends, and teachers who cared and knew you and your family. You couldn't get away with anything !!! :-)
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Cactus, Golfcarts, and Firecrackers
This property we moved out to was raw land....nothing on it and LOTS of cactus. So, much of the weekend time when family would come out to help was spent on improvements.....one such task being the removal of many cactus. Somehow we managed to have fun doing it too. So, one weekend day, my dad, grandfather, and uncle had spent all day putting up a fence around the garden we had started. During this time, my grandmother, Jody, Preston, and I were riding around in my grandfather's golfcart with a big bucket and shovel in it stopping whereever we saw cactus and digging them up. I'm not sure what my mom, Jill, and aunt Jackie were doing inside....maybe sipping mint juleps inside since obviously the A/C was running since we had company. (haha! just kidding). Anyways, the men had just finished this daylong job of putting up the fence. The next occurance I can remember vividly as if it happened yesterday (and i was 5) but the remembrance is also probably vivid since we continue to laugh about it to this day. My grandmother had stopped the golfcart...she and Jody had gotten out to dig up area cactus, and Preston and I jumped in the front seat of the golfcart. Afterall, the golfcart was turned off so no harm, right??? HAHAHHAHAHAH!!! So, I got in the driver's seat and Preston in the passenger seat. It was electric and not running so I proceeded to push the gas pedal to pretend like I was driving. Preston held on for dear life as I pushed the pedal and took off plowing across the field and through the newly installed fence. It was demolished....minutes after the new installation. Come to find out, when Jill looked through the window to see what happened, she yelled out "oh no, would you look what preston has done now." and Jackie, his mom, just laid out on the sofa and said "oh Lord, i have a sick headache." (preston was usually the more mischievious one---except for this time). Poor Preston! So, back to work the men went to fix what I just ruined.
So.....on a happier note, sometime during the same time frame, it was the 4th of July......at Gilbert PArk in downtown Mount Dora, I entered the "Little Miss Firecracker" contest, danced and batoned my heart out to "Little Willy" and won the title !!!! I spent the next year riding on convertibles and firetrucks (with my mom at my side). It was a fun time when kids entered these little pageants for the fun of it...there was no pressure from moms or anyone else. I guess I left out on my resume the destructive side of me with the golfcart and they never had me ride on any golfcarts during any parades. (just kidding, no resumes :-)
So.....on a happier note, sometime during the same time frame, it was the 4th of July......at Gilbert PArk in downtown Mount Dora, I entered the "Little Miss Firecracker" contest, danced and batoned my heart out to "Little Willy" and won the title !!!! I spent the next year riding on convertibles and firetrucks (with my mom at my side). It was a fun time when kids entered these little pageants for the fun of it...there was no pressure from moms or anyone else. I guess I left out on my resume the destructive side of me with the golfcart and they never had me ride on any golfcarts during any parades. (just kidding, no resumes :-)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Our Move to Mount Dora
I realize I've got some work to do if I have 41 years to catch up on here. :-)
So, in 1973, my family decided it was time to leave the big city and move to Mount Dora. Jill had gone off to college, Doug was married and my niece Carmen was soon to arrive. It was just Jody and me still at home.
Our move to Mount Dora was yet, another blessed turning point in my life. We found acreage where we could build a house. My dad built it all with his own hands. It took many trips to make the move but as we made our final trip with the last of our things, something very startling occurred. It was dark on a Saturday night as we made the last trek. We came into downtown Sorrento and as we made the turn at the intersection of 46 and 437 (probably no traffic light then), off in an open field was a group of people burning the Cross!!!! Yes, you read that right!! Although I didn't understand at that age what the meaning of it was, I remember the horror in my parent's voice at what they had just witnessed. I know they wondered where in the world they had just moved their family to. I don't think we ever went into downtown Sorrento at night again.
I was in my glory in our new location. I remember telling my parents that I loved it there and never wanted to leave. I'm sure that scared my parents to death. lol . I got my very own pony and we got a couple of horses. My grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin Preston would come out on the weekends. The house was always in progress and Preston and I would have a ball playing make-believe games.....we played "Julie and Maria" and ran in the cornfield.
It was also in that era that was the simple life. People lived within their means----we didn't run the A/C everyday....maybe just when company would company (we begged for company), there was a black and white tv (which was only a bummer when Miss America came on---noone wanted to watch Miss America in black and white), and the funniest thing of all that STILL blows my mind was we had a party line. You had to get on a waiting list for a private line. We shared a phone line with 3 other families so if you picked up the phone and another family was on the phone, you had to hang up until they were done. Now, that really makes me think of Harriett Olsen working the switchboard on Little House on the Prairie. Could we afford many of the above frills? Sure, we could. But if was a different era and you often chose not to and to save your money. In closing this entry, I must say that I often miss these days of simplicity. We try to keep our lives as simple and carefree as possible but the world is different. In those days, the Welcome Wagon came to your house and we always stopped to help people on the side of the road who had broken down. That's just the way it was then.
So, in 1973, my family decided it was time to leave the big city and move to Mount Dora. Jill had gone off to college, Doug was married and my niece Carmen was soon to arrive. It was just Jody and me still at home.
Our move to Mount Dora was yet, another blessed turning point in my life. We found acreage where we could build a house. My dad built it all with his own hands. It took many trips to make the move but as we made our final trip with the last of our things, something very startling occurred. It was dark on a Saturday night as we made the last trek. We came into downtown Sorrento and as we made the turn at the intersection of 46 and 437 (probably no traffic light then), off in an open field was a group of people burning the Cross!!!! Yes, you read that right!! Although I didn't understand at that age what the meaning of it was, I remember the horror in my parent's voice at what they had just witnessed. I know they wondered where in the world they had just moved their family to. I don't think we ever went into downtown Sorrento at night again.
I was in my glory in our new location. I remember telling my parents that I loved it there and never wanted to leave. I'm sure that scared my parents to death. lol . I got my very own pony and we got a couple of horses. My grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin Preston would come out on the weekends. The house was always in progress and Preston and I would have a ball playing make-believe games.....we played "Julie and Maria" and ran in the cornfield.
It was also in that era that was the simple life. People lived within their means----we didn't run the A/C everyday....maybe just when company would company (we begged for company), there was a black and white tv (which was only a bummer when Miss America came on---noone wanted to watch Miss America in black and white), and the funniest thing of all that STILL blows my mind was we had a party line. You had to get on a waiting list for a private line. We shared a phone line with 3 other families so if you picked up the phone and another family was on the phone, you had to hang up until they were done. Now, that really makes me think of Harriett Olsen working the switchboard on Little House on the Prairie. Could we afford many of the above frills? Sure, we could. But if was a different era and you often chose not to and to save your money. In closing this entry, I must say that I often miss these days of simplicity. We try to keep our lives as simple and carefree as possible but the world is different. In those days, the Welcome Wagon came to your house and we always stopped to help people on the side of the road who had broken down. That's just the way it was then.
The start of life
I was born on February 26, 1969 in Orlando, Florida. My family lived in Winter Park at the time. I was born the youngest of 4 children.....the ages now are Jill--58, Doug -- 57; Jody -- 49; Me -- 41. I am the youngest and have always LOVED being the youngest.
I was born to "Ward and June Cleaver." Okay, well, maybe "June" didn't wear pearls when she vacuumed but it was darn close. But seriously, I was born to Clark and Shirley Johnson. I can never fully express how I really and truly hit the JACKPOT with the family that I was born into. My parents were THE MOST selfLESS people imagineable. Everything they did was for us and the benefit of us. They had unconditional love ALL of the time. They taught us responsibility and respect with leadership by example. They raised us in the church and also taught us the importance of patriotism for our country. As I grow older, I become more and more appreciative of all of these qualities that were so important to them. My grandparents and aunt and cousin lived close and equally a huge influence on my life.
My first remembrance as a child, for some strange reason, was the closet door handles in the house that I lived in until I was 3. Yes, strange, I know, but it probably explains a lot about me. LOL.
This ends the first summary of birth to toddlerhood......at the age of 4, we moved to Mount Dora....the start of an even more fulfilling life..............more to come with the next stage of life. :-)
I was born to "Ward and June Cleaver." Okay, well, maybe "June" didn't wear pearls when she vacuumed but it was darn close. But seriously, I was born to Clark and Shirley Johnson. I can never fully express how I really and truly hit the JACKPOT with the family that I was born into. My parents were THE MOST selfLESS people imagineable. Everything they did was for us and the benefit of us. They had unconditional love ALL of the time. They taught us responsibility and respect with leadership by example. They raised us in the church and also taught us the importance of patriotism for our country. As I grow older, I become more and more appreciative of all of these qualities that were so important to them. My grandparents and aunt and cousin lived close and equally a huge influence on my life.
My first remembrance as a child, for some strange reason, was the closet door handles in the house that I lived in until I was 3. Yes, strange, I know, but it probably explains a lot about me. LOL.
This ends the first summary of birth to toddlerhood......at the age of 4, we moved to Mount Dora....the start of an even more fulfilling life..............more to come with the next stage of life. :-)
Just the beginning !!!!
So, I've decided to start a blog....i thought it might be fun. (i would put money on it that 1 person (yes, that would be you, Preston, never thought this day would come) .There won't be any super secretive or ultra personal details...that's just not me. :-) Just thought it would be fun to share and reflect. This is a test blog to start to make sure that i know what i'm doing here. Can't figure out where to start so on my next blog (which will be coming soon) so i think i'll start with 1969 (the start of life) and summarize until the present.
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