"The Big House"

I remember living at 509 Parade St. with grandma and grandpa and 8 of my aunts and uncles (all of whom were in their twenties) for the first 7 years of my life. What an experience! There were 4 bedrooms and a bath on the second floor with radiators in the hall not in the rooms. In the morning I remember rushing down to the kitchen to stand shivering in front of the wood stove to warm up. The hot steamy kitchen was a place I spent a lot of time with grandma, "helping' her bake lemon pie or iron with my toy ironing board and iron.

On the first floor there was a front parlor with glass French doors, a fireplace and a piano which I used to play with great abandon. Uncle Pierre claimed it sounded like I was really playing something. Next was a living room with a room attached which was used as an extra bedroom or for whatever was needed. The dining room was a good size with what seemed to me like an enormous dining room set. The stairway to the second floor was off the dining room. The kitchen was large with a long table. I remember grandma making her own noodles for Sunday chicken soup. She would have these large sheets of pasta on towels draped over the chairs which she would later roll up and slice into thin noodles. The soup mainly consisted of noodles and broth, and she always gave me the heart. I liked chicken hearts...strange kid! Off the kitchen was a large walk-in pantry with the sink and many cupboards.

Life at 509 was always exciting. Irish aunts and uncles know how to have fun as we all know. Someone was always coming or going, putting on makeup, buying new clothes, or having poker parties in the kitchen. I was the waitress. I even had a tray to carry the beer to the table and carry away the empties or empty ashtrays. They tied a towel around my waist as an apron. They all thought it was a hoot to have free labor. No tips either. They would let me stay up till all hours. I loved it.

Grandpa used to take me to his neighborhood "pub", Calvano's, on the corner of either 3rd or 4th and Parade and put me on the bar. He would visit and I would have pretzels and pop. I would say we were going "calavantin"


With 11 plus people in the house, using the bathroom was a challenge. There were no daily showers. In fact there was no shower. Just a big tub. Anna told me one time that our great grandmother had the first indoor plumbing installed in the city? Maybe someone else knows more about this. I don't know how they managed it. I guess everyone had to be patient.

Then WW II came along and things began to change. I found it all very scary. Going to the depot with Johnnie, Willie, Mike and Anna was a very sad time. Before, during and after this time everyone was getting married and moving out leaving my mother and me (Mike was in the army also) grandma, grandpa. I was at all of your parents' weddings. When you all started arriving, I was so excited to see and love all the new babies.

When Mike came home we moved to 411 East 5th. This house was like Anna's. The move was like culture shock for me after being surrounded with all of these people for most of my young life. But I soon adjusted.