In Zen in
the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury writes of his penchant for making lists and
how those lists helped him see patterns and served as “provocations” for
writing. A good list to hand can prevent
blank paper paralysis when we sit down to write our family history. So for today, let’s make a list of all the
houses associated with your various family lines. Residences, vacation houses, apartments,
rentals, all living quarters that were significant to your family. Write down addresses if you know them. Today you need only make the list. In a later
post we’ll talk about how to use it, but if an entry “provokes” you to write
about one of your abodes, go for it!
My family lived in a lot of different places -- some of which I was told about, others I do remember quite clearly!
When I was born, my parents had recently moved back from the Cities where they had worked at a munitions plant during the war. After they married, they lived in an upstairs apartment near the old Farmers Union Gas Station. That's where they were living when I was a baby.
Then they built a house on a farm about 2 miles out of Roseau. It was a small, story and a half house, painted white on the outside but I don't have any recollection of the inside. We lived there when my father had an appendicitis attack and was hospitalized for a month with peritonitis and nearly died. I imagine they had no insurance and soon had to sell the house to pay expenses.
So we moved to California. We first lived in an apartment in Bell Gardens, a suburb of Los Angeles. My recollection of that is that it was in a long row of apartments and we lived close to Julius and Mary Brunell (and their boys, Kermit and Donald). I started first grade there. Then we moved to a larger apartment in Lynnwood. That was a series of 4-plexes and lived in a downstairs apartment next to a family who had a daughter named Katherine who was convalescing from polio.,
By the spring, however, we moved back to Roseau. Then we lived in a small house on the river right by the dam, we lived in another house by the hospital, then a large house by the elevator, and finally we moved to the "Engebretson house" which was located where the license bureau is today. That was such a nice house, I thought. There were two bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom!! My grandpa lived with us part of the time and he stayed in the other upstairs bedroom. My brother John was born while we lived there.
But then my dad bought a farm by Badger. So they bought an old house and moved it onto a (very wet ) new basement in 1957 and added on a living room, a bedroom, and a nice large bedroom upstairs. There was no indoor bathroom at first but by spring, the small room downstairs was remodeled into a bathroom and so it was pretty comfortable. I remember that the kitchen counters were a bit lower than what was standard; the original owners must have been short! So we always remarked on that. But I lived with my family in that house from 1957 until 1964 when I went away to college and lived in the dorm.
So I had never shared a room with anyone until moving into Pine Hall at BSU. Poor Marion! She had to live with this "not so fussy" housekeeper for a whole year! But we had a lot of good times. I liked living in the dorm so I signed up to be a Resident Assistant and I did that for the next two years -- had my own room again!! But it was usually full of girls hanging out and visiting! I did my student teaching in Thief River Falls, lived with my aunt Othelia, and had my own room again!
So then we got married in 1967. Moved to Hawley and lived in a honeymoon cottage on the edge of town. Furnished three bedroom house. Very nice. Moved to Roseau into a new mobile home in the East Side Trailer Court and we lived there for one year before we bought some land at Fox and moved the mobile home to the woods where Keith brushed out trees, made a lawn, built a garage, and I complained about the whole thing.
In 1973, we sold our mobile home and purchased a manufactured (Dynamic) home. It has served us well. We put on an addition in 1995 which Keith built practically singlehandedly. That has been a great thing; we have a new dining room and a bedroom downstairs. Progress was good.
My family lived in a lot of different places -- some of which I was told about, others I do remember quite clearly!
When I was born, my parents had recently moved back from the Cities where they had worked at a munitions plant during the war. After they married, they lived in an upstairs apartment near the old Farmers Union Gas Station. That's where they were living when I was a baby.
Then they built a house on a farm about 2 miles out of Roseau. It was a small, story and a half house, painted white on the outside but I don't have any recollection of the inside. We lived there when my father had an appendicitis attack and was hospitalized for a month with peritonitis and nearly died. I imagine they had no insurance and soon had to sell the house to pay expenses.
So we moved to California. We first lived in an apartment in Bell Gardens, a suburb of Los Angeles. My recollection of that is that it was in a long row of apartments and we lived close to Julius and Mary Brunell (and their boys, Kermit and Donald). I started first grade there. Then we moved to a larger apartment in Lynnwood. That was a series of 4-plexes and lived in a downstairs apartment next to a family who had a daughter named Katherine who was convalescing from polio.,
By the spring, however, we moved back to Roseau. Then we lived in a small house on the river right by the dam, we lived in another house by the hospital, then a large house by the elevator, and finally we moved to the "Engebretson house" which was located where the license bureau is today. That was such a nice house, I thought. There were two bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom!! My grandpa lived with us part of the time and he stayed in the other upstairs bedroom. My brother John was born while we lived there.
But then my dad bought a farm by Badger. So they bought an old house and moved it onto a (very wet ) new basement in 1957 and added on a living room, a bedroom, and a nice large bedroom upstairs. There was no indoor bathroom at first but by spring, the small room downstairs was remodeled into a bathroom and so it was pretty comfortable. I remember that the kitchen counters were a bit lower than what was standard; the original owners must have been short! So we always remarked on that. But I lived with my family in that house from 1957 until 1964 when I went away to college and lived in the dorm.
So I had never shared a room with anyone until moving into Pine Hall at BSU. Poor Marion! She had to live with this "not so fussy" housekeeper for a whole year! But we had a lot of good times. I liked living in the dorm so I signed up to be a Resident Assistant and I did that for the next two years -- had my own room again!! But it was usually full of girls hanging out and visiting! I did my student teaching in Thief River Falls, lived with my aunt Othelia, and had my own room again!
So then we got married in 1967. Moved to Hawley and lived in a honeymoon cottage on the edge of town. Furnished three bedroom house. Very nice. Moved to Roseau into a new mobile home in the East Side Trailer Court and we lived there for one year before we bought some land at Fox and moved the mobile home to the woods where Keith brushed out trees, made a lawn, built a garage, and I complained about the whole thing.
In 1973, we sold our mobile home and purchased a manufactured (Dynamic) home. It has served us well. We put on an addition in 1995 which Keith built practically singlehandedly. That has been a great thing; we have a new dining room and a bedroom downstairs. Progress was good.
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