About Annie

Annie.  That is all I have to say and it brings fond memories and smiles to the faces of my siblings.

When I was about 3 years old, my parents purchased a house in Price Hill, a neighborhood in Cincinnati.  We had a long back yard, and on the left side, 3 houses back yards meet up with our property.  At that time there were no fences so it was wide open except for flower beds.  As kids we thought it was HUGE, though on a recent trip to check out the house, as it was for sale, I was shocked at how small the yard really is.  One strong memory there as I stood in the backyard was the 3rd house, Annie’s house.

Annie was probably in her 50’s at the time we moved in,  and lived in the house with her husband, Erhart and I think her kids that were grown, Bob and  Elaine.  Oh and their old dog, Ginger.  Annie had a great back porch and when we were all outside playing she’d call us over for our “quota”.  Quota was candy,  and she  had the best candy!  A few orange slices (those gummy kind covered in sugar) were my favorite, or marsh mellow peanuts.  YUM!  Annie was always a good ear, seemed to really love little kids and chatting with us.

She was also a good set of eyes for my parents when hell broke loose in the backyard and they needed to get to the  bottom of who started it.  One time I was showing my brother how to swing a baseball bat, as if he needed my assistance, and I hit him right up side the head.  While he was screaming bloody murder, I ran up the side of the house and slipped in through the front door.  Mom was exiting the backdoor to find out what my brother was crying over.  I came out of the house behind her, acting all innocent while  being tattled on.  It might have worked had Annie not witnessed the crime and filled my mother in on the details.  BUSTED!!!!

We moved away  from there just before I started high school, and I lost track of Annie.  I ran into her and her daughter at the grocery store after I myself became a mother.  She was very old but was still our beloved Annie.  I learned  that her husband had passed away, and her son, Bob (a true to life hippie) and he had a falling out years prior and he left without looking back, and didn’t know his dad had  died.  I  could  see the pain in Annie’s face as she shared that with me.  It broke my heart to think that an argument could split two people that loved each other  and cause damage that  would forever be beyond repair now that one of them had left this world.

I hope to be remembered like Annie some day.  She was so sweet, and she reminds me of a time when my world was so much simpler and happy, when something as simple as a few pieces of candy and the lick from a dog on my cheek could make me smile!

This post  was written as a part of Mama Kat’s Writer’s  Workshop.  To join in and participate click the  icon above and chose from one of this week’s topics, write your post and link up!

 

Our old house - in foreclosure now, wish I could buy it!!!