A trigger that takes me back - Mt. Tom Power Plant

*I read recently on one of the blogs that I follow, when something triggers a memory, write it down as part of your story.

Today, on our way to Vermont, we drove by the Mt. Tom Power Plant on the Connecticut River in Holyoke.

I used to know how high that tower was.  How did you know that, you may ask?

When I was young, one of our neighbors, Wallace Handfield, worked there.  He lived at the end of my street.

Actually, it was on Primrose Street but it intersected my street, Oleander Street in West Springfield.  I knew him as "Handfield."  Every evening, or so it seemed to me, he would sit on his front steps after dinner.  Whenever I saw him out there I would go down and sit with him.  His wife never came out. Occasionally I would see her at the door but I don't remember ever talking to her.
He was probably in his 50's, maybe younger, but he seemed old to me at the time.

I can't remember what we used to talk about, but I do remember that he told me how high the tower of the power plant was.  He used to ask me how high it was and I was very proud that I could remember and tell him.

Then, one day, he was not out there.  I'm not sure how long it was, but we learned that he had passed away from some type of cancer.  I remember how upset I was.

Now, every time we go by the power plant I think of Handfield and how much I loved sitting and talking with him on his front steps.

A trigger that takes me back - Sesame Street Theme Song

*I read recently on one of the blogs that I follow, when something triggers a memory, write it down as part of your story.

We have had this VCR tape for awhile.  I'm not even sure when we got it; probably when Marley was little.

Today, when Miriam was here, she wanted to watch this.  The minute it started I realized that every time I hear the Sesame Street theme song, you know the one...Sunny day, sleeping the clouds away, it brings me back to a certain memory.

The year was 1974, winter.  Kristen was about 18 months old and I was newly pregnant.  And sick.  

Now you have to remember that this was back before children's television was on all the time; even before VCR tapes.  I think Sesame Street came on mid-morning; the perfect time for me to have a "quiet time" on the couch.  

The minute Kristen heard that theme song, she would come running from whatever she was doing.  It was so fast-paced that it would keep her attention, and I got a chance to rest!

Throwback Thursday - My old junior high and a trigger that takes me back....

*I read recently on one of the blogs that I follow, when something triggers a memory, write it down as part of your story.

Whenever I hear the Christmas carol Ring Christmas Bells, it takes me back to Junior High.  I was in the choir and our music teacher, Mr. Gardner I think his name was, had us perform that song in a Christmas Concert.  I can't remember if it was the only one we sang, but it is really the only one I remember.   I sang alto and I remember that it was pretty hard to learn that part.  Our teacher was really good though; he went over our parts until we knew it by heart.

My aunt Dot came to the concert and afterwards she told me that she thought we did a professional job on that song and that she thought our music teacher was really good.  That meant a lot to me because Dot had sung in the church choir and had also sung on the Bethany Hour, our church's radio program every Sunday morning.

My junior high school in West Springfield is now an elementary school.  In fact, it was the school that Marley went to from grades 1-5.  It was so neat for me to go back into that school.

These pictures are from an open house that I went to when Marley was in first grade.  I couldn't believe that the auditorium looked almost exactly the same.  Same platform, same seats even.  The only difference is that there is now a classroom in the back of the auditorium that makes it a little shorter.

You can be sure that when I went into this auditorium, I thought of Ring Christmas Bells.