My Trails into the Past

When writing the story of your family, have you included those memories of times with the neighbors? Neighbors can often be an important part of your family’s lives. Here is a story of the neighbors of my parents who likely helped out with advice and childcare for my young mother. When we lived in Pittsburg, California, the next-door neighbors were an older Italian-American couple named Jerry and Eleanor. Eleanor did a lot of things for my mother, probably watching one or two of us when she had too much to do with the younger children. By 1960, she had four children under six. I had brought home both the measles and chicken pox during my year in Kindergarten, and subsequently the three younger siblings also got it—even the newborn. There was probably lots of discomfort and crying. I could not remember Jerry and Eleanor’s last name. We always called them Eleanor and Jerry. I had just turned nine when we moved to Walnut Creek in 1963. But I remember her house. It was cozy with stuffe...