Park Lake

Our new home was a two story house on Rickard Lane, formerly a two family dwelling; but now with the addition of a stairway it was converted to accommodate six kids. There was no indoor bathroom;  instead we had an outhouse in the back yard. This was winter, and using the outhouse was going to be an adventure. The kitchen sink had a hand water pump, and we didn’t have hot water. When we did dishes or took a bath, we had to heat the water. The last two houses my parents rented weren’t as nice as the house on Division St., and eventually that contributed to our problems.

My mom was waiting for us and seemed glad to see us. I don’t remember if she gave us a hug or kiss. The Christmas tree was gone; but on the floor was one more Christmas present for us, a wind up toy Ferris wheel. They thought we might be home for Christmas.

The Social worker talked with our mom for a few minutes while my brother and I explored the house. In the side room off the kitchen was the ironing board with white candy on wax paper. My mom had been making some Christmas candy that didn’t set up, so it was pretty chewy. I can still remember how good it tasted.  Out in the back yard was an old chicken coop that we would eventually use for a clubhouse.

The Social Worker finally left, but it was hard to settle in because we were so excited. My dad was still working at Oldsmobile and now owned a green Ford car to get back and forth with. I think it was an early forties car, and my folks nicknamed it the "Green Hornet". He would be home about 4:30, so we started watching out the window. When we saw his green car coming, we ran and hid in their bedroom. My dad came in the house, and I don’t think he knew we were there. When he came into the living room, we jumped out and yelled "Surprise".

My dad was happy to see us and gave us a big hug. My parents decided to take us to Lansing to see our grandparents.  They had not seen us since we were taken away.

The trip over to Lansing was fun, and we got to ride in the very first family car we knew of. My grandparents were especially glad to see us and enjoyed our visit.

When we got back home, it was time for bed. It had been a long and happy day. Our bedroom was not ready yet, but my sister’s room was. It was the warmest room upstairs with the register in the floor letting heat from downstairs to come upstairs. For the very first time I can remember my mom and dad tucked us into bed and kissed us goodnight.

The Christmas holiday would go by quickly, and it was time for us to go to school. We would be attending a school in Bath.  It was the same one that was bombed in the twenties, but we didn’t know that. It was a good school, and we got acquainted with the other kids and found out that some of them lived on the same road we did. The cafeteria was in a separate building outside of the main school; and of all the school cafeterias I’ve eaten in, this one was the best. They served dinner rolls almost every day, and they were great. My oldest brother and oldest sister finally joined us, so we had to move into our room. My oldest brother had his own room, but my oldest sister would be sharing her room with my two youngest sisters. They, too, came home; and for the first time in a long time, we were one family again.

Park Lake had two things which stuck in my mind,.  There was a commercial swimming and sunbathing beach that was enclosed by a fence, and they charged a dime to get in. They had a concession stand and a changing room and most importantly, a diving platform. This is where I first learned how to swim because my oldest brother took me out over my head and swam off.

The other thing was Hill Top Tavern, a bar my dad would eventually spend a lot of time in. My dad must have scouted this place pretty good because the tavern was a quick walk on a well beaten path through the woods behind our house. For the first couple of summers we lived there the tavern had Saturday night movies out behind the building. They hung up a sheet between two trees and brought in a sixteen millimeter projector, so  we got to see some movies while my dad was inside drinking.

1953 was a good year, and everything seemed to go along well all the way through Christmas. We had my grandparents over, and as always they brought nice presents. My mom was in the kitchen fixing dinner, and my dad walked up to her and gave her a big hug and a kiss. My mom told me to ask my dad why he did that, and all he told me was "Just look at her." Later on in life I knew what he meant. There was some love there, but even that would soon disappear.

The six of us were left alone more and more. We were fixing our own meals with what little food was in the house. One day we saw our mom in the morning, and she had a fat lip from a fight with my dad. The story she told us was that she "fell down."

My mom finally left, and the winter of 1954-1955 was very tough on us. Over the Christmas holiday we came down with intestinal flu, and there we were, sleeping on newspapers because that’s the only thing we had that we could change. We missed some school days leading up to Christmas, but they remembered us and sent home a package with food and candy.

After Christmas we were left on our own more by both our mom and dad. We had to wash our own school clothes, and sometimes they did not dry.  We wore them even when they were damp. We didn’t get baths often enough, and one day they called me out of class. I was taken down to the Gym and persuaded by a coach and a couple of athletes to take a shower.  They promised me some used Bath Athletic Dept. shirts. I don’t know what produced more water, the shower head or my tear ducts. I didn’t realize how bad we had gotten.

The fire in the pot belly stove was fueled by shingles and boards my oldest brother and I tore off the chicken coop. My mom came back to stay with us for a while; and with no food in the house, my oldest brother had to beg her for some money to buy a boxed macaroni dinner.

My oldest brother eventually had a confrontation with our mom and slapped her face. My dad just stood there and watched. I think after that the caring really stopped. My mom left for good, and my dad had lost his job at Oldsmobile and started spending most of his time at the tavern. I don’t know where he got the money to drink except to borrow it.

There were days when all we had to eat was peanut butter sandwiches. The family who lived down the road brought us some food, and they didn’t have much either. We soon got a visit from a woman named Mrs. Cook. She drove a green 1953 or 1954 Packard Clipper up to the front of our house and asked us kids some questions. I don’t remember the questions, nor do I remember the answers.   Maybe it was something about where our parents were, and probably our reply was, "We didn’t know."  It wasn’t long after that we packed up a few belongings in our 1946 red and black Packard and spent the night at the Hill Top Tavern parking lot. My dad knew Mrs. Cook was coming back.

The next day Dad dropped my oldest sister off at the home of a woman he knew who lived down the road from us. Then we drove to Alma to stay with my dad’s sister, Helen, and her husband.

My Aunt Helen was a great woman. She never had any kids of her own, but she took us in and gave us a good home. My Uncle Gene didn’t work at a regular job because he claimed he had heart trouble. Those of us who got to know him in later years had our doubts.  My Aunt and Uncle were building a new house, so they welcomed the help my dad and brother could give them in return for taking us in.

That night my younger brother and I slept in a clean bed upstairs with a blue and yellow comforter to keep us warm. We enrolled in a new school, and everything seemed pretty good. We ate three meals a day, and we had clean clothes and someone to watch over and care for us.

My Aunt worked at a dry cleaner and was able to find us second hand clothes left behind by others.

I didn’t know it at the time, but Clinton County Social Services was aware of where we went. I’m sure my dad knew about it, but that news was kept from us. I still don’t know why they were so interested in taking us away now.

Next week: St. Johns

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