Frankie and Slim

Frankie and Slim
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Wednesday, June 05, 2013

HAND-ME-DOWN PRINCESS

What caused me to grow up believing I was a princess? Because I had the honor of living in this house when in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades. My formative years. 

 It was the church parsonage for a period of time. As with all other church parsonages, it was a hand-me-down house with hand-me-down furnishings but certainly fancier than the usual stuff. 

 I loved it but my poor mother had to clean it without the advantage of housekeepers that had been available to the previous owners:) Of course she had my sister to help in the house and my brother and dad did the grounds.  Since I was "the baby" it was easy to slip away and feed my daydreams:)

Oh so now you think it was okay for my siblings to pick on me?

21 comments:

  1. That is one beautiful house!

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  2. beautiful. thanks for sharing the memory with us.
    way more hoouse than I could keep clean lol

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  3. I don't think it's ever a good idea to pick on others, no matter what. Kids don't often know that though. You were lucky to escape having to clean though!

    Gorgeous house - I'll bet it was gorgeous on the inside, too.

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  4. Both of my kids had to help with cleaning, unlike my grandchildren who barely make their beds, and find if the housekeepers have been there that day, the house is spotless! That house looks like Gone with the Wind and I can imagine how magical it was for you. Where was this?

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  5. Wow! It is practically a castle! (Rob)

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  6. Munir -- It was as beautiful inside as it was outside.

    Sonny -- I never knew how hard it was for my poor mother to keep clean and of course she had church ladies inspecting it all the time.

    Lynn -- I must admit that I was quite the brat. It is a wonder my older siblings didn't give it to me a lot worse:) I cannot begin to tell how gorgeous that house was on the inside. It was an authentic historic mansion and eventually the church demolished it to build a church on the property. Many people fought to preserve the house and I cried and cried when I learned it had been destroyed.

    Tabor -- My mother always smiled and assured me "what goes around comes around" and I did lots of work when a parent because my children refused to help me. When I complained my mother loved it. lol The house was very much like something out of Gone With The Wind. The town was Tahlequah, Oklahoma the capital of the Cherokee Nation where the home of Sequoyah who invented the Cherokee alphabet and other famous Cherokees lived. There are still many historic homes in that area.

    Rob and Monica -- Rob, stay tuned. I will post a picture of a castle that I walked past every day on my why home from school to return to my mansion home. I'm telling you when we moved from that town I was slapped in the face with reality after those magical years. It disappeared from my life much like Brigadoon.

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  7. What a gorgeous place!! You were a lucky kid.

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  8. What a beautiful place to dream your princess dreams. I can only imagine how special it was to you.

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  9. What a beautiful house. It must have been fun living there and exploring all the rooms and secret corners.

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  10. Nice - yes the baby gets to slip away!

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  11. My goodness that was beautiful! sandie

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  12. Wow! Now that is very grand indeed. What a fabulous place to spend your girlhood.

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  13. What a beautiful house! Hey, if they didn't pick on you for that, it would be something else. That's siblings...especially as we're growing up! :)

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  14. Wow, that is like a movie setting!

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  15. There were 5 in our sib group n all had chores to be done each day before free play time. You never would've gotten out of cleaning with my Mother- I'd love to have that much space now- my place gas tiny rooms.

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  16. Wow that is one big house. How many loos did it have?

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  17. kenju -- Judy, I did feel like a lucky kid. You should have seen the parsonages we lived in up to that time. They were some pretty creepy places.

    Jeanie -- I often wonder how big a place it played in my life. I tended to always be looking for Prince Charming and didn't find him until I was 52.

    Pat MacKenzie -- The best exploring was the third floor that had been burned. There were boards placed there and we could cross over to the cupola and look out all over the town.

    Brite Mist -- Hey, is that spoken like a fellow baby-of-the-family?

    Chatty Crone -- It was, it was!

    Kay -- They were important years to me and at least when we moved our next parsonage was large enough for me to still have my own room. That was the most important part.

    Talon -- Oh boy you are right about that. They could sure dish it out (and still do) and I was quite the cry-baby. I just told my sister last week that if I could call mother I would call and tell on her for still picking on me.

    Riot Kitty -- I still cannot believe the historic society failed to save that house.

    Snaggle Tooth -- I still do not understand why mother let me slide so easily. I think it was easier just to let me go than to waste time arguing with me. I can remember when I shared a room with my sister and she would perfectly make HER SIDE of our bed and leave my side a mess. Now she spoils me as much as our mother did.

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  18. LL Cool Joe -- That was a good question. The house had 14 very large high ceiling rooms (not including the third floor that had burned out) and three bathrooms if my memory serves me correctly. There was a very fancy powder room off the ballroom (with grand piano)but it did not have facilities other than a seating area and mirror for a lady to powder her nose. There was a downstairs bathroom in the den and a bathroom upstairs in the master bedroom then a bathroom at the end of the hall from my bedroom and my brothers. My sister had to walk quite a distance to share it. My brother had a full kitchen in his bedroom. He used it for a dark room for his film developing hobby. I had a small sink in my bedroom. It is my guess that when the house was originally built there was no indoor plumbing at all.

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  19. Why Scarlet o' Hara - that's Tara as I live and breath.

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  20. Pat -- Exactly and I am very good at "Thinking about that tomorrow...."

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  21. Wow what a wonderful wonderful experience...you should write a book of all the memories you have from those formative years living there.

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