Saturday Stories - First Apartment 08-05-17

After living many places growing up, including several rented rooms (do they have those any more?) Diane moved from her little grandmother's house in Arcadia to a apartment in a converted Victorian in Pasadena.   It had wonderful high ceilings and a hanging chandelier in the "parlor".  The kitchen was built from the original front porch and the bathroom was an addition onto the outside of the bedroom.  It was sort of a jerry-rigged arrangement, but it was hers!  It came furnished, but no dishes, pots, flatware, or linens.  Friends and relatives donated odds and ends and Diane bought brand new sheets for the double bed.  It was an exciting time.  Across the street and up a few doors was a "holy roller" church with loud and festive music on Sunday and one night a week (Wednesday, maybe).  She could walk to the grocery store and found a neighborhood beauty shop to have her hair cut. 

 

It was sort of the final step to freedom and she never lived with anyone again, except her two husbands (at different times!).   At that time she could move everything she owned in her own car.  The next time she moved she needed to have help from a friend with a pickup.  One time she moved from a studio apartment on one side of the street, directly across to a one bedroom on the other side.  That was the WORST move because everything had to be carried, no piling it into a car and backing up into a driveway.

Now, like so many ladies she knows, she is living with a 60 year accumulation of "stuff" and is faced with downsizing and de-cluttering.  A terrible burden to bear, but one she must deal with, and soon.
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