Urban123's profile

Hired as Welding Operator at PWA March 2, 1955 - East Hartford, CT

Our Son was Born November 19, 1953 - Castine, ME

Got Married March 29, 1952 - Penobscot, ME

Graduated High School June 6, 1951 - Bucksport, ME

Went to School the First Time September 7, 1938 -

I barely recall my first day at school, but my mother likely took me that first time. We had moved to outer Central Street by then...less than a mile from the Luman-Warren Elementary School where I was to attend "Sub-Primary". I'd had to wait an extra year before beginning, because my birthday came after the first day of school, so I was almost age 6 when I started. No preschool for me. My first day was a new experience. I may not recall that first day clearly, but the first week left a lasting impression. The girl seated beside me to my left was one I'd known from Pine Street. But she acted like she didn't know me. I've never been able to account for that. And she was the only one in the class of about 30 that I recognized from before beginning school. "Sub-Primary" was the year of schooling prior to first grade, similar to kindergarten of today.

My First School Days September 4, 1938 - Bucksport, ME

Because my birthday came early in October, I was not allowed to begin school until I was age 5. That didn't happen until I was nearly age 6. In those days there was no preschool to prepare me (or anyone) for the formality of school. I remember being taken into the Luman-Warren School in Bucksport, ME, by my mother. All was strange to me, never having experienced anything like it before. I was "handed over" to the "sub-primary" teacher, who sat me at a table among about 30 other beginners, only one of whom I recognized (who, for whatever reason, appeared not to know me). This was the girl, seated beside me, who had lived in the house out front in town. I was living on Central Street by then, and Ma made arrangements for me to go to her mother's apartment nearer the school when school was out. After a few of those early days, I remember being marched into school to the music of John Phillip Sousa. The music has always touched my soul. Sub-primary, these days, is kindergarten, I suppose...that school year to be attended before 1st grade.

We Live on Central Street June 15, 1938 -

Dad had been rebuilding a burnt-out house on Central Street for some time before he'd made it livable for our little family. The house was about 3/4 of a mile from Main Street, and would be our home for all of my formal school years. I remember that there was no electricity, no telephone, and the toilet was an outhouse attached to the barn. I also re-member that we has a dog, King, a collie, that I'd never been aware of before moving there. It was from there that I began school.

My brother, Bruce, is born. May 27, 1937 - Bucksport, ME

My brother, Lloyd, developed pneumonia and died in January of 1937. My mother was already carrying another child in her womb as she tended the dying infant that she really loved. She was heartbroken when she lost him. I was 4 at the time. My brother, Warren (Ronnie ever after), got to be 3 on March 4. And Ma gave birth to Bruce on May 27, in the house my Dad had helped build in town so he and my aunt wouldn't have to travel 5 miles to high school in the winter. I don't remember anything about Bruce until he was a year old.

My brother, Lloyd, is born February 15, 1936 - Bucksport, ME

Why are some babies so tough and resistant to sickness, so driven to live, and others so subject to disease or defeat? True, medical care was often far from the sick infant, and there were many epidemics to contend with in those cold winter conditions. And cures for some of the sicknesses were yet to come. So the cemeteries are littered with markers of children who died in infancy, sometimes as many as four or five born to the same unfortunate mother. My mother was one who lost a baby in infancy. Though I don't recall the birth or death of Lloyd, his influence on Ma has always been there in memory. He died on January 29, 1937.

Running Away August 15, 1935 - Bucksport, ME

We were living in the house on Pine Street. It was late evening, and Mom and Dad needed to go out for something. They didn't want Ronnie and me along, so they sat us on the edge of their bed facing the double windows that looked out into our front yard, which was the back yard of our neighbor's home. I sort of knew the neighbors, I guess. Their home fronted on Pine Street. Their back door was an attractive one with a light visible. Well time goes really slow when you're very young, and it must've dragged then. I was sure we'd never see our parents again, and decided to go to the light, like moths to the flame. I took my little brother by the hand, slid off the bed and we made our way to that friendly back door. We were quickly ushered inside. I don't recall any reaction by the neighbors. But I remember getting spanked when we got taken home. I can imagine the embarrassment of our parents, too. They had left two toddlers alone in a dark house (a definite no-no even in 1935). I also remember them eating two lollipops that they'd gotten for us boys, they said.

We move to Pine St. in town April 20, 1935 - Bucksport, ME

I don't know exactly when we made the move from Grammy Coombs' house in Bucks Mills to Pine Street in town. I have no specific frame of reference for the change except that my brother, Warren, (nicknamed Ronnie) was there walking. He would have been a year old on March 4, and if as aggressive as about walking would be up on two legs. I vaguely recall leading him by the hand from place to place in our new living quarters. My grandfather, Aaron, with help from Dad, built the little 4 room house on Pine St. in Bucksport so Dad and his younger sister, my Aunt Shirley, would have a place to live in town to save a long haul from Bucks Mills in the cold winter months. A promissary note for the property it sat on is dated 1922, said property having been sold for $100 payable in 2 installments of $50 a year apart. Grampy Coombs (Papa, we all called him) had a sawmill that he'd built on his Bucks Mills property. So it's likely that the lumber that built the Pine St. house came off Papa's property and was sawn and hauled into town. Anyhow, we moved into our new townhouse in 1935, after it had been built years before when Dad was 14 and Aunt Shirley was 12.

Airplane June 15, 1934 - Bucksport, ME

I learned about airplanes (almost). I was walking and saw Dad making something on the table above where I could see. Somehow I was able to ask what he was making. "An airplane," he said. I had no clue what an airplane was or what it was for, so I asked somehow...what it did. "Fly," he replied. Well, I knew what flies were, so I scampered into the kitchen for Grammy's fly swatter.