Today’s Wayback Wednesday are memories from my childhood when we lived in Mt. Vernon, NY. Every year on Saturday before Easter, my grandmother would have all the grandkids over to her apartment so she could make sure we were ready to go to church on Sunday morning.
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She didn’t want any excuses from our parents so she kept us all overnight which was fun for us, but pretty exhausting for her.
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Mama would run the bath water, squirt in a little dishwashing liquid and sometimes bathed us two at a time; she would put a hot iron on the open flame on the stove to straighten my cousin’s hair which was slathered with Royal Crown hair grease that had the apartment smelling like a hair salon.
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All of us were first cousins and all girls, all except one boy, Christopher who I am sure didn’t mind being part of a group of girls, he was so young that it really didn’t matter. Most of the time two sisters from each family were grouped together in pairs and our names were always called together:
Robynn and Loretta;
Toni and Gloria;
Brenda and Belinda.
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Unfortunately, each of us has lost a sister who is now all resting in Heavenly Peace
Loretta, Gloria, and Belinda
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My grandmother would have us wearing dresses with itchy crinoline petticoats (not Christopher) lacy socks and patent leather shoes. If it was a chilly day, we wore pastel colored polyester coats and white gloves…oh and once I even had a fancy muff…those were the days.
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We would head to church walking like baby chicks behind our grandmother and be there all day, participating in Sunday School, Morning Service, the afternoon Easter Program ending with dinner in the downstairs dining hall.
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My grandmother would take us back to her apartment to remove our fancy Sunday duds to return us to our parents in the clothes that we wore the day before…Mama didn’t play that. How I miss those days!
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“Money Earning Mt. Vernon”as the city in West Chester County New York was affectionately known was also home to many famous actors and musicians including:
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Denzel Washington
Art Carney
Dick Clark
Tami Roman
Michael Imperioli
Heavy D
DMX
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I have many other memories of my childhood in Mt. Vernon, including playing outside in junked cars pretending to drive and learning how to kiss using a wall but that’s another post for another day.
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Do you have any childhood memories that you wish to share?