An Address With a Story

        When I first read the theme for this week’s blog, I thought the address in question would need to be an historic old home, or one that was in our family history long ago. But the more I thought, the more I realized that any address would have a story, and it would not need to go back hundreds of years. So with this in mind, I am choosing to write about the home where I spent the majority of my childhood, 16 Cherry Lane Rd, Brookside, NJ, on the corner of Cherry Lane and Colonial Road. 

1956 - foundation being constructed - photo has been colorized

July 3, 1957 was the day our family moved into our new home on Cherry Lane. And yes, there were tall wild cherry trees along the the road and in our backyard too. The house was brand new. My dad, with the help of friends and construction crews, built this house from the ground up on a one-acre lot in an area that was just being developed in rural, northern New Jersey.  It was a beautiful wooded lot. Our house was what you might call a kind of a pre-fab today.  A company called Well-Built Homes provided the basic structure, but to save money, my dad and others did a lot of the finishing work inside, like installing real hard-wood floors. 

photo of the General Store in Brookside in early 1950's

It was a two story home, with a walk-out basement, and a 2 car tuck-under garage. There were four bedrooms, two on the first floor and two on the second. And one bathroom for all of us to share. How did we ever manage that? When we first moved in, it was my mom and dad, my two younger brothers and me. We three kids had the two bedrooms upstairs. But in the beginning there were no stairs to the second floor, just an extension ladder that was well-secured. To this day I still remember going up that ladder, and looking down to the basement two floors below. I don’t think that would pass inspection in today’s world!

the front and side view of our house in 1960's

My dad did so much work on the grounds outside. He was such a hard worker, and he had a real vision for what he wanted. He planted so many beautiful flower and vegetable gardens. We never lacked for kale, asparagus, tomatoes, etc.

Above all, one of the best things he built for us was a real treehouse. It even had a roof. I think we all enjoyed that treehouse the most of all. You needed to climb up to it on a wooden extension ladder (maybe the same one we used to get to the second floor when the house was new). I know Bob fell once and broke his arm when he was young.

In 1961 my brother Roger was born, so now I had three younger brothers. I was in my teens by then, so I helped out taking care of him. And years after that our Poppop (my mom’s father) came to live with us. Thankfully by this time we had added a 1/2 bath on the second floor.

Bottom L to R Chuck, Roger, Mom
   Standing, Poppop, Jim, me, Bob, Dad

In July 1976 my parents sold the house, packed up a moving truck, and moved to Hendersonville, NC, with my youngest brother Roger. My folks had both retired by this time, mom from her secretary job at the school, and dad from his pharmaceutical sales career. We three older kids were married and had left home, and Poppop had passed away.

What is so very hard for me to believe is that our family only lived in that home for 19 years. That seems impossible, as it seemed so much longer than that. It seems like a lifetime. We created so many memories there, ones that remain with me to this day.

And I can’t finish this without talking about the community of Brookside itself. Maybe that is one reason why our home holds so many memories. The community was in one word idyllic. A childhood friend of mine calls it Camelot. It was truly a perfect place to grow up. It was a safe, rural and oh so friendly place. I have so many memories of the 4th of July day-long celebration, with a parade, carnival games, fire engine rides, community meals in the Community Hall, and the talent show in the evening (which I won one year with my best friend playing a flute duet). 

We went sledding down our hill in the wintertime, skating on a near-by lake, Christmas caroling outside with our church group, exploring in the woods around where will lived, sitting down by the old store by the bridge over the brook (yep, that’s why it was called Brookside), and so much more.

The old store is now a Post Office - notice the brook!

About 9 years ago while on a trip to eastern Pennsylvania, I drove about an hour or so to Brookside to see how things had changed. I stopped at the store (now the post office) and walked inside. There were a few people there and I just started chatting with them. Wouldn’t you know it, they remembered my family and me. I ran into someone who works at the church where I was married, and they took me to the church just down the street where Chuck and I exchanged vows. She even took out the marriage books where I saw our names written from back in 1973. That’s just the type of place it was and still is! 

the Brookside Community church where Chuck and I were married

I then drove up the hill on Cherry Lane to see our old home. It is still there, but I learned it is a rental home now and no one was home. The tree house is gone, but the forsythia bushes my dad planted are still there. I was glad to see them. Someday if I go back, I would love to be able to see the inside. Although I’m sure it has been remodeled at least a couple times, I’d love to just see it again. 

This story wouldn’t be complete without thanking our parents for providing us with this most cherished home. Mom and Dad are both gone now, but their work and sacrifices through those years gave us enough beautiful memories to last a lifetime, and beyond. It is the type of thing that you don’t know how truly special it was until after it is gone. 

So yes, this address on Cherry Lane has a story, a story of love, hard work, family and community, which I will always treasure.