My Life-In the beginning

This will start at the beginning as I remember it. I can remember back to when I was about 2 1/2. We lived in a clapboard duplex on the corner of 14th and Ohio in Long Beach. Just me and mom, Betty Kendall at that time. Here is what I remember:

I remember sitting in my highchair with the teddy bear painted on the back. I liked oatmeal, Wheatena, tuna sandwiches, and spaghetti. I hated anything with mayonnaise, lettuce or corn.

A big heavy legged walnut table was right inside the front door with a lacy crocheted tablecloth and an arched light brown radio on top. There were lacy white curtains in the living room. Next to the table was a dark wooden slat back rocking chair. Mom used to rock me and sing "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess. She would also sing along to whatever was playing on the radio. She sounded very good to me. We would listen to Our Gal Sunday, Amos and Andy, The Night Gallery, The Lone Ranger, and whatever else was on.

You had to walk through the bedroom to get to the kitchen on the left and bath on the right. The bed was a hollowed metal frame, I think it was light green, with a chenille bedspread.

The back yard was long and narrow along the back of the duplex. There were the kind of flowers in the grass that looked like clover with long stems and pink and yellow flowers. You could eat the stems, yum! I can remember making mud pies. There was a gate at the end of the yard that opened out to Ohio St. One day it was open and I went for a walk. Mom found me almost to Anaheim St. I liked to go for walks, but usually mom had me in the blue metal stroller with the wooden handle.

Across the street on 14th lived the Berseth family. Mrs. Berseth was my babysitter. Mom worked at a parts manufacturing plant owned by Charles Berseth. Mrs. Berseth would bake pies all the time. She would make me my very own little apple pie in a tart pan. The smell of apple pies baking still makes me feel good. I would take a nap on the couch every day with a bright multi-colored crocheted blanket as a cover.

The first birthday cake I remember, I turned 3 and got a wonderful chocolate birthday cake. My mom made me a chocolate cake from that same recipe for most of my childhood, and some adult birthdays. It is the old Hershey's recipe with the butter cream frosting. Licking the bowl was the best!

For a short time I went to a preschool. It was a big two story house with a small back yard and side yard on the west side of the house. I think it was on the north west corner of Spaulding and Orizaba. There were lots of dark green trim pieces on the outside and inside of the house. I remember oatmeal for breakfast.

After mom caught a neighbor peeping in our bathroom window at our place on 14th St., we moved to a housing project called Carmelitos in North Long Beach  Our apartment was upstairs with an interior stairway. I would play with my dolls at the bottom of the stairway. There was a closet at the bottom, and most of my few toys were in there. I can remember one cold winter day putting on my favorite sunsuit, and trying to sneak outside. Mom caught me, and paddled my butt for trying to go outside without asking, especially in that outfit. The back of that hairbrush saw a lot of action in my growing up years.

When you got to the top of the stairs and turned right, there was a large yellow kitchen. Mom had been collecting the Jewel Tea dishes with the brown and orange pattern. There was a wooden spindle table and chairs, and the highchair was gone.

I had my tonsils out when I was 3 because I had so many colds and it was the thing to do. It was done at Seaside Hospital at 14th and Magnolia in LB. Mom spent the night next to my bed. I got a milk shake for breakfast, and mom got me what I really, really wanted...a kite.

We lived there for about 2 years. On Mother's day of 1952 I gave mom a beautiful blue jaw breaker. I wasn't allowed to eat jaw breakers because you could choke. Mom let me go to the corner store with some of the older kids. Mom HAD to have that wonderful jaw breaker, it was the perfect gift. By the time we got home from the store I had licked most of the blue from the outside. Mom laughed so hard, AND she let me eat the jawbreaker!

The lady who lived across from us had lots of kids, including 2 sets of twins. The twins were just fascinating to me. After that I always wanted to be a twin. Their house was a disaster all the time. On the other hand, our house was always immaculate. Mom wanted a clean house all the time, and I wanted lots of brothers and sisters.

I can remember taking the bus from North Long Beach to downtown. The bus went down Atlantic, and the fountain in front of the drugstore at Atlantic and Carson (I think it was Carson) was always a high point. Occasionally, the fountain would be filled with bubbles, pranks by the local kids.  We would be going to visit Nita Blood. She was my mom's neighbor when I was born.

She lived above the showroom that sold Autoette's, golf carts people would drive in the streets until they were declared not street legal. There were two apartments over the showroom at 537 W. Anaheim in LB. It was later the International Harvester showroom. Across the street was the Blue Door bar. Nita would babysit me, and mom would go over there. My sister-in-law DeAnn's mother, Dean, and mom talked about hanging out there at about the same time.

Nita had white lace curtains, Mexican style couch and chair with multi-colored cloth and wide wooden arms. She had a walnut vanity in her bedroom, and would let me put on lipstick and perfume. She could put me to sleep faster than anyone. I would lay on the couch, and she would rub my feet and legs. Oh my, that was real pleasure, and still is to this day. Keith has mastered this technique to calm me down :)

Her "backyard" was the rooftop of the showroom. Now that was really an adventure for little kid. She had potted plants, and would let me help her water them.

Mom and I would take the bus downtown to go to the beach or to the Plunge at the Pike. Mom loved to swim in the ocean. She taught me to swim when I was less than a year old. I can still remember the smell of the Plunge. Afterward I would get a hotdog on a stick or shrimp at the Pike.

Another adventure was going to Aunt Lou (Louise) and Uncle Tony's in San Pedro. They weren't really related by blood, but mom lived with them when she was a teenager and had run away from home. Hence, my middle name, Louise.

Uncle Tony, Tony Falsetta, was one of 6 sons and 6 daughters. None of the boys had any sons to carry on the family name. Most of the family lived within a few block radius in San Pedro. Aunt Lou and Uncle Tony never had any kids, so mom and I were their family. They lived in a 4 plex at 216 W. 14th St., east of Pacific. I loved going to their house. It was always so alive, and Aunt Lou was wonderful.

In 1953 we moved to Los Angeles. This was also about the time I started wondering about my dad. Mom said his name was Charles Kendall, and he had choked to death.