The old house

My family moved from our house in Rose Park when I was two and a half. Yes, I almost grew up as a gangster. Despite my young age, I have a few memories of the old house, probably the oldest memories I possess.

I can remember walking into my playhouse in the backyard one day.

I can remember looking at our neighbors' basketball standard over the fence. It had the NBA logo on it. I couldn't tell that it was a person between the red and the blue; I just remember thinking it was a really weird design. And of course I couldn't read.

I remember my brother and his friends sitting at the table in the kitchen while I had fun playing with the light on the refrigerator--you know, the one where the ice and water come out. I was pushing the hidden button, turning the light off and on. I suppose it's possible this was a dream, but it could be real.

I have a memory that isn't of the house but would have been from the same era. We were visiting some neighbors, the Robisons, and two of the daughters were feeding me soup from a Ninja Turtle bowl, saying, "Here comes the airplane!" Although if it was a Ninja Turtle bowl, it's possible it was at our house after all.

I have a memory that I am quite positive was a dream, although it took me a long time to realize it was. I don't know whether it is from that era or if it came later; nevertheless, it does provide me with an image of the layout of our house. Some neighbor kids, the Bergeners, burst into our house one day. The girls went downstairs, but Brett (whom I erroneously called Bread) went up in the kitchen, where my mom was cooking. He took a bottle of vanilla and started chugging it, and my mom didn't seem to mind.

When I was seven, I went with my mom and my sister to the old neighborhood. We saw the old house and visited the ladies who lived there. Then we went and visited the Kellers, who gave us popcorn in little serving cups. I was hesitant to play with their kids, but after some convincing I went into the bedroom of a boy and a girl who shared a room.

When members of my family make reference to the old house, it's not something I can really relate to or have an attachment to. But I do have these few memories of it.