Fire in Linden

After hearing about the fire in Linden so many memories came flooding back and I had to share them.. Only two months ago I read my Grandma Risk's diary from 2 of the years she lived there. Those years were 1943 and 1944.. Life then was very different. From before I was born until I was 11 years old my Grandmother and Great Grandmother lived upstairs in the apartment over the Drug store in the building that burned. My Grandma , Edna Risk, worked at the post office until she retired..Great Grandma Allen would sit in her chair by the front window and watched the goings-on down on the street. She did not go out much. I had 2 Aunts and Mother and Father that lived in the Apartment off and on also. When I was born that is the place I first lived. Sometime in my first year of life there was also a fire in the building. I am told that I was carried down in a dresser drawer and set on the sidewalk while other furnishings and other family treasures were brought to safety. The fire did not end up damaging our apartment. Other things I remember were the 2 stoves in the Kitchen/laundry area. One was wood burning and one was for coal. Grandma called one the laundry stove as she would heat water for the wringer washer on this stove. Coal was delivered to the back alley and hefted up to the back porch by bucket with a pully system and dumped into a metal 'horse trough' until needed. The back porch was always scary to me as I thought it was rickety and would collapse at any time. What did I know as it lasted for many years. It had a metal roof over it. Front to back were the front room/pallor, living room, dinning room . Parallel to them on the west side was Grandma Allen's bedroom, "the dark room" , Grandma Risk's room . The Kitchen and bath were across the back with a door and stairs going down to the Alley. The front stairs were off the main street , they were steep and were shared by the apartment to the east. Some times a stranger [usually one who had been drinking at the beer garden] would wander up the stairs and come into Grandma's door. When we would come to visit we would always go to the Mill Pond and watch the ducks. The water rushing through the gates kept our attention..Thanks for letting me remember and share

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