While in New York, I’m staying in the house I grew up in, which I know like the back of my dad’s hand. Here’s a tour:
There used to be a large cherry tree in the spot where this lawn jockey now stands. When I was 12, I fell out of the tree, and was sure I broke my arm – to which my dad, a doctor, said, “Eh – we’ll save the X-rays for the paying customers.”
I was so excited for the arrival of my little brother that my parents used my suggestion for his name: Trevor. Two years later, Trevor and I were jumping on his bed when he fell into the wood shutters and came within a half-inch of losing an eye.
My mom, an antique dealer, cornered the market on ashtray “butlers” – wood cutouts that cover every inch of our home. What she didn’t factor in was that with three boys and a dog, these things didn’t stand a chance. We each became de-facto master craftsmen at gluing them back together.
East-coast basements are known for their rainy-day flooding. The week I moved to LA, a big storm hit New York and my mom tried to dry the carpet down here (where this de-humidfier now stands) with space heaters, and the house almost completely burned down. My parents moved into a hotel for over a year.
In some sort of childhood fit, I hucked a baseball at my bedroom door and left an imprint here, stitches and all. It was eventually filled back in (poorly), but message sent, mom.
There used to be a large cherry tree in the spot where this lawn jockey now stands. When I was 12, I fell out of the tree, and was sure I broke my arm – to which my dad, a doctor, said, “Eh – we’ll save the X-rays for the paying customers.”
I was so excited for the arrival of my little brother that my parents used my suggestion for his name: Trevor. Two years later, Trevor and I were jumping on his bed when he fell into the wood shutters and came within a half-inch of losing an eye.
My mom, an antique dealer, cornered the market on ashtray “butlers” – wood cutouts that cover every inch of our home. What she didn’t factor in was that with three boys and a dog, these things didn’t stand a chance. We each became de-facto master craftsmen at gluing them back together.
East-coast basements are known for their rainy-day flooding. The week I moved to LA, a big storm hit New York and my mom tried to dry the carpet down here (where this de-humidfier now stands) with space heaters, and the house almost completely burned down. My parents moved into a hotel for over a year.
In some sort of childhood fit, I hucked a baseball at my bedroom door and left an imprint here, stitches and all. It was eventually filled back in (poorly), but message sent, mom.
