When I was your age...Marley, Vivienne & Mckinley!

 

Preschool Princesses:  Vivienne (top), Mckinley (middle)  Marley (bottom)

The Preschool Years!
The preschool years can be tough...I mean, who really can remember that far back?  Fortunately I do have some memories of my life as a small girl.  When I am older and cannot remember what I had for breakfast, I will probably be able to recall even more!

Little Shirley...

Here I am at McKinley's age.

Mike and Shirley

I am not sure how old I am here...3 or 4.

Mike was 18 months younger.

Our little family lived upstairs in this pretty house.

It is still there on 100 East in American Fork, Utah.

When I was 3 or 4, we moved from Alpine to American Fork.  We lived just a few houses north of Main Street on First East, the main road north to Alpine.  It was a very nice house and we rented the upstairs apartment.  I thought it was a scary house, though.  Every night I could hear the noises from the neighbors' television coming up through the floor.  It sounded shaky and the voices were grumbly.  One night I woke up to see an owl perched on the window sill...inside my room!

My Wheels...

I had a little tricycle similar to this one.  If my mom and dad knew how much trouble I could get into...maybe they would have had second thoughts about giving me one.  Oh, the freedom of the open road...a ticket to ride!  Once I figured out that there was a great big world just around the corner...I set off to explore it.   We lived near Main Street...so that's where I would go.

That's my corner...just past the Phillips 66 sign!

I never crossed the highway...There was a traffic light on that corner, but I couldn't remember if red was "Stop" or "Go" so I stayed on the north side of Main.

I visited Briggs Drugs and the Bakery.

One day...I was riding west on Main Street.  It was way past my naptime and I would get very cranky when I got tired.  I got off my little trike and took a nap on the sidewalk in front of the drugstore.  A very nice homeless man (Mom called him a dirty hobo) carried me into the store and somehow called my mother...he did ask for $5 ransom...but I don't recall if he got it or not.

At Harrington School, the nice secretary gave me a candy bar and called my mother.

I visited City Hall...I don't recall if I spoke to His Honor the Mayor.

I remember a nice policeman, though. =D

It was definitely a safer and simpler world back in the late 1950's.  I'm sure my mother didn't mean to get so caught up in her soap operas.  She would have gotten in a lot of trouble today for not watching me better.  I think that after the hobo incident I no longer had wheels and freedom!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Mickey Mouse Club!

Even though it was in black and white...my memories are in Technicolor!

I loved the opening music and the trumpet fanfare and especially the part where they tossed Mickey up in the air.  After the Mouseketeers came on...I lost interest.  Jimmy, the leader, was terrifying to look at.  He had too many teeth!  By the way...I was also scared of Liberace...and his teeth!

Miracle Whip...

...and Wonder Bread! 

My favorite snack was slices of bread spread with Miracle Whip.

I ate this while watching...

...The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

I didn't understand most of it...but I liked his friend Maynard...he later became Gilligan!

A Few More Memories...

I have a few more little memories of that time and that house...especially my mother telling me that I couldn't play in the irrigation water on the lawn of the Presbyterian Church next door.  She told me that I would catch "polio." She also wouldn't let me play in the snow on the lawn...because it was full of nuclear fall-out.  When I saw "yellow snow" I thought it was radioactive!  She didn't have to make up excuses...just say "NO!" 

I know you are pretty young right now...and maybe you won't understand all I've written today...but hopefully someday you will!  Have fun being little girls!  I sure did!

Love,

Grandma Shirley