I've been missing you. Sorry!

Since I last wrote much has happened.  Most importantly is I have moved into a new apartment which was at once the Pizitz Department Store.   A treasured memory of growing up in Birmingham was to go  downtown usually after church at Christmas and Easter to see the windows at Pizitz and Lovemans and Burger Phillips. Trains would move around smiling and turning Santa who had a twinkle in his eye to astound the children.  Easter time the little furry bunnies would carefully hold their eggs and move their little heads.  Whole families of little bunnies filled the window and we watched with sheer delight.  The photo of me above is significant because the outfit I am wearing in the Santa picture is what I would wear to see the windows at Christmas.  Notice the mink muff and imagine me with it around my neck with a satin braided ribbon. Oh the softness of that little muff and a magical texture to this day I remember.


        Anyone who grew up in Birmingham would remember The Pizitz as a wonderful department store in the center of down town.  We lived in a new part of Birmingham away from town in a home designed and built by my parents with four children  Long Sunday afternoons we played kickball or later tether ball. A whole wall allowed one to hit a tennis ball for hours.  Games played like Annie Over where a tennis ball was thrown over the roof and if caught the one that caught it would sneak around and then try and hit the opponent with the ball thus making them go to the other side. If you could run around the house back to your side you didn't have to go to the other side. The game was won when one side had all the other team members. Daddy made is own grill  with cinder blocks and a steel grate that he would light hickory wood under for the most divine Sirloin Steaks.  No one lived near by so you could ride your bike up and down the gravel road without seeing a soul.  I had a Mimosa tree I climbed to look out. We had horses we rode and because the house was made for children there were large rooms where we could roller skate inside with our boot skates. When the milkman came we would ride with him to the end of the road and walk back to the house.  Isolated yes but a joy growing up.  I would complain that my only friends were trees.
         The best thing was Aunt Jennie who lived right next door. Her sister, Aunt Nell lived with her in a house that was build mostly by my father and his brothers.  My Grandmother was there too but she tragically died of of breast cancer when I was 7.That affected my mother quite deeply.  The chicken salad sandwich recipe Aunt Jennie did was made because Mimi died close to my mother's birthday and she wanted to help momma over the sadness she felt. Another time I will reminisce with Aunt Jennie and Aunt Nell stories.
         Living at the Pizitz is so very wonderful and I am so happy.  Willie the big black and white dog and I walk around the block but sometimes we venture to Railroad Park for an extended walk.  We are smack dab in the middle of  downtown.The house momma loved so much is on the market and I am slowly trying to sort out the good from the not so good.  I am in the middle of books right now. It is painful but I found someone whose high school burned and they are trying to get the library filled with books so a whole trunk full went with her.  It is slow but I am chipping away at it. We did have an estate sale and many things did sell but a lot was left.