32 Linden Avenue: (1943 -1965)

By Joan H. Parks

32 Linden Avenue is perched high up on a hill overlooking a small town in western Pennsylvania and is the heart of this evocative journey through the author's fragmented memories of Appalachia. The murmuring of the women, the love and everyday lives of those living in the hard hill country and then the drenching of those memories in the deep hushed and hovering Protestant faith of that time and that place is woven into a spell drenched in the detailed memories of everyday life. A child, temporarily separated from her father and mother and brother by fate, found magic and succor, and most of all enduring love.

The young mother sees the same magic through older eyes and in the midst of the pain of her mothers final illness and bitter frustrated life is, as when a child, comforted by her family from the hill. Haunted throughout her life, the author sees all this from even older eyes and vows that her children, and now grandchildren, shall not be deprived of the chance to seize meaning and beauty and, thus, comfort from these remembrances.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491718087

Joan H. Parks

Joan H Parks lives in Chicago, IL, and after a career in clinical research refreshed her life by becoming a fiction writer. Her undergraduate degree was from the University of Rochester in Non-Western Civilizations, her MBA from the University of Chicago. She studies poetry, including Yeats and the Canterbury Tales (in Middle English); has an interest in the ancient world which she has gratified by studying at the Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago; is an aficionado of The Tales of Genji, which she rereads every year or so. Her family regards these activities with amusement, for she also listens to Willie Nelson and Dierks Bentley. She can be contacted at joanhparks.com

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 Joan H. Parks.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-1807-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-1808-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013922299

iUniverse rev. date: 12/06/2013

Contents

Foreword

Dolly

Miriam

Foreword

Walking down Michigan Avenue to climb the stairs to the Art Institute I heard someone say in my dream, ‘Miriam’. I awoke in tears and started writing this remembrance. Much has changed since then. But the memories remain intact.

I have changed nothing but some trivial spelling errors. Any errors of fact or interpretation I apologize for.

Joan H Parks

Chicago, IL

2013

The cast of characters

Granddaddy Cassidy, Robert Cassidy. A big hard-drinking Irishman ran an Insurance Agency in Burgettstown, was the Mayor for a time, and would not pay to have his children go to college or nursing school. His daughters put themselves and their siblings through one by one, but Robert, the only son, never went off to school.

Grandmother Cassidy, Fanny Gregory Cassidy—a tiny white haired woman, DAR, the second wife of Granddaddy Cassidy, married him when Ora, child of his first marriage was about thirteen. The source of the premature grey hair, the mouth, and the brown eyes. A lady, her children accorded her respect and deference, would not drink beer or smoke in her house, but only on the porch.

Ora—half sister from Granddaddy Cassidy’s first marriage. Her husband Ed Carlisle wore spats, smoked cigars, and was a darling. Both of them were fat. Their daughter, Jane McVey, was born the same year as Miriam, married and had two sons, whose names I can’t remember.

Hope married Bert Haines who died in the 40’s. Their only son, David Haines, a family favorite, became a minister, married, and had five children. His wife, Mona, lost all her teeth in having the children, and caused a family scandal by not getting a plate. Honestly, she is a minister’s wife, she should have some teeth in her head.

Robert, the only son, made some kind of marginal living as an entrepreneur—if memory serves me right he looked for oil in the Pennsylvania hills. A mechanical genius he could keep machines going out of old parts and shoelaces. He kept Miriam’s washing machine working over a thirty year period; the machine was a treasure because it was very sparing of water, and water pressure was hard to get on the top of the hill. He never tied his shoes, claiming that if he drove into the river he didn’t want to drown because he couldn’t get his shoes off. He married Grace, and they had 3 children: Robert, James and Miriam. Miriam (known as Little Miriam) became a nurse, had a spat with her true love and then married Holy Roller Bailey and then is lost to me. Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations. In 1996 there are 4 Robert J Cassidy’s listed on the internet in Burgettstown: 11,111, IV and plain.

Dolly (Fanny), my mother, also known as the Doll.

(b 1905, d 1963 age 57) Went off to Westminister College (bankrolled I think by Hope), and met Robert (referred to in this story as Bob) Hunt, a missionary’s son who had found a new religion—Freud. They married but kept it secret because in those days a married woman automatically lost her job. Ambitious, liked lovely clothes and excused buying them (this will last me 10 years so if I divide the price by 10 it’s not so bad). To me, she looked happiest when in Burgettstown. Children Bob Jr b 1934, Joan b 1938

Joan (b 3/24/38) the narrator of these stories. Children, Gregory Jonathan Parks 1/30/61, Dana Katrina Parks Stewart 3/11/64, And Leslie Ericson Parks b 2/12/68,); grandchildren (Calvin Reed Stewart 7/3/93, Rachel Lee Parks 9/14/93 and Kyle Anderson Stewart 1/20/94)

Bobby, Dolly’s son and my brother, now called Bob. Stayed with Hope and Bert on their farm when Dolly was sick the first time. Lived in Chicago at the time of this part of the story. Daughter by Eva Verbitsky Hunt (Melissa Gabriella Hunt Issac (3/10/65, and grandchild Ian)) Second wife—Irene Winters—so beloved that Dana, Melissa, and Leslie are in a race to name a female baby Irene. He is now known as Bob but to avoid confusion from the abundance of Robert’s and Bob’s he is referred to in this story as Bobby, no matter what his age.

Lucy—unlike her sisters was tall like her father, she married Ed Knestrick and had two children, Carolyn and David. An RN, she nursed Carolyn through a year of rheumatic fever that kept Carolyn in bed. Carolyn married and all the sisters showed up in support, making sure Carolyn didn’t turn tail and refuse to marry, as she threatened to do. They had a wonderful time at the wedding, lots of drama and recalcitrant children to whip into shape. David went