~~Brooklyn New York East 3rd St~~
We were 4 brothers , we lived in the center of Brooklyn New York , between Greenwood Cemetery and Prospect Park. The entertainment as kids was to make our own go carts out of abandoned baby carriages, and worn out roller skates. Only a few of my buddies from my childhood had a skate key. That was a privilege.
Greenwood cemetery was where we played hid & seek , and ringo levio. It was in this graveyard where my first impressions of stone sculpture had made there impressions . There are three lakes in this cemetery , one where I was perched on a ledge poised to jump in to catch this bull frog when my best friend Ernie Coligneario grabbed my collar and prevented me from leaping . He did save my life yet at the time I was really ticked off at him.
My uncle Gasper made his own wine , had two gators in his yard , which his boys had as pets and had grown larger then the fish tank . They had to be brought out in the back yard. , eventually the city of New York had removed them , taken them to some sort of animal farm , no not Manhattan.
~~Prospect~~
You reminisced that the place you played was a cemetary. Do you ever wonder why some people feel so uncomfortable in them? They have always felt a place of peace for me. They are quiet, beautiful, and filled with beauty. In our world it isn’t the dead we should fear, but the living that thrive on causing so much pain.
Did you happen to see the documentary about shark fins? The Chinese eat shark fin soup as a delicasy.sp*? The fisherman have been filmed cutting these endangered animals fins off while they are still alive…then throwing them back into the ocean to end their lives in a slow painful death. Just one small part of how cruel man-kind is souly for the sake of making money.
Jerry, you had 3 brothers!Where in line were you? Having been one of 4 brothers is a story in itself! I am facinated by the stones in cemeteries.The older ones are amazing,like the ones from the old countries,they brought their stonecarving with them.The Gothic and Victorian ones are beautiful.They tell about the persons life.To see a gargoyle in a cemetery is to go into another world.Some of the finest carved stones are in cemeteries.
Hi Pattie
I was the third in line my brother Robert was the youngest.
In this cemetary are figures of Firemen, each stone statue of these firemen are with view of each other . They are located throughout the cemetary and symbolically they watch over each other, thus there location allows each one of these statues to lead to the next .
yours
Jerry
The roller skate key sure brings back memories! I too had a key for our one pair of metal roller skates that my sister, brother and I would share.. The fighting was monumental, as we all wanted a turn, and we wanted it NOW!! lol.. We would love to skate up and down the sidewalks on hot muggy days.. Making the scraping sound as the wheels ground into the cement.. The neighbours would come out and shake their fists at us in a semblance of opposition.. crying out to us to stop it! The noise was thunderous between the panes of glass of their windows!! Oh how we loved to torment them!! Flying past on wheels of freedom, out of the grasp of the adults who tried to thwart us!!
I love how your memories spark ones of my own as well.. It is always a pleasure to reserect past experiences, especially when they are full of fun and joy!!
Thanks Jerry.. always love your stories!!!
Tina
Jerry,
Its so ironic how your childhood is similar in many ways to mine. I remember those skates with the key. Skating was so much entertainment for me. As far as the wine. My step-father made homemade wine, he even made his own contraptions. I had gotten into it once, and learned my lesson that night and the next morning LOL. Oh and the explosion of wine that covered our small trailer ceiling,from a bottle that wanted to be free LOL. Luckily it only happened once. When living in Fortladerdale Fl 1973 my sister and I would steal mangos from this mans yard and eat them. Oh how you bring so many memories back to me, opening up channels in my brain that lingered in the corner, waiting for that special spark.
Light and Love
Donna
I was wondering if maybe it was your Uncle Gasper who was responsible for all the stories of the Alligators down in the Sewers of New York! Ha! Jerry your remembrances are so great to me. I HAD a skate key! Wore it around my neck on white tennis shoe shoe lace! I felt so COOL! SO DARN COOL!!!
Skating and then all us little kids walking up the three blocks (seemed like such a BIG adventure then!) to Panazzos market where we bought Popsicles for Three cents. Banana or Root beer were MY favourites!
The funny thing is that two of the Panazzo kids went on to form a group called STYX! (But they were bigger than us) I remember them playing in garages on our block singing over and over and OVER “My Baby Dolls a Hanky Panky!” And all us little kids would just dance and dance out in the alley!
You just never know who is going to hit it big do you?
Thanks for this Jer! You’re Great! Sean