Our New House

I remember the moment I first set eyes on the beautiful, old, yellow Victorian on Stanton Avenue. It looked like a mansion, set back from the street up a long driveway with grass and trees on both sides. It towered up three floors, rivaling the treetops for a view of the downtown Castro Valley. My parent's had taken my two older brothers and I out to look at a few houses for rent and this was our first stop. My jaw dropped and I knew I didn't need to see the other houses, this was it. It wasn't in the best condition but as a budding 2nd grader, I didn't mind that kind of thing. I also had no experience with creepy old houses or I might have felt the dark energy emanating from every loose board and rotting window sill. We went inside and were charmed by the entry into the little sunroom, the white French doors that opened on to the living room and the front porch with 180 degree views, spanning from both side yards and down the driveway. I ran through the house with that childhood excitement, peeking into every odd little nook and century old detail exclaiming "Look at this!" and "I want this room!" Needless to say, we moved in the next month.

After moving the previous year from Arkansas with everything we owned and the five of us piled into a Pinto station wagon, this was a dream come true. We were moving out of a tiny two bedroom apartment where my brother's shared a room and I got a closet for my clothes and a few toys and the living room couch for a bed. I was too young to feel sorry for myself but old enough to be very excited about getting my own bedroom in our huge new house. Not only a bedroom but now we now had a basement, sunroom, attic, porch, a huge yard, our own trees to climb and a two-car garage!