Saturday, February 26, 2005

Question 13 ~ 911!

Do you remember any special events that took place in your Neighborhood while you were growing up?  (deaths, fires, accidents etc)?

There are a few I remember.  Once two cars crashed right on our corner, we lived in the corner house.  People were gathering around the one car and I finally persuaded my Mom to go out, the lady in the one car was dead.  I think I was about 5, it was my first time seeing someone who had died.  Nightmares for a lot time.
We also had OUR house catch on fire.  I was about 6 or 7.  We had found baby duck eggs and decided to try to hatch them.  My brother had them in hay and a heat lamp over them.  One night I heard my mother yelling and screaming. The lamp had fallen over onto the hay and our basement was on fire.  I remember bits and pieces of this.  I remember no one was able to wake my dad (my biological dad, not the one I have now) who had fallen asleep on the cough .. passed out drunk actually.  I remember my brother carrying me outside and looking back and only seeing fire in the windows of the basement. I remember so many people standing across our street watching this.  The firemen got there before much of the upstairs was engulfed.  But the smoke was very bad through out the house, and we couldn't go back in until the next day.  It was so scary, since then I am terrified of fires.  Needless to say the ducks fried as did my oldest brother graduation gown that was hanging in the basement.  Other then that we lost some stuff we had stored down there, Holiday stuff, boxes of curtains and fabric.  We all survived, even my father who woke up when the firemen were putting those big fans in our house to blow out the smoke.                             
                         


to   Hestiahomeschool   &  jcole16757 who just started the journal jar.  Hope you love it :)

** You know the drill... you can answer in the comment sections, or your own journal.  If you are answering in your own journal please link your entry below so everyone can  enjoy your writing! **

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do remember, when very small, being with my Mother and Grandmother travelling on a bus nearby and we passed by what seemed like an accident scene.  As we came close a policeman was carrying a small bundle up from the canal.  I found out much later that it was in fact the body of a boy of four, who had crawled through the back fence and fallen in the canal.   I was very disturbed by it at the time and have never forgotten it.   Sandra x

Anonymous said...

In 1976, I was 10 and kids started disappearing.  One was a boy named Mark Stebbins and he was from the same city I lived in.  He later was discovered dead.  About 2 boys and 2 girls came up missing and dead.  The boys were sexually assaulted.  Other than Mark, they were from different cities but in the same general area.  They never found "The Oakland County Child Killer" but according to the Detroit newspapers, they are keeping the investigation alive and checking out new tips.  Mark Stebbins would have graduated from the same high school I went to in 1981.  That was probably the big news of the time.  Another was this house where this man and woman were discovered dead.  Apparently, the man killed the wife and then himself.  It was in the summer and the bodies weren't found for a few weeks.  After they were found, all of the windows from the house were opened up and I remember mom driving me past it on the way to somewhere else.  You could still smell the stench of decomposing bodies.  It was horrendous.   Sounds like we lived in a bad area but actually ours was one of the nicer cities at the time.  I could go on but my character limit is probably almost used up!  Sheila

Anonymous said...

i was about 10 years old when my cousin was murdered his neck, arms, and legs and all his ribs where broken it was hard to deal with then my brother that i was close too in front of his kids i was 16 years old when that happend i am now going on 31.  when i was about 7 i was woke up are house was on fire all i remember is that we had to crawl out of the house and i remember standing there watching are house in flames that was scary

http://journals.aol.com/bgirlsmustang/BabyGirlsJournal/

http://journals.aol.com/bgirlsmustang/HOTHOTHOTTER/

Anonymous said...

I'm finally caught up, just need to add some graphics to my recent replies (I'll do that later). Poor little duckies.......

http://journals.aol.com/glopsey/GlopseysJournalJar

Anonymous said...

I was reading in my journal from when I was 19 (I won't say the year!) that a guy who lived on the street behind us had taken his wife and child hostage.  We stood in the back yard listening to the news on the radio while watching the police as they tried to negotiate with the guy.  After about 3 hours we heard a shot... just one.  The man had used the gun on himself.  Since I've moved to Colorado we've had one fatal car crash (my son's friend was killed), our elderly neighbor across the street passed away in her front yard (my children saw it all), at our new house our neighbor suffered an aneurism and died on New Years Eve 3 years ago, another neighbor was raided by the swat team for drug distribution, there was a shooting one street behind us, and recently on the same street there was a riot that spilled over into our neighbor's yard.  My kids no longer ask why we want to move from this neighborhood.  But sadly you can't hide from it... it will catch up sooner or later.

Anonymous said...

I remember one as I was getting off a school bus.  We were always taught to cross the street in front of the bus.  One of the kids as he was crossing in front, didn't see the car which blew past the left side off the bus,with its lights flashing.  The car hit our friend and we watched him being dragged down the street under the car.  Imagine being hit by a 1958 automobile.  It was the most horrifying sight.  The 5 year old died of his injuries and the amn who hit him, never got over it.  He lived a few houses away from the boy.  

I will never forget it.
I remeber our backyard pool which broke a seam once.  My sister and I were in the pool.  My mother who was 8 months pregnant, grabbed a pitchfork and started to put holes in the lining as it began to buldge.  I kept trying to pick my sister up and trow her over the side but the water was moving so fast towards the break that I couldn't get a footing.  The ladder wouldn't stay put.  Our neighbor jumped a 4" fence to help me get my sister out.  Then he tried pulling me out as the opposite side of the pool rose off the ground and almost collapsed on top of me.  My mother kept screaming to get out of the pool as she poked holes in it.  As the water flooded the backyard, she stood infront of the ripped blue vinal liner and just kept poking holes.  To this day I can't believe she had the piece of mind to disregard herself to protect us.  The liner finally gave it up.  She apparently poked enough holes that the pressure was relieved.  The backside of the pool finally went down to the ground.  It was 2 feet in the air.  I remember still being in the pool as it went down.  I never got out of the pool.  All I could think of was getting my 5 year old sister out.

Anonymous said...

We had a home fuel oil truck blow up on our street corner, as we were gettinr off the bus.  The driver was delivering oil to a house 3 away from the truck.  The whole side of the truck blew apart.  Burning oil everywhere.  He was blown off his feet several feet away from the house.  Three lawns were burned, 4 cars caught on fire.  No one was killed.  We stood there watching the fire and froze in our tracks.  My mother had said the police had gone in the other side of the circle we lived on and tried to evacuate everyone.  Our mothers didn't work.  Like didn't cost as much as it does now.  They were afaid of the gas lines connecting the houses would send fire through the neighborhood.  Very strange neighborhood.  

Anonymous said...

We has several memorable things happen when I was a kid, but the most memorable 1 was when I was about 6. My sister`s boyfriend, who is now my brother-in-law( she`s 10 years older), and another guy had just come back from deer hunting. They were bringing their shotguns into the house, and before they did unloaded them outside. Johnny, the other guy with my sister`s boyfriend was a very little guy, very nervous and jumpy, just the kind of guy you would want walking around your house with a firearm! They were just sitting down at the dining room table, when Johnny`s "unloaded" gun went off, and put a hole in our floor about  a foot wide. I had judt gotten out from playing with some toys underneath the dining room table, my older brother was sitting at the table and some carpet flew up and hit him in the chest, my mother screamed out thinking her oldest son had just gotten shot. I thought my father was gonna kill Johnny, very memorable indeed!    

Anonymous said...

Count me in :) This is a wonderful idea! I guess I have some catching up to do :)
http://journals.aol.com/mattelmichele/ANimrodLikeMe/entries/630

-Michele

Anonymous said...

I remember the blackout of 77 in N.Y.C.  i was watching charlie's angels, and all of a sudden the screen got smaller and smaller.. I was very young, so figures I would remember the T.v...lol! then my Father and I went to go get my mother, who was playing Bingo somewhere, he did not want her walking home alone. Everyone was outside, it was like a big party.

Robyn :)

Anonymous said...

How'd I miss this one? Hmmmm.... well I did it anyhow!
Vickey
http://journals.aol.com/hopelessBlondie/Results

Anonymous said...

ok I seen alot growing up so i am not sure where to start.
First i guess was my grampas barn burning down one of 3 that i seen .
anouther was when my dad(who was not all there ) decided to blow a stump that was about a 1/4 of a mile form the house.He packed it with tons of dynamite and boom!!!the stump landed in my parents bedroom cieling hanging there like it belonged there lol.
a grusem one was when my dad showed us a chicken could run with its head cut off.ewww
At 17 teen my x boyfriend was tried and convicted for the slaughter of his girlfriend and me and my new boyfriend was sitting on the couch when they said they caught him in kansas.
At 14 teen i was shoot at and at 10 and 17 I was hit by a car..hmm thats enough to many to list .
Boy i have lived a full life lol

Anonymous said...

I lived in a very rural area of WV, so there was not much of anything happening.  There was a time when my mom called us into the house, and immediately got on the phone with a neighbor.  Overhearing the conversation, I heard her say there was a pervert walking up and down the road, exposing himself.  Of course I ran to the window to see if he was down there on the road, but no luck.  He was gone.  Darn!!

Anonymous said...

When I was growing up we moved all the time..I remember moving to a new town and I was about 10yrs old our the people next door were mormans he had 4 wifes and 12 kids! That was about the only real werid thing I can think of!To each their own but how would a man beable to live with that many wifes?

Anonymous said...

i was 10 yrs old, at a corner on my bike waiting to cross the main street through my little hometown heading to play with the neighborhood boys- i was a tomboy!! i watched a little blond haired boy about 4 years old run across the street trying to catch up with his uncle that had already crossed the street. unfortunately no one saw him head across the street directly into the path of an oncoming car. the lady driving the car had no time to stop and hit the little boy. i stood there frozen- even unable to yell out in time to warn him. everyone was screaming and yelling- so much blood. i remember someone gave me a blanket to give to the little boy to keep him from going into shock. he lived and grew up to be a minister. i remember the terrible feeling i had watching it happen and i knew i never wanted to stand by again feeling helpless. so i became a nurse. there are days i still feel helpless caring for my patients, but their is a lot of comfort in knowing that at least i tried to help. i do- to this day- have an intense fear of running over a child and am overcautious every time i get behind the wheel.

Anonymous said...

BELIEVE THIS OR NOT,  THERE IS NO MENTION OF WHO she IS IN THE SONG.  NO NAME OF THE GIRL.  


OK, ONE MORE.  MY MOM AND I WERE COMING OUT OF THE WALT WHITMAN MALL AROUND 4:15PM NOV.9 1965.  I QUESTIONED A FUNNY SMELL TO MY MOTHER, THOUGH SHE HAD NO RESPONSE.  IT TOOK US ABOUT 10 MINS TO DRIVE HOME.  AS THE SUN WAS FADING INTO THE TREED HORIZON (THERE IS NOTHING BUT TREES IN HUNTINGTON) THE HOUSE AND STREET LIGHTS WERE GROWING DIM INSTEAD OF BEING BRIGHTER.  BY THE TIME WE REACHED OUR HOUSE, THE POWER WAS COMPLETELY GONE.  MY SISTER AND BROTHER WERE STANDING IN THE OPEN DOORWAY.  DCF DIDN'T EXIST THEN.  MY MOM COOKED A COMPLETE STEAK DINNER IN THE FIREPLACE.  MY DAD STAYED AT WORK DUE TO HIS JOB. WE ALL SLEPT IN THE DEN.  THAT WAS THE BEST DINNER SHE EVER COOKED. THAT FUNNT SMELL? THAT WAS THE REFRIDGERATION IN THE BACK OF MACY'S GOING BAD AS THE POWER FAILED.

Anonymous said...

here's one more...last one for today
http://journals.aol.com/neemom1977/MyJournalJar/entries/1156

Anonymous said...

    When I lived in Chicago, there were a few minor incidents. When I entered high school though, we moved to a suburb just a mile south of where we lived in Chicago. I remember that this town just seemed to have bad things happen all the time. I remember one kid who had to take Algebra with me in summer school. We flirted a little, but never hooked up. Two years later he went postal when he overdosed on drugs. I remember. It was horrible. He took out most of his family as well as a couple of his friends. The cops took him down, but it took a lot to do it. I remember a girl that stepped out into traffic when she crossed in front of a school bus. She was hit and killed. I remember another girl from a neighboring town. She was struck by a bullet during a gang fight. The bullet richocheted off a wall. And I remember a teacher who passed out during lunch. She had a cerebral hemorrage. I remember thinking how frightening this new school was. Now that I think about it. It's cursed. When my sons attended this school, five football players were either injured or killed in freak plays.  Wow. Now I'm depressed.

http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay

Anonymous said...

There was a family that lived across the street from me when I was growing up: two girls, mom, dad. (The girls were a few years older than me.) When the parents got divorced, they all moved away. The mom remarried a few years later, and I heard that her new husband killed her and her body was found in the concrete column of a building.

Anonymous said...

Here's mine!

http://journals.aol.com/danielled1/DaniellesJournalJar/entries/264

Anonymous said...

She had this crazy macrame' table that of course hung from the ceiling with three levels of graduated glass tops on it that she had all kinds of junk sitting on.  On the bottom biggest table, she had a burning candle and on the bottom of the second level she had one of those old Alf handpuppets that was hanging onto the glass dangling over the side. No, he didn't catch fire the way you think, the traditional way, because that would have been to damn normal and we weren't normal by any means.  The events are as follows and some of this is pretty embarassing so be kind, lol.  My mom blew the candle out and walked back out.  Like I said I was twelve at the time and had problems with being "regular" so I was in the bathroom trying my hardest to be "regular" when my mom came bursting in the bathroom screaming that the house was on fire and we had to get out right then.  Now if I wasn't regular before her announcement I was after it, lol.  Jumped up ran outside then both looked at each other because all our animals were in there so we both ran back into the burning house, yes we are insane thank you for noticing and got the pets, lol.  Everyone got out fine and fortunately the only room to receive damage was my mothers room.  Now here is the kicker and the start of the fire.  They investigated the cause of it because apparently one of the chemicals used to make both the candle and the Alf doll could start fires crazy I know so they determined after going over everything that during the course of the candle being lit and burning all the heat from the flame was traveling up, straight up into the Alf doll, who (I swear this is true)the investigator said absorbed all the heat it could stand when it spontaneously combusted and burst into flames, roflmao now, ha. Well, when Alf blew his top he caught the macrame' table on fire, catching the curtains and so on and so on.  It was crazy!!! We still laugh about it all now.  We

Anonymous said...

http://journals.aol.com/unicornsteph80/Welcometomylife/entries/323

Anonymous said...

for once nothing comes to mind

Anonymous said...

The Peeping Tom
Lori
http://journals.aol.com/helmswondermom/LorisJournalJar/entries/321

Anonymous said...

Here it is:
~Miss O
http://journals.aol.com/missboogerhead/MissOsSoapbox/entries/609

Anonymous said...

:)

http://journals.aol.com/quartrlyfecrysis/andthensome/entries/259

xoxo~Bernadette

Anonymous said...

http://journals.aol.com/devilletteinme/the-devilettes-journal-jar/entries/2006/11/18/neighborhood-emergency/536