Turning Points
Life is a journey. It has a beginning and it has an end. All along its path are events, places
and people who are turning points. Here, I relate some of these turning points in my own
journey. Hopefully, the stories will illuminate and maybe entertain some of those who care
enough to read.
Life is a journey. It has a beginning and it has an end. All along its path are events, places
and people who are turning points. Here, I relate some of these turning points in my own
journey. Hopefully, the stories will illuminate and maybe entertain some of those who care
enough to read.
| New Haven August 4, 2006 |
Most of us were born in our house in New haven,
the idea of childbirth in hospitals still being a
modernity in those days. The house had two
bedrooms, one much sought after bathroom,
(indoors I might add), a dining room, a living room
and a kitchen. Don’t ask me how eight of us kids
and Mama and Daddy all fit into those two
bedrooms; I remember only that there were bunk
beds and double beds shared.
The kitchen had a gas range and a small coal
stove used to operate the homemade water heater.
Meals were eaten at a table which was flanked by
several chairs on one side and a backless bench
on the other.
The house itself was heated by several coal
stoves. Bringing in coal from the coal shed in
buckets was one of our chores and also removing
the ashes every day. The stove in the boys’
bedroom would get so hot in winter that it fairly
glowed red and I marvel that no one got seriously
burned or that the house itself did not burn down
from it.
The funny thing is that none of us complained
about the shortage of space proving that a lot of
human dissatisfaction has to do with disappointed
expectations more than anything else.
the idea of childbirth in hospitals still being a
modernity in those days. The house had two
bedrooms, one much sought after bathroom,
(indoors I might add), a dining room, a living room
and a kitchen. Don’t ask me how eight of us kids
and Mama and Daddy all fit into those two
bedrooms; I remember only that there were bunk
beds and double beds shared.
The kitchen had a gas range and a small coal
stove used to operate the homemade water heater.
Meals were eaten at a table which was flanked by
several chairs on one side and a backless bench
on the other.
The house itself was heated by several coal
stoves. Bringing in coal from the coal shed in
buckets was one of our chores and also removing
the ashes every day. The stove in the boys’
bedroom would get so hot in winter that it fairly
glowed red and I marvel that no one got seriously
burned or that the house itself did not burn down
from it.
The funny thing is that none of us complained
about the shortage of space proving that a lot of
human dissatisfaction has to do with disappointed
expectations more than anything else.
Our house was across the street from the popcorn factory and next to the railroad station. Also
across the street was the Baptist Church were you could hear strains of “Rock of Ages” on
summer evenings when services were held with the windows open. The street in front of the
house was gravel although the main streets of New Haven were paved and did have sidewalks.
In the back yard was a cherry tree and an apple tree both of which were loaded with fruit every year.
Next door were the Mattinglys who raised a hog every year in a penned off section of their
backyard. New Haven boasted a population of 550 in the fifties. There was a town marshal who
also ran the water system. One Methodist Church, one Baptist Church and a large Catholic parish
provided places for people to be on Sundays.
The Big Store was a grocery store located on Center Street just a few doors east of Main Street
and up the street was Head’s store on the corner. I always heard that there was a patched hole in
one of the walls of Head's Store from a Civil War cannonball. I never put much stock in that until
years later I learned that indeed, there had been some significant action in New Haven during the
Civil War as it was located on a major north-south route for movement of armies through central
Kentucky.
The first truly modern “super market” in New Haven was established by H. A. Dickerson, Hugh
Louis’ future father in law. It was located across the tracks from the Sherwood Inn.
Like many small towns, New Haven was bypassed by the interstate system but has continued as
a fine community and home for many great people.
| Copyright © 2005 leoshoemaker.com |
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| And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV) |
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