My family lived in a small house in Hawthorne from before I was born until I was in the third grade. Our nextdoor neighbors were Rosie & Harry. on the left and Bib & Mike lived to the left of Rosie. Sadly, Harry has passed away, but Rosie still lives in that house and the Sailor's still live in their home too. This morning I packed the kids in the car and we were off to meet my mother at Rosie's house! HURRAY!

I remember being a little girl and going to Rosie's backdoor and peeking in the window to see if my Mom was there. It was a really big treat to sit at Rosie's kitchen table with her, Bib and my mom while they drank coffee and snacked on delicious Italian treats. Rosie would always be cooking up something fabulous and often she would make salami sandwiches on the softest Italian bread. Bib was always armed with the very best Pizzelles on Earth. Sometimes I would be lucky enough to get a spoonful of sugar dipped in milk and coffee. I was hooked! To this very day I am still a coffee drinker and I love it best with lots of sugar & cream and the smell of Pizelles takes me right back to Rosie's kitchen table.

Today was fun and it was especially heartwarming to just relax, drink coffee and eat steak & grilled pepper sandwiches with my beloved neighbors and to share Pizzelles with my sons at Rosie's table.
(This photo of Bib, Rosie & Mom was actually taken in 2004.)

A few more memories of the old neighborhood....
- eating guavas straight off Harry's tree
- Easter egg hunts in Rosie's backyard with Bib's granddaughters (Tina & Lisa)
- swimming lessons with Mary Reyburn when I was 3 years old
- "Don't walk through Harry's ivy!!!!"
- Maude's chihuahuas yapping across the street
- Mary's musical door chimes and candy bowl
- white chalk rocks in our garden
- "You better not let Harry catch you playing in his ivy!!"
- sitting on our back porch and dipping rhubarb from the garden in sugar
- sitting on our front porch with an orange measuring cup filled with Tang and eating it with our fingers

Life was so much easier when I was 7 (as long as I stayed out of Harry's ivy).