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It was a part of a unique time in the life of my family when I was a teenager growing up. To put it in perspective let me to back to September 1975, when we lived at 30 Brainard Street in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Living there at that time were: my parents; my sister, Shari; our dog, Cocoa; and me. One night a knock at the door brought some bad news. When my dad answered the door he was given an "official looking" envelope. He had been given notification that our house, which we rented, had been sold and the new owner wanted us to move out so he could do some renovations. We had 30 days to move. My parents managed to get that extended to 60 days but we still had to move.
With perhaps no other, alternative my parents moved us back to a 3 bedroom unit in the Heckman Terrace Annex housing project on the east side of the town. We had moved from that same housing development when I was ten. We had lived on the outskirts of the complex in what was a pretty decent section and were friends with most of the neighbors.
But where we were going to be living now was often referred to as "the circle" because the street that came through was a round cul de sac. It was not in the best part of the development in regard to the social and moral aspects. It wasn't dangerous but it had a lot of lower income families. It was as close to a "bad neighborhood" that existed our town in those days.
Needless to say it was not the atmosphere that my parents would have picked to live had they had the choice.
I understood this because the kids from the area that was to be our new home used to come around the area where we lived the first time to call me names and bully me. Even tying my cousin and I to a tree once and leaving us there until after dark.
Now they were my neighbors. I didn't even want them to know I was alive much less live on the same block with them.
It was the four of us against the world or at least that's what it felt like when we first moved in. That was the attitude that prevailed during that time in our family. This was a temporary situation; a rough spot in our lives. We were in "survival mode" until we could find another place to live in a better neighborhood.
Luckily it was cold that fall and snowy that winter. So our contact with our neighbors was minimal. It also meant that in the evenings when my dad got home from work the four of us found ourselves in a domicile about with about half the living space where we had spent the last 6 years.
We spent a lot of time together. On cold winter evenings, when there wasn't anything we wanted to watch on TV, my dad would put an 8 track tape into the player which was hooked up to the stereo system.
Most of the time his choice was the latest album by our favorite gospel group. Dave Kyllonen, Duane Nicholson, and Neil Enloe were already weaved into the fabric of our family's musical culture. But during the winter of 1975 their music came to mean even more. "The Couriers Sing Folk," was played constantly in our home that cold winter.
The most memorable songs were:
Twelve Men-a song that names each of Jesus' disciples and tells how they "finally met their fate" while spreading the gospel throughout the world.
More Than Just A Swear Word-a song that declares disappointment in the misuse of Jesus' name as a casual curse word when it really should be exulted above all others because it means so much more. Later in 1976 this song would be the one I would sing when I sang solo for the first time in church.
The snack we enjoyed the most often was hot chocolate with marsh-mallows and fresh from the oven drop biscuits made from Bisquick baking mix. We would put our choice of butter, jelly or peanut butter on them when they were hot. Not the healthiest of choices but literally the ultimate in comfort food for 4 people making the best of a temporary bad situation.
We stayed in that housing unit from November 1975 to September 1976. We finally moved because my parents bought their first and only house at 67 Brainard Street. They would live there for the rest of their lives.
Even today as I look back on that very difficult time in our family, when the world really threw us a curve, I remember how close we were as we got past the crisis.
Our faith in God and the support of other family members and Christian friends were the real keys in getting us through. But after all these years it's the music from "The Couriers Sing Folk" that brings back the most vivid memories of that special time.
By the way, although the closeness of my family is what I remember most there were other good things about that 10 month period in my life.
That Christmas I got one of the best gifts I ever got. One that would be a part of my life until I was in my 40's. There were a lot of things I remember about living in the projects a second time. Perhaps I will take the time to tell you about some of them later on. I'll let you know when I do.
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