This is
one of my favorite pictures for many reasons:
It’s the house where I lived from age
five to fourteen ….so many memories there!
Prior to that house we had lived around the block on 58th Street in a
cute little red and white house (which is still there and still looks
the same!). With four children though, mom and dad needed more
room. Mom fell in love with this house just around the block
on El Cerrito Drive. She knocked at their door one day and asked if
they’d want to sell their house. They said yes! And so, the house at
4561 El Cerrito Drive became our hacienda for the next nine years. Our
phone number was "Juniper" (or JU) 26344 (funny how things like that
stay with you). The house was already about 30-35 years old when
we moved in (1955). It was a big house with five bedrooms, a den, and
large living room and dining room and kitchen, and that great “Spanish
Revival” architecture. The Mexican-tiled stairs and the balconies were
so cool! My bother and I would often sit on our pillows and bounce down
the stairs or slide down the banister. The folks who bought it
from us lived there for 42 years. The wife passed away and the husband
moved out to a Senior Center early 2007. It was just sold
recently as a house for students here from Korea. I went to the door a
couple of months ago and introduced myself. They probably thought I was
nuts, but I wished them well, hoping they’d enjoy that house as much as
we did.
The car in front was our '56 Belair...my dad loved it.
My sister Judy was 16 at that time and enjoyed learning to drive in
such a cool car.
That’s my brother, “Gil” (Philip Gilmore Shea (1948-1971) on the bike.
I’m really glad to have this photo of him.
We had three other “Shea” families on the same block and would spend
hours with our siblings and cousins riding our bikes, roller-skating or
skateboarding all over the place.
Dad and Gil taught me how to ride my first bike when I was about six or
so.
I remember Gil yelling, "Suzie, turn the handlebars!" as I headed to
the curb. I didn't, of course, and I plowed straight into the
curb and flew off the bars onto some grass. I wasn’t hurt …but I was
just laying there catching my breath. Gil and Dad ran over asking if I
was OK, and when I said yes, Gil said, “That’s good 'cuz that was the
funniest thing I’ve ever seen!”. We started laughing really
hard. Gil is the one responsible for my ridiculous sense of humor
… so you can thank him or curse him! He and our cousin Gerry Shea (now
District Attorney for San Luis Obispo County) used to let me tag along
with them everywhere.
Gil died in 1971 at age 23. I miss him and thank God everyday I got to
grow up with a brother like him, as well as two wonderful sisters, and
a colorful gang of cousins everywhere!
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