"Mollie's Steppin' in!"

We took Mollie to Roger William's Park on Sunday and it didn't turn out so great. Mollie wanted to bring her rainbow colored kick ball which we recommended she leave home. Of course, she threw a fit and we gave in. Along came the ball. When we got to the park we shlepped the ball around while Mollie played at the newly renovated playground. After that, Mollie and I took a ride on the carousel. Mommy held the ball. Comparing the carousel to the one in Coney Island would be so unfair, but, that's what I did. This Merry-Go-Round did not come close to the craftsmanship of the Coney Island masterpeice. In Brooklyn, the horses were painted beautifully and they always had the brass ring arm jutting out for anyone that wanted to grab at it. Music was produced inside the centerpeice of the carousel and it was vintage!! Animal drum skins, pipes and more. Mollie did have a great time on the Roger Williams carousel--what a broad smile, from ear to ear. After that we went for a walk and were kicking around the ball. Mollie kicked it down a hill and she ran after it as it splashed into a lake. Strong winds took it out to the middle of the water and ducks were checking it out. Mollie cried and cried and said no other ball would ever take that one's place. Then she slipped and fell smack onto dog crap. Now covered in it and smelling to high heaven, we removed her shoes while she walked to the car in her socks. It's a day we'll never forget.

Letter to Mort Twain

Hi Morty,
I actually dread the moment when Mollie says, "I'm moving to my own place dad." This morning she crawled into bed with me and watched TV for a little bit. We were both laughing at these goofy cartoons on the great, great, baby sitter, known as...cartoon network. In regards to your concerns about whether or not Mollie would like a doll like you described, I can tell you that she would love a fancy doll and understands the difference between those, and lets say, Brats. My sister bought her a doll called American Girl or something like that--an expensive handmade porcelein job that came with all kinds of accessories. Mollie put it up on her shelf and would play with it carefully. The doll came with 2 pets---a black kitten and a white puppy, appropriately named Licorice and Coconut. Those pets, although part of the doll entourage, have been in the tub too many times to mention. Whatever you send her, she would love. Would you mind sending her a picture of you and Sue either with the doll or just at anytime soon? We want her to associate gifts with the people that send them. She still has the pink rabbit you gave her which has been through all kinds of torture. Also, we still have the Trickster Rabbit scroll, which we take down from a high shelf from time to time. I think of all the gifts she has gotten, something about the written word has been very special. When we read to her--especially if it's made for her--it's really magic. I'm now writing stories for her to read at bed time. (As opposed to me just winging it.)
Mollie's Godparents stopped by our apartment after not being around for a year or more, but we always had a picture of them in her room so she'd recognize them and be able to associate any gifts from them, or even phone conversations, to a visual image.
The pajamas in the pumkin pick are Mollie's favorite. They have little duckies on them--unlike Aetna Insurance tie duckies, which were meant to relay middle management aspirations.

Mollie's Halloween

On October 31st 2008, Mollie went trick or treating as a vampire. Last year she was raggedy Ann. Her first Halloween was when she was only a few months old and we dressed her in a skeleton outfit. The following Halloween she went as a lady bug and at the age of 3, Mollie went as her favorite cartoon character, Sponge Bob. It was a great costume where Mollie's body, from the neck down, was the big yellow square on which you'd see Sponge Bob's face. There were these little yellow dangling arms---and Mollie's little head poking out from the top of the square--it was hysterical!!
Back to 2008. We went up and down the streets of Providence where Mollie collected candy from people that still participated in this age old tradition. It seems like more people are less likely to dole out the goodies then when I used to go trick or treating back in Roosevelt. Too many weirdos these days and everyone's afraid of what may wind up in a candy wrapper.

Mollie Gene Darvick

Mollie was born on July 3rd, 2003 at R.I. Women's and Infant's Hospital. She was very anxious to finally get out and meet her parents and came into the world a little early. We had an idea that this possibly may happen because Mollie was a kicker. You could practically see her feet pressing out on Debbie's' belly. Let me out!!! When Mollie finally made her debut, I marked the moment as the happiest and most fulfilling event of my life. She was my first and only child. I planned to spoil her rotten and I have succeeded at doing that.

Mollie had to stay at the hospital for a couple of weeks and when she was ready to come home, there was a note attached to her blanket which said something like, "push her tongue back into her mouth." Apparently, Mollie kept sticking her tongue out at everyone (which she still does now, but deliberately.)

Nothing could prepare me for the countless changing of smelly diapers--some of which probably are still reeking in a landfill, dropping seagulls in mid-flight. But it some way, I miss that.

Mollie made up for lost time and grew rapidly. We theorized that it may be the fact the she drinks a half gallon of milk per day. She towers over the other kids in her kindergarten class now. Plus, she's extremely strong and can elbow her way up through any line at the slide.

Mollie probably inherited her height from her maternal grandmother--Debbie's mom, Dorothy. Mollie has thick curly hair like Debbie's as well as like her great grandmothers', Mollie on her paternal side.

So, on the paternal side, Mollies great grandparents were Jews. Jack (Jacob) was born in Russia and came to the USA with his 2 other brothers, George and Eli in the 20's. All Yiddish speaking.
Mollie Bogatz (was from Poland) and married Jacob Darvick. They had 2 children, Esther and Murray (my dad.)

On the maternal side, the information is a little vaguer than on the paternal side. Debbie's mom was a mix of predominantly French with some other nationalities thrown in. Debbie's dad was from Puerto Rico and his name was Ephrain Grajales. Debbie has one living sister and one deceased, Margaret.

Mollie is being raised Jewish and can say Oy Vey like a pro!!

Good Links!

http://morttwain.blogspot.com/
www.darvickantiques.com

Stores, movies etc.

In Roosevelt there was only one movie theater. It was appropriately named "Nassau Movie Theater." I'd ride my bike there on a weekend and see a matinee double feature. Usually a Hammer horror flick or a Castle Films gimmick movie like "Thirteen Ghosts" where you would put on these glasses and 'presto,' suddenly, you'd see the ghost that was previously invisble. Popcorn was dispensed from a machine where you placed a paper bag and for a dime, got some popcorn before the flick started. I think back then (1962 or '63) it cost around 75 cents to see a matinee. Of course there were Drive-In's close by in towns like Hempstead and Freeport.

Roosevelt had a store named Husserell's. A creaky wooden floored department store where you could buy a sling shot or bow and arrow set, toys of all sorts, and if you had a sister like me (Saari) she could get a doll or Colorforms. The store was like a Woolworth's except cheaper!

There was a toy store in town, "Kalinsky's." This was essentially a boutique toy store where you actually had a sales guy wait on you and demonstrate various fun toys. The store also had some great playground accessories and as a kid I was fortunate enough to get some of these put in my backyard. Monkey Bars and other action attractions (including an above ground pool) made our house at 45 Gusto lane one of the more popular among the kids in the neighborhood. I remember begging my father to take me to Kalinsky's for a Howdy Doody puppet (only to break it on the ride home). Another great toy was called "The Dancing Man." You'd sing into a microphone and a little jointed guy would perk up and start dancing. A truely amazing toy for its time. Never have seen one again--even at antique shows. Got Robot Commando and the Great Garloo there too. That was serious fun!!

What's up with Roosevelt?

Why Roosevelt?

When I describe Roosevelt to friends of mine, I usually compare it to the fifties town of "Back to the Future." It had a bank, post office, five and dime, a couple of candy stores, a dairy, one movie theater, a bowling alley(42 lanes!), a synagogue, a church or two, a diner, a Western Auto, a teeny weeny library and that's about it. Roosevelt had a lot of one thing in particular and that was kids! There were a ton of kids to hang with all the time. In school and out of school. All you had to do was walk down your street (block) and there would always be someone outside looking to play a game of catch or better yet, build a fort or organize a small parade of `kids banging on anything they could find that would make a lot of noise.'

The fourth of July was an incredibly fun holiday for Gusto Lane and that's the street I lived on. You see, Gusto Lane was supposed to be named "Guasto Lane" after the Guasto family that built half of Roosevelt. They were kind of like the Levits of Levitown. A large Italian clan of carpenters, masons and hands on builders. It seemed like they could build anything including the home they lived in, which was on my block. A rather large, grey two family home, that was shaped like the liberty bell. At Christmas, their house was outlined with colored bulbs that accented the bell shape of the house. They also made the fourth of July into one hell of a big bash. All the families on Gusto Lane were in on this "event" and we knew that this was a rare window of opportunity for all the kids on the street. We could be destructive in plain sight of our parents! What's better than that? A few of the Guastos would pile into their cars and head down south where fireworks were legal (they sure weren't in New York) then make there way back home with shopping bags filled with all different kinds of mortars, explosives, roman candles, cherry bombs, ash cans and much more. It must've been like a scene from "My Cousin Vinny" with those guys driving into Virginia or the Carolinas. "You talkin' to me?"
Eventually, on the evening of the fourth, both ends of the street were blocked off with police cars no less. It seems that the Guastos had a few relatives that were cops (you see, not all Italians are involved with organized crime) and they made sure that our fourth of July celebration went undisturbed. Best of all, us kids got our own share of fireworks to blow off as well. We would light up a "punk" which was like a stick of incense and use that to light the fireworks. For hours, we had a green light to blow things up on the front lawn of the Guastos' home. It was pure bliss. The next morning, while all good parents were still asleep, Freddy Osfeld, Tommy Gallo and myself would be out there scavenging for fireworks that didn't go off. The street looked like it was covered in dust from a nuclear fallout. A thick gray blanket of ash seemed to cover everything in sight, like an early snowfall. We would kick around the streets until we uncovered the duds and then stashed them for some other future exploits.