A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken… Proverbs 15:13

The other thing I remember most about Pennsylvania Avenue is how we suffered physically and mentally during those couple of years. We were happy being together – now a family of four – but we were never content. After Deanna was born, Mom really went into a post-partum depression. I blame it more on the apartment than the birth. Before we moved, I got hurt and spent about six weeks in agony. I believe it took me more time to heal because of the apartment.

That’s not to say there weren’t joyful times in the apartment … just fewer of them than at any other time in our young married life. There were the birthday parties and watching Joe and Deanna grow. There were times playing cards with the Dicharantis, our downstairs neighbors. There were our friends who came to visit. But nothing stands out as a “memory maker” – at least not happy ones.

There were the hookers who roamed the street near the bowling alley/bar across the street. And the fire that destroyed the bowling alley/bar across the street. Plus the time our upstairs neighbor Farouk threw his wife down the back stairs. Too, there was the time he made a pass at Mom that really freaked her out. Another thing was the drive-by argument when some guy threw his almost naked girlfriend out of the car about three in the morning.

To be continued …

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Anger is only one letter short of danger.