This is what you would see the year after I returned from Brazil. To the right is the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. I was there the day it opened & the day it closed. It was an awesome scene.
This was my first home after returning to the US. It was an apartment building that my aunt Esther owned on E. Madison St. in Seattle. Other relatives were renting rooms there also. There was my 1st cousin Florence, my sister Esther, her son Charlie & maybe Eddy (I’m not sure of him) & her husband Ed Tyler. I can’t remember all the tenants she had while I was there but there were quite a few. She was like the matriarch of the family at that time. Her sister Alberta lived in town with her husband Andy (second marriage). She had 4 children by her 1st husband Bob Hagen. They were Florence, Grace, Charlotte & Richard. I remember aunt Esther would have everyone over for dinner from time to time, as well as going on picnics at local parks.
This was a park a block from my Aunt Esther’s apartments
This a picture of the 1962 World’s Fair. While I was working for the Post Office, I frequently drove right by it going to & from work. I actually went to the fair on opening & closing day. It was quite an experience. Elvis Presley actually filmed the movie “It Happened at the World’s Fair” there.
Things were not all good in those days. When mother came back from Brazil, we rented an apartment closer to downtown. At that time I had made friends with some fellow post office employees. One of them was a man named Stan. He was an African American & couldn’t believe that I wanted to be his friend. Growing up there were no blacks where we lived so I had no prejudice then. He was quite a bit older than I was & for some reason started to get a little bossy. Things went from bad to worse & even violent at times. I was afraid to go to the authorities so just put up with it for awhile. To make a long story short, I left town, he followed me & caught me, then I got away from him for good & went back to Seattle. I never saw him after that. Shortly after I joined the Navy, thus the next chapter in my life.
This is a picture taken in the back of aunt Esther’s apartment building, after mother returned from Brazil in 1963. From left to right, Florence, myself, mother & Grace. We didn’t take a lot of pictures in those days. This was one of a few I have.
This is me with my 1958 Chevy. Later when I joined the Navy & got stationed in Okinawa, I thought I had to get rid of the car, so I did. Then when I got to Okinawa I found out that I could have had the Government ship it there for me. I ended up buying an older Chevy there. That gave me a little freedom to go around the island. At that time it was a territory of the US. The money was the US dollar & the local police & MPs worked together to maintain law & order.
