Our Playhouse in Sturbridge

When our Dad built the Sturbridge, Massachusetts home,

he thought of everything for his young daughters:  our

very own playhouse complete with a door and window.

We felt special since the door was tall enough for our

parents to enter.  He also built a huge backyard

barbecue which I do not recall ever using.  At some

point, our Dad decided we were not using the playhouse

as he had intended either.  I do recall we complained to

our parents of cobwebs and spiders inside our playhouse.

The executive decision was made to store chopped

wood inside for the two fireplaces, one in the basement

and the other on the first floor.  When we played

outdoors in the fall, we would look inside at the

wood piles inside the playhouse.  Now covered with

cobwebs and spiders.  I do recall a couple times

when our Dad tried making baked potatoes in

the hot embers and other times, we roasted

some marshmallows too.  Special treats for us.

Fond memories remain of this Cape Cod style house

where roamed the woods freely and made mud pies

in warmer weather.  Raking leaves into big piles.

On rainy days, we cut out paper dolls and used

our imaginations to script our own plays.  Or

played a card game called Authors intended to

teach us about famous writers.  I suppose those

were the foundation of my book some years later.

Our Mom had plenty of clothes and shoes for us

to don as we played dress up and modeled them for

our parents.  Giggling as our little feet didn’t quite

fill up the shoes.  Stories told of when she wore

the dresses.  Fancy materials.  Dances when she

first met our Dad in Boston.  We never tired of

listening to those stories repeated over and over.