When I cast back two structures are caught by my memory. One is a brownstone in an Eastern City…It could be New York, or Baltimore, or Newark for I am not sure. The building had a flight of steps, to me very daunting as I was, well the best I can do is under five. Facing these steps and climbing them was a daily challenge as Ma Bevens stood at the top and my mother at the bottom. Ma Bevens took care of me during the work day and I felt very adventury climbing those stairs all by my self. Mom would be at the foot dressed for work, waving good bye and Ma Bevens at the head arms wide and welcoming. I don’t remember her apartment at all. Our apartment I remember most.
As one would face the brownstone to the left and two steps down were four cement blocks , that was my front yard, an iron railing stood between my area and the sidewalk. At the back of the ‘yard’ was the front of the building, a window , and a door to my first cavelike home., a shotgun apartment , at the back a door to the back yard with grass and a tree and flowers,(not sure about the flowers as I looked rather than explore the back yard because I liked the front room best.)
The Prudent Pensioner 