The Beach House

Mel, Donna, and Dale lived here.

As Mom tells it, this was the upper floor of a boat house along Lake Michigan in Zion, Illinois. My own memories here are extremely limited: Looking out the window and seeing Dad wave at us from the beach. Watching a TV set with the ironing board in front of it. (In my memory, the board actually blocks out a solid line across the upper third of the screen; apparently I wasn't too concerned about seeing everything.) And, because I liked the Lake so well, Mom could best get me into the house by telling me it was time for a bath!

Mom's recollection of the bath-and-beach combo is the time she finished off my bath with a nice touch of baby oil on my head. Apparently "greasy kids' stuff" was a very popular look in the 1950s, even among the toddler set. Then, I went outside and coated the top of my head with sand.