It’s been a while since I participated in Timeless Thoughts, which is a linkup hosted by Tara and Georgie! I have been scanning old photos lately and have been thinking back on my time as a child in New York.
Back in December, I wrote about my aunt’s passing and about how my dad’s side of the family is very close. Growing up, we used to have get-togethers all the time at my paternal grandparents’ house in Brooklyn. Sadly, we sold the house after my grandpa passed away (my grandma moved in with one of my uncles), so I actually haven’t seen it in almost 20 years. Even without the photos, I can remember their place very well.
If you’ve never been to Brooklyn before, a lot of the neighborhoods look like this, with houses that are 2-3 stories (not including the basement) and can consist of 2-3 apartments. My grandparents owned theirs, so they lived on the first floor and rented out the apartments above.
The first room you enter in my grandparents’ place was the living room, which is where this photo was taken. That coffee table? That’s the kids’ table! We would cram around it for dinner, sitting on small plastic chairs.
My memories are mainly with 6 of us, as 2 cousins had moved to California and 4 hadn’t been born yet. The adults would squeeze around a table in the kitchen. Looking back, I’m amazed at how we were able to fit 14-18 people into one small apartment to have dinner together.
On one side of the living room was the “dining” room. In quotes because though it had a dining table, it seemed to be mostly used for storage instead of eating. It had a big, heavy door that was almost always open. My cousins and I closed it once, only to have it get stuck. Three of us didn’t have enough strength to pull it open and freaked out, yelling out for help.
Our oldest cousin yelled back at us that we were stupid, and it definitely wasn’t stuck. (Gee thanks a lot cousin.) A younger cousin happened to come and push on it the moment we pulled it loose. She ran around telling everyone how she saved us, which made us so annoyed! Let’s just say after that day, we were afraid to close that door ever again.
One of the times we actually used the dining room table
Next to that was a spare bedroom, which we used to hook up a NES to play on. One of my memories was playing Tetris with my cousins. I grew up with mostly male cousins, so at the time, it was me, my brother, and 2 male cousins. A pink and purple level came up, and I remember thinking about how pretty it was. The boys, being stereotypical, immediately commented on how gross it was. I wanted to fit in, so I just made the same reaction. (Really though, that was still my favorite level color.)
The rest of the apartment was on the other side of the living room with a bathroom, my grandparents’ bedroom, and the kitchen. They also had a basement that I don’t have many memories of. I think because it always felt so dark and enclosed, that I didn’t like spending time in it. The adults seem to go to it more often to escape the crowdedness and noise.
After my grandpa passed, we continued to have get-togethers at a relative’s house, though my favorite memories are still at the small, old house that my grandparents’ used to have. Those memories don’t span very long since my grandpa passed away when I was young, but I’m still so glad I have them.
Look at how cute all of you are! I love the old photographs. I also hadn’t known that about Brooklyn. I think details like that are really interesting because each city has a sort of different “personality”. I remember when I first visited LA, I remember thinking how different it was from Seattle because all the houses had gates and the rich people lived higher instead of on islands lol.
I also think memories are great to listen to and I really liked listening (reading?) yours! It’s really fascinating how we can remember certain details that don’t seem that significant out-of-context years later but become significant because they have treasured memories attached to them.
Ooooh! Thank you for sharing this memory! Those buildings all look very quintessential to Brooklyn/NYC area for me. I think it’s neat your grandparents owned the whole building and rented the top floors while living on the ground floor.
The photos are very nostalgic, and it shows the sheer happiness in your family. Your grandparents look so proud and joyful to be around their grandchildren!
That’s a funny story about getting stuck because of that door ^^;; Though I’m sure it felt scary to you as a kid back then! I’m glad you were able to get it unstuck! I don’t blame you for not wanting to close that door again.
Woot for Tetris! That’s a nice gaming memory. I had to laugh at their reaction for that pink and purple level, though XD Typical boy reaction, for sure!
I enjoyed reading your memory of your grandparent’s house! It was lovely and very nostalgic ^^
Thank you for sharing this Cat and your photos also! I didn’t know you lived in New York when you were younger, being a lover of New York, I find that super awesome! Brooklyn looks cool, I bet I’d love walking around that area đ
Haha, the set up with the coffee table is similar to my parent’s house. My sister and I and some cousins when they came over also crouched around the table and use it as a dinner table thing haha.
I really enjoyed reading your memory! It sounded like it was a great time in your life!
What a lovely post, it sounds like you have some lovely memories. As a child, that incident with the door must have been terrifying, though.
Seeing those pictures made me feel nostalgic! They must have brought all sorts of wonderful memories back for you!
My dad’s aunt lives in Brooklyn and that’s who I stayed with when I went to NY for the first time. I loved Brooklyn! Her house was exactly as you described; it had 2 stories with 2 apartments and then the basement.
When it’s family, it always somehow works no matter how big the family is. I love the family photos; I can feel the happiness in them. Y’all are so cute <3
I really enjoyed reading this! Thank you for sharing
It’s so interesting to hear other people’s childhood and how different and/or a like they were with my own.
I love Tetris! I still play it on my xD
I used to get together with my cousins all the time when I was little, mainly for holidays but we were all pretty close in age so we did a bunch of stuff together.
But I love the pictures <3
The thing I love about having get together’s is when the kids are just sitting around a table together. I love how all of you would spend some quality time together. I know I would be annoyed if my cousin kept bringing up a situation that only makes her or him look good XD.
All of the kids look super adorable in the pictures! Your grandparents look really sweet too :). It’s good that you still have memories of your childhood! Haha, when my cousins and I had a console around, the boys would always hog it @___@.
Thank you for sharing this bit of your memory :D.
Aww, it’s great that you have such fond memories of that apartment. I think I would have been scared to close that door too hahaha.
I love these pics! Thanks for sharing such personal memories with us! I forgot you lived in other states besides Texas!
It’s a lovely post and reminds me of my own grandparents’ houses in El Salvador on my paternal side and my own maternal side and loving all of the memories. XD Beautiful photos! Each grandparents’ houses were different according to the cultures, but still, they were great memories ^^
These memories of yours are amazing. I remember family gatherings at my grandparent’s house and fortunately they still happen. They are the best and you feel like you belong.
Oh my goodness, your pictures with your grandparents are adorable! I love those!
This post really reminded me a lot of my grandparents. My grandparents had a house, but it wasnât very big and we would have 20-30 people and children there all at once. I donât remember it being crowded though, just cozy. We also played a lot of the Super Nintendo games like Donkey Kong and Mario.
Those memories are definitely ones to hold on to. My grandma just passed away last month, so it will be different now for us to have get-togethers at one of my aunts or uncles.
Ahhh those are adorable old photographs!!! đ The minute I saw the photo of the street and houses I knew it was in Brooklyn (or Queens) because it’s such a familiar sight for me! A lot of houses in New York have unfinished basements that are scary – I’ve been to friends’ houses in the suburbs and the basement is like any other room in the house! Except without windows.
HAHA I love pink as well but I used to call it gross because the boys did!
Awww thanks for sharing this, I enjoyed reading about your childhood memories and looking at your old photographs. You guys all looked adorable! đ Sounds like you had a really happy childhood and had lots of fun spending time at your grandparents’ house <3 I never got to know any of my grandparents so I really loved reading this entry, I felt like I was part of your family for a second đ
Reading this made me go ‘awwww’ Usually the best memories happened in a small place. I just noticed it now. The way I see it, you are really close with your cousins. oh how I miss being a kid đ
Thank you for participating! ? You definitely donât have to participate every month (sometimes I struggle to think of something to write about, haha).
Twenty years is seriously a long time. :O I think I see you in that first photo, haha.
The dining room sounds a lot like my dining room. I have been living in the same house since I was three years old, so most of my memories are from this same house. We donât have a âroomâ since there are no walls, but there is a dining table that just gets used to put things on rather than to eat at, ugh. Itâs not very good, but we donât have a lot of family dinners because everyone is so busy. The same goes for the lounge room, which doesnât get used as itâs mostly for guests when they visit and have a cup of tea or coffee or whatever. Most of our rooms are storage and have been storage since I was little and Iâm really not a fan. ? But thatâs my parents, really, thatâs how they use the rooms. ?
I think I need to go back and look at the little apartment I lived in before I was three! I donât remember much from it at all. It wasnât as interesting as the multi-storey homes you mentioned, just a pretty standard apartment.