My Birth Town

5/22/09 to 5/23/09




After leaving Charles City and seeing my friend Barb, we headed north, just 45 minutes away to Mason City, Iowa my birth town. We parked the Nest at Wal-Mart, in Mason City. We did our grocery shopping and the next day we went to visit my dad's grave in Clear Lake. It was memorial weekend. Couldn't have planned it better, if I had tried.


My Grandma and Grandpa Freeman and my dad Harry Freeman's grave.

I lived in Mason City, Iowa the first 5 years of my life. When my parents divorced, my mom and my sisters moved to Ottumwa, Iowa where my mom's parents lived. My Grandma Freeman, (my dad's mom) had a home on Clear Lake, in Clear Lake, Iowa, which is 10 miles from Mason City. My sisters and I spent every summer at my Grandma Freeman's home on the lake. I have very fond memories of her home.

After visiting the grave we went to see my Grandma Freeman's home on the lake. ( my Grandpa Freeman died before I was born). The City was redoing the street in front of her house, so we had to walk 3 blocks to see it. As we past the Outting Club( kind of like condos, but built years ago), I saw this robin feeding her young. We finally got to grandma's house. Her house is the one that looks out of place at the far right. She sold it 30 years ago for $30,000. Someone came in and totally remodeled it. It looks totally different than it use to. It use to look more like the middle home. Better picture of grandma's remodeled home.

Those were the good old days of summer, when I used to steal fresh baked cookies from the cookie jar. When Grandma put us down for naps, my sister Nancy and I would toss pillows back and forth. We spent the afternoons on the dock sunbathing and swimming. Then as I got older I had a few summer time boyfriends who took me out in their boats. Good memories.

I do not know why this last paragraph is in blue and in a box. I tried to undo it, but could not figure out how or how I did it in the first place. If anyone can tell me I would appreciate it greatly.