Looking Through That Schoolhouse Window in Bordentown

I can tell you that I remember walking down that street in about 1950 to go to a party in that Clara Barton School in Bordentown.

I remember sitting on a little bench with my grandmother and looking out of those very windows on the left side of that schoolhouse. There was a very happy party for children that day. There were red and yellow and blue balloons, and little cookies with sprinkles and sweet chocolate cakes. And there was music. The memory of that party exists in my mind like a painting without a pentimento.

Years later, in about 1960.... my family went back to Bordentown to see the cousins who still lived in that same house on that street. The women took care of an older uncle who lived upstairs. We had to walk up a very very narrow flight of stairs to get to the top floor of the house and the ceilings were very low.

Then, we sat in a parlor and talked to the cousins, both of whom never married. They looked like Estelle Winwood and Beulah Bondi. I loved that little day trip. And I loved seeing that schoolhouse again.

But most of all I loved the drive back to Valley Stream because we stopped at a diner on the NJ Turnpike and I was able to get chicken in a basket. For me, every experience was always defined by the chow.