While I consider myself to be from Chapel Hill, having lived there pretty much my entire life, I was born in Hampton, VA. I lived in Hampton until I was 6 years old. We moved to Chapel Hill during the summer of 1988, right before I started 2nd grade and my sister started kindergarten. My dad still lives in the Hampton Roads area and although he has moved across the water to Chesapeake, he is still very close to Hampton so I asked him to take us on a visit. I wanted to show Ed where I used to live. (These pictures are not the best, I took most of them from within the car.)
We started out by stopping at the house where I lived when I was born. This is the house that my dad grew up in. It was my grandmother & grandfather and their 6 children that lived in this little house. Yes, I said 8 people!!! My mom & dad lived in this house for a period while I was an infant and then my Aunt Rita lived there after us.
Directly across the street is where my "nanny" stayed. We called her Mama Dell. She still lives there today but was not home when we went by. She kept both me & my sister.
Next we drove to the 2nd place I lived. This was an apartment on Goldsboro Drive. Seriously run down now. There were even 2 hoopties parked outside with big rims and they were both Mike Vick cars. One was an Eagle's car & the other was a Falcon's car with his picture on each car. So Serious. I should have taken a picture of them but I didn't. We got outta there quick, lol! I must say, they do produce ALOT of athletes out of this area that go on to great collegiate & professional careers and they are quite proud of that.
This is where the below picture was taken in 1987. (It ran in the newspaper with the caption "She's Not Heavy, She's My Sister.") Not sure I would let Deuce walk to the mailbox over there now...
I went to Tucker Capps Elementary for kindergarten & 1st grade, which was right across the street & through the woods from house number 3.
Next we went to the neighborhood Farmington, which is where my mom lived while she was growing up. My grandfather was a pastor at First United Church of Christ for 20 years so they lived in the church parsonage. This house is no longer the parsonage however it seems to be kept up pretty well. My mom lived here from the time she was about 10 years old until she married my dad and they lived in that first teeny weeny house.
We had to stop at the church so I could show Ed around. The fellowship hall is named after my grandparents and the coutyard is dedicated to them.
When we went in to the fellowship hall, there was a longtime couple in there that were dedicated church members from the time my grandparents were there through the present. As we walked in they were looking at me as though they should know me but couldn't quite place me. (Keep in mind, we left this church as members in 1988, when I was 6 years old.)
Seeing as how I am the spitting image of my mother, they were beyond excited to learn that it was indeed me, "Rosie's daughter." They were so happy to see us and to meet Ed & Deuce. They couldn't believe "Rosie" is now a grandmother since they had watched her grow up in the church from the time she was a little girl. It was so wonderful to go back there.
And even though Deuce will never remember that, he will have pictures of himself with me & his great-grandparents that he never got the chance to meet. (even though he doesn't look so happy to be taking that picture, lol!)
We drove through Hampton University and through downtown Hampton, where I spent many a night as a college student in the summer at all of the block parties riding boats, drinking & dancing to the sounds of some good beach music. Finally we went down to Buckroe beach. It was quite chilly but Deuce loved walking along the boardwalk and watching the seagulls. And dude, the hair = serious mess!
Although I only lived there for a short period of time, my family has a history in Hampton and I am so glad that I finally got to share that with my husband.
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