Page 549 - WhyAsInY

sWeet sixteen
told the other that the night before we had actually seen that house again in a dream. Now prepared to spend more, we immediately called the broker and found out that the house was still available, and—better yet—the seller had substantially lowered the price. Obviously, we made the deal and were delighted, even if the bedroom situation was far from perfect from the point of view of the children. (There were five second- ary bedrooms of varying sizes and convenience. One was huge; one, across the hall from it, was of adequate size, but considerably smaller than the first; two that were reachable by the back staircase [something that turned out to be an advantage] and that were just about big enough for a bed; and one that was essentially created by an area that opened onto both the main portion of the house and the “servant’s quarters,” which was more a hallway than a bedroom.)
After a few bumps, we sold 7 Longview at a reasonable price, set the closing of Church Lane South for June 14, and moved soon thereafter. Even though I had my suspicions about Coronet at that point, I took Kathy to the jewelry store in Great Neck and bought her a watch to celebrate our good fortune.
Homeward Bound
I spent about two years living in my home in Manhattan Beach, eleven years at 1771 Ocean; essentially three in our home at 975 East 23rd Street (even though I obviously returned there for most holidays when I was in college—and I think that my state of mind at the time probably prevents me from considering 975 to have been once again my home when I left Amherst for about nine months); three years in apartments in Manhattan and Brooklyn; thirteen living at Farragut Road; a few months at 61 West 62nd Street; four years at 45 West 60th Street; and just ten months in Great Neck. All of the other eight years were spent in various dorms and an apartment as I attended college and law school, and I did not really consider those places to be “home.”
For sheer longevity, therefore, 16 Church Lane South takes the cake • 531 •