6606
I'm half Irish and Italian . When I was growing up I remember taking trips to see my dad's family in Ireland and my mom's in New York. My fondest memories are in New York spending Christmas with my mom's family.
My Great Grandmother, and my Grandma and Aunt Jonnie lived in Brooklyn ,New York. The address was 6606 13 avenue, but 6606 was what the house was called. If you didn't know the name of the street 6606 was enough to know.
The house 6606 stood tall for 77 years. So many memories were shared in the house. Everyone was welcomed in, and there was always a place to sleep. I spent Christmas, summer vacation, and holidays in Brooklyn New York. My Great Grandmother, and Grandma, and Aunt Jonnie grew up in the house. My Grandma raised her son's Tom, Robert, and Ronald including my mom in the house. When my uncles got married, and had families the house was packed on holidays. Jason, and Amy who are my uncle Tom's kids, and Allison and Trevor who are my uncle Robert's kids, and Jasmine, and Aidan who are my uncle Ronald's kids grew up, and shared the memories with me as well.
I remember when my Aunt Jonnie would take me down the avenue and we would buy meat, and cheese, and bread, and milk for lunch. The difference is in Brooklyn is that a store on the avenue just holds one thing, like bread you have to go to the bakery to buy the bread, and you had to go to the deli for the meat. It is not like a supermarket it is one whole block full of stores. The smell of each store fills my nose. The fresh smell of bread, and pizza, and cookies were the best smell in the world. My mom told me a story that when she was younger a man owned a banana store, and he only sold bananas. You never know what to expect on the avenue, but each time I walked up the streets people would smile, and ask how I was doing. Everyone was friendly.
Coming back to the house 6606 when you first enter the house you can smell moth balls. It smells like black licorice a strong taste, and smell, I loved the smell of moth balls. The house was like a mansion, and it was 3 stories high and had 3 bathrooms, and 2 kitchens, and 2 living rooms, and 7 bedrooms. Grandma lived downstairs that is were we all ate dinner if anyone came over. Upstairs lived Aunt Jonnie and Grammy, upstairs smelled like old Channel perfume. A strong, but nice smell. Christmas eve, and Christmas was the big holiday everyone looked forward to. On Christmas eve was the Feast Of Seven Fishes that was the Italian tradition for Christmas eve. The fishes included were; calamari, shrimp, clams, and squid. The baking of the fish started at 5 pm, and the smell was rich, and crispy. It was such a great smell. On top of that was the smell of marinara sauce for Christmas day. Christmas day was meatballs, and sausages, and lasagna.
Their was a Christmas that stood out a lot. Christmas 2004 was the last holiday we all spent in the house together. After my uncle made is speech about how family is important we all sat down, and ate. A new family member joined us that year, Amelia Jason's daughter shared her first Christmas in New York. I wouldn't know that Christmas was Grammy's last holiday with everyone. When ever I am sad I look back on this memory of the house on 13 avenue Brooklyn, New York 6606.
The following year 2005 of May Grammy passed away. And a year later the house that stood tall was torn down, this felt like someone punching me a thousand times. I always wish that we had the money for the house to fix it, and let it still be there standing tall.
What 6606 taught me, and everyone else was that, family comes first, and yes my family may be crazy and loud, but I wouldn't trade it in for the world. I learned how to be a stronger person too, and even though the house is gone the memories will for ever stay in my head.