Sayville

When Papa was young his family lived in a Long Island town called Sayville. He was 13 years old when they made the cross-country move from California and as if this age isn't hard enough, he was the "new kid" who had no New Yohk accent. The snapshot of his Sayville experience was dark, so when they moved back to Sacramento three years later he never had the desire to return.

 

But a few weeks before coming to visit us in the city, he decided that it was time to make peace with Sayville and we started planning our journey. We rented a mini van and drove to the most charming of New England towns to take a walk down memory lane. I think all of us learned a lot during that visit, but this most importantly: sometimes we demonize a period of time based on a few negative events, but when we really search our soul we can see that the same time period was also full of joy and so much happiness. I'm so glad for the reminder about the beauty that can be found in life, and I'm especially glad that Papa was able to see Sayville through adult eyes and share so many amazing memories with his grandchildren.

 

The only word that truly describes this town is charming. It just was. All of it. This was the house the Biggest Wigs (Great Papa, KK, Papa, Uncle Buck and Auntie Lynn) rented when they first moved to Sayville.

We walked to the local elementary school to see where Papa used to pick up the papers for his route. You see how we were walking in the dead middle of the street? Yes, we surely had left that big old city of ours!

 

That sweet little Ever Knight playing at Aunt Lynnie's school.

 

We visited the United Methodist Church where Papa attended as a child (and munched on 50 donut holes from the Dunkin Donuts across the street, which was not there when Papa was a child mind you). That sign outside the church was completely meant for me, I think.

They turned Papa's middle school into the community college and boy, how I would have loved to go to a middle school like that. It was absolutely beautiful.

The boys gymnasium with all those crazy boys!

The girls gymnasium with just the two of us!

There were a couple of places at the middle school that brought back bad memories, specifically the crying tree and the fighting steps. We went back and "owned" those places, and reenacted it a little bit too ;)

 

We went to the Sunset home that the family moved into a year after landing in New York. It was across from a canal where the children could boat in the summer and ice skate in the winter. It was so picturesque and I can definitely understand why KK chose to move her family there. Shoot, I'd move in if the commute wasn't so wild to the courthouse! 

Next, Papa took us to see the East Bay. We listened to the waves, enjoyed the colors of the boathouses and listened to stories about Papa and his friends driving their boats to Fire Island. 

We finished off at Sayville High School before heading back to the city. The boys slept for the whole drive home and we all talked about how much we enjoyed seeing a piece of Papa's childhood. It was a great day.