Monday, August 29, 2011

Our House's Brush With Greatness

Last night, we had our neighbor over for dinner. He's in his late sixties and has lived in the house next door all of his life. He grew up there as a child and after time in the army, came back to live with his parents. They've both passed on and now he lives there alone. I was anxious to ask him questions about the neighborhood and what he remembered of our house and the people that have lived here. Boy, he didn't disappoint.

My first question was, "What do you think was the craziest thing that has ever happened on our street?" Well, he sat and thought for a moment and just when I thought he wasn't going to come up with anything, his eyes lit up and he said, "Oh! I have one!"

I stopped him with, "Okay, first off...nobody got murdered in our house, right?"

He laughed and said, " No...No...Well, not yet at least!" then went on to tell us about a teenager who was a real trouble maker around the neighborhood in the sixties.

The kid and his family lived across the street and a few houses down. At the same house as the lady who came beating on my back door one day trying to make me give her the Jack-o-lanterns off of my front porch. I guess that house has had quite a few characters in it!

Anyway, this kid was always breaking into the neighbors' houses and robbing them when they weren't home. A real delinquent from the way it sounded (or "rabble rouser" as they used to say back in the day). So, this kid also had a penchant for making explosives. He liked to blow things up in the back yard. Comforting, no? Well, one day, the guy just blew his hand completely off! Horrible, yes...but I'm sure that all of the neighbors who'd had their houses broken into may have just considered it justice for the now one-handed burglar.

Our neighbor couldn't remember when the family moved away but he did recall that shortly after the accident, the kid was sent to live with family. As they did back in the day.

A while later, we were telling our neighbor that there was a house on our old street where Porter Wagoner and Minnie Pearl used to go to parties and dance right on the living room rug. Then out of the blue, he says very casually, "Patsy Cline used to come to your house." The Mister and I stopped dead in our tracks to make sure that we heard him right. And we did. Patsy Cline! He said that she'd come to visit one of her friends who lived right here in our little ranch! He said she was over all the time. Whee!

So, of course after our neighbor left last night, Mister Kitsch and I were doing dishes and going on about, "I bet she stood right here in THIS kitchen!" and "She used the pink bathroom. You KNOW she did!!" "She touched our front door knob!"

I asked our neighbor if she ever wore her gold cigarette pants when over but he couldn't remember. I told him, "Oh, if she'd worn them, you would remember!" That said, as any folklore allows for wiggle room, I've been picturing her sitting in our living room next to the faux fireplace, wearing those gold pants and having iced tea.

I woke up this morning and remembering our house's brush with greatness, loved it just a little bit more. Love and Patsy Cline - the perfect kind of ranch dressing. And I think that calls for a double dose of Patsy! What do you say, kids?








Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

30 comments:

Barbara said...

Damn girl! Patsy Cline right in your own house? That's amazing!! And I can picture her there too!

"Ralph, go get me a beer; Charlie's coming to get me and that bastard's gonna be drunk. I might as well get started..."

Vintage Christine said...

That is so cool!!!! If anyone "famous" was ever in MY house before we owned it, it was probably some high mucky muck in the KKK or something. How is it that I'm not a follower of your blog? I'm going to remedy that right now!

Steven Keylon said...

That is SO crazy!!! How fun to know that she saw your bathroom, and kitchen, and looked out your windows... Do you know who the friends were who lived there at the time? Congratulations, now you'll never move!

CollectoratorOne said...

ohhhh!! That is beyond cool! I especially love how your neighbor mentioned it so casually. Ha! We recently figured out that the lady who lives 2 doors down from us at our new place is the last surviving owner of one of the legendary honky-tonks/dancehalls here in town - everyone played there Elvis, Hank Williams, Johnny Horton, etc... It was walking distance from our neighborhood, but is sadly the current location of a CVS. Anyways, you can imagine how much I want to meet her and ask her to tell us stories!

Kitsch and Curious said...

That is just perfect!! You definitely found yourself the right house!

Beta Mike said...

Eartha, you know what I think? This is the perfect revenge for the firemen assuming that you live in a museum from the mid-century.

Let's say we all believe in residual energy from past lives. If that is true, then you've created a wonderful and welcoming place for poor Patsy to come over and "sit a spell" when she gets lonesome.

Holly Hall said...

Hot Damn!! You lucky gal. Imagine! Patsy Cline shimmying out of those gold pants to put her rear end right there on your toilet seat! That is so exciting. You can never move.

1950s Atomic Ranch House said...

Very cool!

My house has always been owned by my family, so no one famous in mine!

Sara In AZ said...

That is the most fantastic and awesome thing ever!!! Your house really is a magical place Eartha! I think that is the special thing about older homes, you never know what secrets they hold from us - I glad you finally know about this one.

Chel said...

I love that you kept your pink bathroom. Sadly, yes, that's the part that I'm taken with, sorry. Pink bathroom. My grandmother had one. Wistful and sighing... ;)

The Thriftaholic (Leilani) said...

I always love hearing the history of old homes and your story is one of the best I've heard. Currently I live in a 1920s apartment in Chicago... am going to pretend bootleggers or gangsters lived here during the Prohibition hehe.

Anonymous said...

Eartha, What a priceless bit of info given so casually, "Patsy Cline used to visit in your house". This house was so meant to be yours.
Candis/mojavegirl

Bob said...

I always look up the old city directories at the library just to see who lived wherever I happen to be.
No celebrities yet, but I did once rent a house that had a murder-suicide!
My current neighborhood was a brothel in the '50s.

megan said...

folklore is always served best with a huge side of wiggle room! I'm sure Miss Patsy sang for her friends right in front of the faux fireplace wearing her awesome gold pants!

Lynn said...

How exciting! Now you KNOW you found the perfect house. Not that you didn't already know that. But it sure makes up for the squirrel's winter rations that you found.

art deco dame said...

Oh my that is SO awesome!Can I come to your house?!Hehe!

Lauren Atom said...

ooh man that is SOO cool! what a neat thing to find out about your house AND your neighborhood!

Bandita said...

yessssssssssssssssssssss!! That is truly amazing. Congrats!

Amber Von Felts said...

How cool is that! Y'know my older sister is a Patsy Cline impersonator! I'm going to send her a link to this post right away! Thanks for the great stories!

Kitsch n' Keen said...

Oh Billy...that's so exciting! I'd do the same as you, wandering around pointing out where she *could* have been...lucky duck!

DearHelenHartman said...

Am I Crazy for loving this story? Wow, Patsy Cline. That is so cool.

Anonymous said...

HOLY COW!!! That is pretty much the coolest thing ever! She is the coolest person who could have possibly ever been in your house. You and Patsy Cline have probably sat on the same toilet. That is mind-boggling and amazing. :)

SUZY8-TRACK said...

Thats exciting news! Patsy Cline was in YOUR house!!! By the way, when reading the story about the juvenile delinquent who built bombs, I thought the story would have ended as him turning out to be the Unabomber!

Jen said...

WOW! Patsy Cline! That's AMAZING! And not just a "brush" with greatness...Greatness waled right in the front door! *squeeee*

Ruth said...

Wow!!! That is so awesome! You know what I think? You need to get some gold pants and do a "When Patsy Came To Visit" photo shoot! :)

Marilyn said...

perfect:)

Becky said...

Oh my. You are never going to leave your house now! That is so amazing. PC is your home's lucky charm!

bitter69uk said...

Amazing! Patsy Cline is a goddess. And I know the gold cigarette pants of which you speak.(I would have called them Capris, but defer to your judgement! They're probably too long to be Capris or toreador pants)

1959sharon said...

THAT IS SO AWESOME! Having him over was a great thign to do, he's full of wonderful stories, and this information is PRICELESS! I can so picture her in your house! I bet she was in the ktichen singing with her friend! AND I AM POSITIVE she wore gold pants on at least one of the visits! This is pricless information!

Y'all can get a transfer history from the county and find out maybe who the friend WAS and do some more research!

WHOOO HOOO, this is so great! I will never look at your house the same way again! I already adored it, and now it is EVEN BETTER!

oxox Sharon

ellyn said...

quel PERFECT.

i have always felt right close to her myself, as we share a birthday.