Extra Extra...

So I am from a small mill town in good old MA. It is called Millbury. My mom and dad grew up there. Both of them are from very large families. My mom is from a family of 7 children and my dad is from a family of 6. My mom's family went to the Irish Catholic church in town..and my dad's family went to the French Catholic church. There may be an actual railroad track that seperates the town...but even if not..you get the point.

But none the less..my childhood was very big. I have always remembered it that way. My dad built and designed a beautiful Log Cabin for our family to live in on a little under two acres of land (in nearby West Millbury). I could see the lake from my bedroom window. There were horses and a riding stable on one side, and a cow pasture, on the other. We had miles of woods to play in, with my very own frog pond to hang out by. We had a pool and a garden the size of my own yard today. We rode our bikes every day. Sometimes to the very old cementary..other times to the dairy farm. There were two old, one room school houses less then a mile away from where I lived...

When it snowed (aka blizzard of '79) we had to shovel ourselves out of our house. I also remember jumping off of our nearly 8 foot tall back deck into a snow bank (drift) that pretty much came right up to it.

In the Spring and Summer I could pick strawberries and blueberries, and in the Fall apples - whenever I wanted.

I say all this because although this town is not glamorous, it is where I am from. The people work hard. They do not have a lot..and most are content to stay within 15 minutes from their parent's house..well after they are grown.

My parents, although not very "worldly" wanted more for us. They sacraficed and put all three of us in the only well known private school around..35 minutes one way.

The closest and actually the second largest city in MA was nearby. Worcester. It seemed like forever to get to this place. Row houses and lots of hills. A wealthy Jewish section stood out among the middle class neighborhoods. My Polish grandmother, whose parents came over on "the boat" grew up in this city. Certainly not a pretty place. But very interesting.

Tomorrow the Worcester Telegram and Gazette is running a feature story on me.

It feels weird having your "hometown" notice you. I hope it is good. My parents have told everyone they know..as this is the "paper" you get when you live next door to the big city.

www.telegram.com

Night everyone.