Rockaway Roots

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Rockaway Beach is my roots. My parents were from here. On Saturday, my family and I visited my aunt and uncle who still live in the house on 136th Street in Belle Harbor that my dad grew up in. Mom was from Hamels on the east end of Rockaway. My dad's mother always had a fresh baked cake with chocolate icing waiting for us. Great Grandma, or Nani, as we called her, would be in the kitchen preparing dinner. She was from Naples, Italy. My aunt and uncle have an annual BBQ that we look forward to now. I brought fresh watermelon. From as early as I can remember, we spent countless summer days on the peninsula of Rockaway Beach, sharing time between my maternal and paternal grandparent's homes. Each house had an outdoor shower. The one on 136th Street still has the original one. Some things should never change.

My parents met in high school, and my dad left for the Marine's just after graduation. They wrote love letters to each other. My dad would drive home from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, throughout the night, to greet my mother in the morning, by her bedside, and wake her with a kiss like prince charming. Her face would be covered in vaseline. That was the moisturizer she used back in the day. Her skin was beautiful throughout her life from that glass jar of grease.

In many ways, Rockaway feels more like home than my native Bay Shore. My two older sisters and two older brothers were born there. My parents eventually moved to the suburbs and bought a house on the GI bill and settled in Bay Shore. That's where I was born along with my three younger sisters. We visited Rockaway almost every weekend in the summer. On their summer vacation, my maternal grandparents would take my two brothers for a week to stay with them, and my sisters and I would stay for another week. Grandpa would drive out in his blue Impala to get us. As we reached the Gil Hodges Bridge, the sound of the grids were loud as we left the mainland to enter Rockaway Beach. We'd go to Playland, Riis Park, and Coney Island. I can still smell the hotdogs and cotton candy and the outdoor shower with stale water. And there was always a lingering scent of Grandpa's cigar in the house. 

Some of my fondest memories are of the bungalows that lined 45th Street as we'd walk down to the beach at night. The ocean was just a couple of blocks away. These small dwellings had a front porch with black and white awnings. City slickers would come out for the weekend to spend time in their "summer homes." They'd sit outside and watch their black and white TV or listen to the radio. Each night, my grandpa would make us ice cream sandwiches on waffles, and we'd sit on the big stairs that led up to his house and eat them as the ice cream dripped down our faces. These are some of the happiest memories of my early childhood. The bungalows aren't there anymore, and neither is my grandparent's house on this block. I recently drove down 45th Street, and it looks completely different now. The houses were big and beautiful with large trees when I was little. Now they are so much smaller. So are the trees. Or is it that I'm so much bigger?

If you walk to the other side of this peninsula, you can see Manhattan. It's another world across Jamaica Bay. The sights, smells, and sounds of Rockaway Beach linger. The best part is that I still get to go there. Thanks Aunt Barb and Uncle Pete.

Peace and Love,

Skylark

At 60 and Beyond, it's great to visit your roots wherever they are. 

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I am a columnist with Skylark Live Town News (SLTN) and write short, poetic articles geared to the 60 and beyond population. Topics include human interest, nature, general observations, inspiration, music, and events in and around Bay Shore. I also write about restaurants and stores I've been to in the area. You can also watch my first Monday-of-the-month vlog, “60 and Beyond with Skylark" on my YouTube Channel, Skylark Live, that features my articles from SLTN. Please subscribe to my free STLN newsletter that gets delivered directly to your email each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. To support SLTN, you can make a recurring monthly donation ($5 Friend or $15 Advocate) or a one-time donation of any amount. It's up to you, and it's easy to do on my feed. You can also advertise your business or event here as well. Please follow me on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn under my brand, Skylark Live. Thank you for your support.