Let's Play Telephone

This is the story about one day - July 7, 1969. That was the day we moved into our new house in New Canaan, Connecticut. We had driven from Bethesda, MD the day before and were staying at the Holiday Inn in nearby Darien. We were all very excited to see our new house - my parents had been working on it for almost a year. The moving van was scheduled to arrive later that day, so the house was empty. It was a hot & sunny summer day. 

The house was located on the top of Sturbridge Hill Road. Before being subdivided, the road was empty except for one tree - hence the locals called it Lone Tree hill. It was a popular "make-out" spot for teenagers, so almost everyone in town knew where our street was. Eventually it was divided into large building lots, and our house was one of five or six homes built in the late 1960's. 

As the house was constructed, it became a curiosity to the neighborhood. There were lots of big houses in New Canaan, but a house with seven bedrooms and four bathrooms on the second floor alone led to much speculation. The word got out that a family with nine children was moving in. 

As we drove up Sturbridge Hill Road for the very first time that July day, we were surprised to find a crowd of teenagers hanging around. Upon further inspection, we realized it was a large group of teenage boys - all waiting for us!  They came because as news of the occupants of our house spread, it changed to a family with nine girls moving in. By the time we got to Connecticut, our family no longer had boys and girls ages three to eighteen. To "those in the know," we were nine teenage girls - with no mention of brothers or parents. 

What a disappointment it must have been to all those boys as we exited the car. They were expecting Hawaiian Tropic models and they got the Brady Bunch plus. Although Barbie, Cherie and I would have loved to hang out with this captive audience, we were quickly whisked into the house by my Dad. We didn't object too much - that day even boys were overshadowed by our new home. But I always smile when I think about that day.