Keeping Watch: February 25, 2012

Do you have a place that anchors you, a place that you cherish even if it exists only in your memory?   This four square brick house in Moyers Corners, New York is one of those landmarks for me. When I was growing up, it was the home of the Brand family, with Mrs. Brand living on the first floor, and her daughter Irene's family upstairs. Irene was a hairdresser, and I had my first perm from her, just in time for Easter 1962. It was an involved three hour process back then, with smelly chemicals that ran down your neck and curlers rolled so tight they  pulled the scalp away from your head.  You had to sit under a hair dryer that blasted hot air for an hour (so it seemed) until you felt like a prune. But Irene and I chatted and laughed all afternnoon, and when my mother picked me up, I was a girl transformed with curly hair.   Irene died this past week, and whenever I see the old brick house - which still stands on the corner -  I'll remember her chatting and working her hair magic on me, up on the second floor.