When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #26

Story #26 - Sleeping on the roof – and it always rained!

Our house had a flat roof. We had a patio off the one end of our house. It had a patio wall that was six feet high that enclosed the patio. We had two arched doors at each end of the patio. Just outside the living room it led out into the patio. Inside the patio we had stairs that led up to the rooftop that was over the top of the living room. My father had built a three-foot high wall that surrounded the entire top of the house. It was so neat to be able to go up on the roof and sit and watch the stars or look down around the neighborhood. It was cool in the summer evenings. My parents put a double bed up on the roof. My brothers would sleep out there at night. It was hot in the house and much cooler up on the roof. It only took a few nights of sleeping up there and it would rain at night. My parents put heavy plastic over the top of the bed to keep my brothers dry. My twin brother and I would take turns to sleep up there too. I remember my first time up there I was scared! After the first two or three times I wasn’t so scared. When you think about it. I was safe up on the roof. When it was July 4th – Independence Day- we would go up on the roof and we could see all the fireworks people set off. We had a great view up there!

When I was little, we could get all kinds of fireworks. Today a lot of them are outlawed. I can see the reason why they are outlawed. Some of the fireworks are dangerous and people are hurt every year. But when you are small, all you think about is the 'bang' they make and the excitement!