About a year after my sister was born we learned that Dad got a promotion and we would soon be moving to New Jersey. Mom valiantly tried to get us excited about the move by saying New Jersey was the Garden State. It had great beaches, fantastic farms, and we would be close to exciting New York City. Once they found a place, they brought home some black and white photos of the house. Mom mentioned that the house was right next door to a nursery. I said that would be convenient for baby Lisa. She laughed and said it was not a baby nursery, it was a tree nursery. You could only imagine the picture in my mind of a sapling in a crib??? I remember after I went in front of my third grade class to let them know I was moving, I cried and hugged the teacher, Mrs. Trask. I don’t’ remember being particularly depressed or sad about the move. I guess I was just overwhelmed with the upcoming changes ahead — which would prove to be prophetic. We put the house on the market for $17,000, and because of the low price there was a bidding war and we finally sold it for $21,000 to a Mr. Webster who wanted to buy an historic house he could pass down to his heirs someday. On Wednesday afternoon, June 11, 1962, leaving Upton was tough for me. I remember wanting to say goodbye to my best friend Johnny Page, but not having the time. Just before we drove away though, he came up with John Kelly playing with squirt guns. We never really said goodbye to one another even then. I just recall telling him I’d write, which I did just one time. The 250 mile move to Pennington, New Jersey in mid-June 1962 for me was uneventful. We stayed at the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge on Route 1 in Lawrenceville for one night, and the next day met the moving van at the new house. It was Mom’s idea to move right before the end of school so we would have a week to meet kids and build some early friendships. Good plan, but it didn’t quite work. The move would be just one of many moves I’d experience in my life. In every case, I met new people, had new experiences, and learned a great deal about things I’d have never known otherwise. I learned at a very early age to embrace change. It allowed me to grow as a person by discovering new opportunities and challenges.

NEXT UP – Things I learned between zero and eight years old