39th Street, outskirts of Moline, Illinois

Events here

• Almost immediately after the purchase and over the years

  Making the small house into a lasting home

  Dad raised the house and built a basement, chimney, and water system, then enlarged the kitchen and added bedrooms and indoor plumbing. Bob and the narrator helped a little with the bedrooms; Grampa is remembered helping with the early garden and basement work. Later came green asphalt siding, a new garage, and a work shed. The chicken coop became a playhouse. By the telling, the home was Dee’s and had white siding again with forest-green shutters.