Chita and the places in Trinity and My Grandma’s House

I just wanted to share a couple pics of the kids when they were young at places that have a little bit to do with my family heritage. One is of the Chita sign near Trinity. That is where my grandma and uncle and aunt lived and my mom lived for a short period of time. There is a house and land there. My grandma came there in 1910 when she was a little girl, in a covered wagon and they stopped and made a life. She grew up there and married Judson Chapman my grandpa.

They moved to Denver Harbor in Houston on Rouse street when my mom was a little girl. They owned a gas station and we would go there often and my grandma who we called Nana would give us candy and we would go across the street and buy toys at the 5 cent store. Years later my Uncle Lanky would have a auto parts store down the road that I would work at during college. In Trinity there was also a store where my uncle would stop at when he would take me up there and buy me minnows. It was called Lawrence’s store. Like a stop n go. Then we would go to the ranch and I would fish as he worked. Those were some of the best times as a kid. I would sit on the back of this pond. You can see Mady and Brad standing next to that exact pond here in a picture. I caught a ton of fish sitting there on my own. I would then take them up to the house and Uncle Lanky would clean them for me. There are also other places like my grandma‘s house on Flamingo right down the street from Mount Carmel high school. I am posting a pic of her house on Flamingo where I spent many weekends growing up and watching Carol Burnett and The Wonderful World of Disney. My cousins lived on the next street from my grandma’s, I spent a lot of time there as well. They all went to Mount Carmel. I worked at the auto parts store in college. It was called Chaps Auto Supply. I had great times there working with my cousin Brad, my uncle Lanky and a guy named Ricky Soto. Great memory is at the end of the workday at five. My uncle would give me his keys and a $20 bill. He would send me to the liquor store, which was just an old house that had a drive thru where the kitchen was. There was an old guy that looked like Roy Orbison working/living there. I had to buy a fifth of old granddad. I would bring it back, get a can of Sprite and the money out of the register for the day and bring it all to him in the office to count the money. At that time from 5 to 6 we could have beers at the counter also. It was a different atmosphere on Lockwood Drive. It was the fifth ward of Houston and had become a bad part of town. But my uncle had been there for so long he knew everyone. And if you get down to it many times, the people in that area are just poor and not bad people. These are just a few examples of my heritage and experiences of my family. These were great memories for me.

Ya’ll Be Safe Out There !!