319 Linwood Avenue

Since my father, William Henry Butler died in July 2000, I make few trips to Lakewood, NJ - the town of my youth. It having grown as far away from me as I had moved away from it. Since his death, I have only passed through town, spending the occasional night with my stepmother, Gloria Butler, on my way to Boston or North Carolina.

On visits before dad's death, I would usually take a ride to Fourth Street to see where I had lived in my early years: 319 Linwood Avenue. It was a two-family house owned by Mr. Cantor, almost at the end of a dead end street. We lived on the right side of the house. There was a dirt street in front, where Karen Cantor and I sometimes played as little girls.

Reggie and I were in Lakewood in July 2009 for Linda and John's 20th wedding anniversary. Because we were in Lakewood for more than an overnight, I found my way to Fourth Street and looked for Linwood Avenue. It was not there! The entire little street was gone.

There is something disquieting about someplace that I do not visit, never being available again - in case I want to drive by. They say “ashes to ashes, dust to dust”. I never thought about that happening to the places of my past.

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Here in rural NC, we have a small writing group that meets at the Warren County Library and our facilitator, Arlene S. Bice, gives us writing prompts. In September 2006, the writing prompt was something like: describe how to get to a place you have lived. Well, I wrote about 319 Linwood Avenue and it looks like that will be my last memory of 319 Linwood Avenue.

Directions from Newark Airport to 319 Linwood Avenue:

In 2000, 319 Linwood Avenue in Lakewood, NJ still existed and looked much like it did when I was growing up there in the early fifties.

Leaving Newark Airport, driving south on Route 9, the urban/suburban road congestion continues well past Freehold and then the traffic begins to thin out as you approach Howell, then drive into Lakewood.

Just after you enter Lakewood, the Regent Diner is still on the left of Route 9, with its marquee style sign that glittered like Hollywood in the sixties, but now it is old and dull. Crossing over County Line Road – the cemetery is still at the corner of 14th Street. There’s Temple Beth Am on the right. That brings back memories of the interfaith services held in the mid-60s with Sixth Street Baptist Church and Temple Beth Am. My godfather, Rev. George Crawley and Rabbi Yedwab were leaders that were ahead of their time.

The Post Hotel’s beautiful ceramic mosaic artwork is missing, gone forever. Where the hotel once stood majestic are now apartments. Maybe they are condominiums, but I cannot imagine Lakewood with a condominium lifestyle community.

At Fourth Street, turn left crossing Clifton Avenue, then Lexington Avenue, then Monmouth Avenue, and finally crossing Park Avenue. The old synagogue is still at the intersection of Fourth Street, Park Avenue and Ridge Avenue. On the corner of Park and Fourth there is new construction – new housing, new homes. However, Fourth Street has not changed much since the fifties and sixties.

Not quite the distance of one block after crossing Park Avenue there is Linwood Avenue on the right. It is still a simple, unpaved, dirt street. A few houses back on the left side there is 319.

There is still a porch across the front of the house. There are still two doors leading to the two separate living quarters. Our door was on the right. In the summers, growing up in the early fifties, frequently the door behind the screen door was open. There was no air conditioning, so the front door was left open, along with the back door, to allow natural breezes to flow through the house. God’s air conditioning helped to make the summers bearable.

Our neighbor from the left side of the house, Mrs. Zachary frequently sat in a rocking chair on the porch in the summers. I remember her as big and fat and dark and happy. She had this wonderful smile that showcased her white teeth.

© 2009 Sandra Butler Tubbs