The Circle

Mother said she just had to have a house. After three years of living in one bedroom, with her husband and two young children in her parent's home, she needed a place for her growing family.They borrowed $500.00 from her father-in-law and bought a new three bedroom, one bath house in a pleasant cul-de-sac, in a new housing development in Culver City that was built around Lindberg Park. The house cost $11,000 dollars. It was 1951.
The front door was up two steps and across a long narrow cement porch that stretched across the front of the house. Stepping into the front door of 5175 Steven's Circle for the first time was momentous for my three 1/2 year old little feet. The shining hardwood floor, stretching down the entryway and into the living room and dining area, seemed endless. It looked vast because there was little furniture to clutter things up.  To the right of the entry there was a long narrow kitchen and a breakfast nook with a window that looked out across the circle. There were two doors to the right of the nook that enclosed a tiny laundry area. Past the living room and down a hallway to the left were the three bedrooms and a small bathroom.
There was a two car garage at the front of the house with an impossibly steep and short driveway. I don't remember a fence in the backyard (I think a cement block wall came later) but I do remember there was a cement incinerator for burning trash. There was a vacant lot, beyond our backyard and up an incline, that stretched out to meet Sepulveda Blvd.
Our home in Steven's Circle was a continually changing structure that provided the backdrop for my childhood. It became home again as an adult. The 43 years my parents lived there were filled with all the things that transform a house into a home. Home is not an easy thing to create. It requires a lifetime of love and "showing up". It then becomes a place we can always visit even if only in our memories.