Our house on Harlem Road

When Hayne and I divorced we lived on Washington Highway which was a short walk from the University campus.  I started working first at Denton, Cottier and Daniels, a music department store in downtown Buffalo, and then for Sears where I learned my decorating career.

When our landlady sold the house on Washington Highway we moved to a very nice duplex on Harlem Road in the same neighborhood.  It was in the same block as Harlem Road Elementary School, where all 3 kids eventually went to school.  We had nice nieghbors, the Millers in the other side of our duplex, and the Boddys, who lived across the street.  Ray Boddy was a professor at the University and there were also boys named Paul Wasik and his cousin Mike Kwasniak, who were Polish and really nice kids.

Mother and Daddy came to visit and we made pictures on the steps of our Harlem Road house.  The white dog in the picture is Lily, who was the Boddy's dog.  I don't know whose cat is in the corner, maybe from next door.

Baby Bill Reese

Bill was born on June 28, 1960. We named him William Hayne Waring Reese.

 Anne liked him, I think.  But every time I sat down to nurse him, Anne would run out the front door. (She had figured out how to move the little lock on the screen.)

We had a very busy summer.  Bill grew fast; he stood at 8 months and walked by the time he was 9 months old.  I really enjoyed both kids that year.

Ann Atwood's peach ice cream

Every summer at the Atwood's mother would mash up ripe peaches and mix them with her home made custard ice cream.  I can still hear the sound of the ice cream freezer turning and you can see how much Margaret and Bill enjoyed themselves.  there are more pictures of the ice cream parties at the Atwood's which I will post here when I find them.

Bill Atwood, my brother the musician

Until 1976 my brother, Bill Atwood was living in San Francisco working as a professional trumpet player.  He played and recorded with many famous artists, such as Chuck Berry, Boz Skaggs, Van Morrison, and even with Elvis on tour one season.

Bill and his wife Teretha had two dauughters, Audrey and Leigh Ann.  Bill is holding them  in front of their Daly City house beside their Buick Skylark.









We visited Bill and Teretha in Daly City in 1973. This is Bill and my daughter Margaret sitting at Bill's dinner table.













In front of my shop on Dorothy Lane in the 1980's….Bill Atwood and Bill Reese.

our friend Hunter Tapscott

Hunter came home from the bowling alley with Bill and Anne one day when Anne was about 15. He became a part of our family and was around almost all the time.

He loved to cook and made many meals and desserts for us through the years.  He was very intelligent and always ready for a discussion which I always enjoyed.

Hunter passed away in 1988 when he was 35 years old from HIV.  In those days a diagnosis of HIV was a death sentence.

We will always miss and remember him when we get together.

a Christmas letter from 1960 by Patsy Reese

75 Janice St., Apt. 79
Buffalo 7, New York
December 12, 1960

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

We are all well and expect a white Christmas up here.

Anne Flavia is 2-1/2 now; she makes small decisions, long sentences, and peanut butter sandwiches for herself and Kitty, who came to live with us in September.

Bill is 6 months old Dec. 28 and at about 17 pounds is beautifully co-ordinated.  He is constantly on the move, and his curiosity is matched only by his ambition.

Hayne is well-liked at the University of Buffalo….too busy is you ask me but he enjoys the work, especially his research. We plan a long trip home this summer with stops at almost every relative's house and a couple of weeks in Mexico, baby-sitting compliments of Ann and Thurston Atwood.

I haven't taken any course yet, but have joined a group to play chamber music once a week (amateurs) and I'm librarian on the board of La Leche League, a group for breast-feeding education.  They helped me a lot before Bill was born (he's still nursing) and I enjoy helping them.

Here's hoping we get to see all of you this summer and that you have a great New Year!

Love,

Patsy

Atwood gathering about 1977

standing, l to r, Mike Hansen, Alme Denny, Hipp Arthur, Mamie Hansen, Bill Reese, Ed Atwood, Harold Denny, Patsy Reese. In front, Laura Atwood kneeling, Bill Atwood with Ann Atwood on his lap, Ernestine Arthur, TR Atwood, Margaret Reese.  I don't know where Anne was.  Maybe she took the picture.

Holiday dinner at the Atwoods' 1978

This is in the Atwood kitchen in Mineral Wells.  That is Patsy with the long braids.  Anne Flavia next to me, and Bill on the right.  In the background are Margaret and Mother, Ann Atwood.  I think the year was 1977 or 1978.  Look at the splendid turkey dinner!!!  It was either Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Bill Reese at age 10, 1970

Bill Reese at age 10.  He sure had a beautiful smile.

He has a suitcase in the photo on the right.  I think he and Anne and Margaret were headed to  their 

dad's for a summer visit.

Anne, Bill and Margaret with their Atwood grandparents

I am pretty sure these photos were taken by my mother, Ann Atwood.  I am positive that the one below was made in the Atwoods' front yard in Mineral Wells.

And the ones on the right were made at Lake Comanche, when all 3 kids went with their grandparents on a camping and fishing trip.

Anne, Bill and Margaret in Door County

When Hayne married Nancy Mann a few months after the divorce, they got a summer place in Door County, Wisconsin.  The kids would go there in the summer for a week or so to visit.  I got lots of funny letters from them and some real good photos, some of which I haven't found yet.  But here are three that I am pretty sure were made there.

More about Bill Reese's early days

These photos are both from visits to T.R. and Ann Atwood, Bill's grandparents, my parents.

On the left he was celebrating his first birthday I think, sitting on TR's lap.

A couple of years later, he was in the back yard at the same house, probably getting ready to play in the lawn sprinkler.

Bill was a good-humored baby, but he wanted to do everything for himself, and didn't spend much time sitting around.  

He started walking at about nine months old. The person who had the most influence on him was his sister Anne.  When their baby sister Margaret was born they almost drove me crazy.

Anne, Bill and Margaret

The picture on the right is Anne, Bill and Margaret made shortly after Hayne and I separated. Bill was 5.  Anne was 7 and Margaret was three years old.  

The year was 1967.


Above is a couple of years later.  At this time we were living in Buffalo in the duplex on Harlem Road which was a block from the elementary school they all attended.

I was working at Hengerer's department store in downtown Buffalo as an interior designer.

Baby Bill Reese in the woods by a stream

The baby in my arms is Bill Reese.  Anne and Hayne are in the other pictures made that day; when I find them I will add them to this post.

We were in upstate New York at a state park.  We spent many of our weekends on outings like this.

Christmas 1961: Anne and Bill

 For Christmas in 1961 Bill and Anne got matching red pajamas with Santa hats.  They hung up their stockings, and as you can see at left, Santa brought them both lots of toys.  He filled their stockings, too.

Anne's second birthday

 Anne learned to ride her tricycle on her second birthday.  She got it for her birthday, and by the end of the day she could ride, forward and backward, and turn around.  She was really something!!

The lower picture is Bill.  It was originally a black and white photo but at some point I hand-colored it myself.  Isn't he cute?.  

The front porch at 208 Winspear, fall 1961

We were sitting on the front porch of our house in Winspear, on the Buffalo University campus.  The lady on the left is Charlotte, Claflin.  She was a friend of ours and Bill's godmother when he was christened.  In the first picture you see Hayne with Bill next to him and Anne next to Miss Claflin.  

Hayne took the second picture so I am in it.  I was obviously pregnant with Margaret Ellen Reese who was born January 30, 1962.

Anne Flavia and Bill again

 In the summer of 1961 I was pregnant with Margaret.  Hayne and I decided to go on a second honeymoon to Mexico City.  Anne and Bill stayed with my parents Ann and Bill Atwood in Mineral Wells.  It looks like they may have enjoyed their back yard.

Anne and Bill had pictures made when they were six and four.  That little dress was one of the sweetest dresses Anne ever had.  It was pale blue and green with a ribbon sash and a little bouquet at the waist.

Shen she was in first grade Anne was chosen for a newspaper feature about her school activities. We were proud and kept the newspaper clipping, but it looks like it may have gotten a couple of ink blots or some younger sibling artwork on it.  Anyway here it is….isn't she cute???

Baby pictures of Anne Reese and Bill Reese

We had a next door neighbor who was an amateur photographer.  His name was Bill Woods. His wife was named Jean and  they had a little girl, Shannon, who was close to Anne's age.  We had good times together.

Bill Woods made these pictures in December of 1960.

Anne Flavia and Bill Reese

Anne Flavia seemed to like baby Bill unless he got hold of something that belonged to her.

But she ran away every time I sat down to nurse him.  She had figured out how to unlock the screen door.  Sometimes she would get more than a block away before I could catch up to her.