23 Floral Avenue

Reed Gwillim Law started teaching in Cortland, NY in 1949. Probably around 1950, he started moving his family into 23 Floral Avenue. First Jean Inglis Law and Steven Inglis Law moved from Middletown, CT. In the summer of 1952, Reed Gwillim Law Jr. and Bessie Gwillim Law came from Bristol, CT. Bessie didn't live in the house, and around 1953 moved back to lodgings in Bristol.

Floral Ave. was a residential street with mostly quarter-acre lots. Number 23 had a detached garage to the right. The house had a utility basement, two stories of rooms, and a walk-up attic. A roofed porch faced the street, running halfway the width of the house. Going up the steps and in the front door, you passed through a small vestibule into a hall from which stairs rose to the second floor. To the left was a living room that ran from front to back, with a fireplace at the very back. Further to the left was a sun porch that served at different times as a TV room and Reed's study. Turning right from the entrance took you into a parlor that became the long-term TV room. From it, a swinging door led back to the kitchen. At the back of the kitchen, overlooking the back yard, was a dining nook. Another left turn took you to a bathroom, pantry, the cellar stairs, and the back door.

The second floor had four bedrooms and a bathroom and the stairs to the attic, all opening from one central room. For reasons that I can't recall, from about 1958, my (Gwil's) original bedroom (left front) became my library, and I switched to sleeping in the right front room. Steven's bedroom was the right rear one. Informally, the attic was split between parents and children. The right side was general storage. The left side was for the boys' projects.

Around 1954, we built a simple platform on the branches of an apple tree next to the garage, and called it the "tree fort." The boys gradually based an organization on it: the Tree Fort Club.

The homesite was in the flood plain of Dry Creek. During hurricanes or spring thaws, sometimes, we had to slog out through running water. After the emergency, a sump pump labored on to empty the basement.

Our elementary school, Alton B. Parker, was about three blocks away, and we always walked to and from school. It was across the street from Suggett Park where we had some of our summer recreation, including the public swimming pool.

In 1955-56, we all went to France, and the house sat empty.

Cortland was a walkable, bicyclable town. We had considerable freedom to roam. When we were older we sometimes biked way beyond the city limits.