The first grocery store I ever walked to alone was Aldrich's (circa 1978). I had to walk about 12 blocks past the high school lower field, Hippy Hollow and an old Vietnam vet who used to kick his dog. There were two old bake-o-lite phones at the end of each aisle, one of which I would call my mom on and tell her I was heading back home.
Many years later I lived kitty-corner from the old store and was getting my ass kicked by the lead in Shakespeare's worst play, "Two Noble Kinsmen." I had been up until about 2:30 grinding lines to memory and was awoken by a din down on the street, on a windless, warm August morning. I left my second-floor room, barefoot, clad in PJ's with an old shoe in my hand to throw at whatever varmint was disturbing the peace. I made it outside to the middle of Tyler Street and was frozen, alone in my tracks when a large plate glass window cracked and smashed on the sidewalk.
There were flames inside. I ran inside my house to the kitchen and called 911 then back to the middle of the road to see a transformer blow and a live wire land on the street.
Then the police arrived and shortly after the PT Fire Department and volunteers. I woke my neighbors and watched it burn, unable to access my home because the fire department commandeered it to use the bathroom and set up (their nothing short of heroic) operations. I'll never forget that day.
Pete Gillis
Seattle
