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Prologue<\/h1>\nPrologue<\/h1>\nMy second apartment in NYC was a 5th<\/sup> floor walk-up on 91st<\/sup> and Lexington. It was nice \u2013 a living room, a small kitchen, a bedroom.\u00a0 The bathroom was nicely tiled with, ironically enough, American Olean Tile and featured an authentic stain glass window.\u00a0 The living area overlooked the 92nd<\/sup> Street Y.\u00a0\u00a0 The apartment was rent stabilized\u2014which was great. \u00a0Initially the rent was under $300 and only modest increases were allowed throughout my tenancy.<\/p>\n On the fourth floor, below my apartment and that of my next door neighbor, in a six-room flat, boasting two fireplaces, a kitchen and a pantry, overlooking both 91st and Lex,\u00a0 lived Mrs. Graham.\u00a0 Mrs. Graham could not remember when she moved in, it was after the War, but she wasn\u2019t sure which war, could have been WWI, may have been WWII.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t pursue it. \u00a0\u00a0Her rent was $104 throughout her tenancy.\u00a0 She was convinced the landlords were trying to kill her.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n Mrs. Graham and I became fast acquaintances.\u00a0 When I introduced myself to her the first time I pronounced my name phonetically Mac.EL.fresh.\u00a0\u00a0 I was used to talking to the elderly; my grandmother back home was hard of hearing–pronunciation and pitch were important.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shortly thereafter there was a timid knock at the door and Mrs. Graham queried me about my name.\u00a0 She had picked up a package, brought it up to me and saw the name McElfresh spelled out. \u00a0Puzzled she said, \u201cI have relatives in Maryland.\u00a0 They have the same name, but they pronounce it McElfresh.\u201d<\/p>\n Her pronunciation was the same as our pronunciation \u2013 we were somehow distantly related.<\/p>\n Mrs. Graham was old and needed help.\u00a0\u00a0 I found myself frequently changing light bulbs, feeding her cats, running errands, typing her angry memos to the landlord, letters to the editor, and other diverse correspondence.\u00a0 I agreed to type a poem that she had written, \u201cHome\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0Needless to say it was an epic poem.<\/p>\n In return she baked me things.\u00a0 I saw her kitchen, the cats on the table, the milk sitting out, and then there was the rattling I heard one day.\u00a0 I glanced around and under the table was an open coffee can\u2014the rattling was the mass of cockroaches crawling around it in.\u00a0 So when baked goods were offered, I very politely thanked her and tossed the delectables out\u2014living in NYC in the 70\u2019 and 80\u2019s a good sense of self-preservation was necessary.<\/p>\n My grandmother loved my selected Mrs. Graham stories\u2014and there always one to relay to her.\u00a0 Even after Mrs. Graham passed away, for my Grandmother\u2019s sake, I kept her alive and continued to pass along stories.<\/p>\n Select Mrs. Graham Entries<\/strong><\/p>\n Thursday, Jan 5, 1984\u2014New York City\u2014<\/strong>Mrs. Graham is downtown in court today–her malpractice suit against Lenox Hill Hospital.\u00a0 She used my credit card last night to order a Fugazy Limousine.<\/p>\n Tuesday July 3, 1984\u2014New York City–<\/strong>Incidentally, Mrs. Graham has been having difficulties and I was supposed to take care of her cats if anything went wrong or if she had to go to the hospital.\u00a0 She said on the telephone, after a visit to her doctor, that she is in trouble.\u00a0 We whispered a small prayer.<\/p>\n Wed. Nov. 28, 1984\u2014New York City\u2014<\/strong>Mrs. Graham called first thing in the morning to say that she was having a coronary.\u00a0 I got down there and found her weak as a kitten and panting.\u00a0 Sat her down in her chair where she leaned back, tears streaming down her face and breathing strenuously.\u00a0 I called her doctor and got her nurse who telephoned for an ambulance.\u00a0 When it arrived fifteen minutes \u2013 in between the police came and went and Mrs. Graham gave me instructions in a very weak voice to have the cats killed and herself cremated\u2014the crew said, \u201cWhere\u2019s the emergency?\u201d and indicated that Mrs. Graham was fine.\u00a0 I was a bit flustered, truly.\u00a0 I had to deny that I called 911.\u00a0 Anyway, I called her niece K.R. and another ambulance came and things ended up all right.<\/p>\n Mon. Dec. 3, 1984\u2014New York City\u2014<\/strong>Had a phone call from Mrs. Graham.\u00a0 She sounded fine.\u00a0\u00a0 Took an abbreviated walk.\u00a0 Dad bought 32 acres, including a quarter-mile of shoreline in Vinalhaven, off Maine.<\/p>\n Prologue My second apartment in NYC was a 5th floor walk-up on 91st and Lexington. It was nice \u2013 a living room, a small kitchen, a bedroom.\u00a0 The bathroom was nicely tiled with, ironically enough, American Olean Tile and featured … Continue reading Map:\u00a0 \u00a0Topographical map of the City of New York : showing original water courses and made land
\nNew York : Ferd. Mayer & Co., c1865.
\nVia Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"