GARDEN ROAD

This is the story of my growing up on a 12 acre farm in the late 40's and early 50's. This is the background that helped form and shape me as a child. Below is the story of the farm's beginnings.

The farm had been the dream of a family of jewelers from New York City. In the 1930's, they decided they wanted to live in the country when they retired and purchased twelve sandy acres in Southern New Jersey on Garden Road near the Maurice River. They built a small two bedroom summer cottage and lived in it during vacations.

During this time, their son Eric was born. Several years went by and they continued to summer on Garden Road, planting and developing the acreage on either side of the cottage. A barn and chicken houses were added and Mr. Errickson raised chickens during the summers spent there intending to make it a business he could pursue in his retirement. Mrs. Errickson happily planted her favorite fruit, flowers, and berries around the property. Among them were pink and white Lilacs, Lilies of the Valley, white and pink Phlox, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries and grapes. A mulberry tree stood at the edge of the road on the border of the neighboring farm. An English Walnut grew nearby. She planted a pear tree next to a sapling Maple in the yard between the cottage and the lot on which they would build their permanent home. A hedge completely encircled the lawn in front of the smaller house and lined the driveway between the two lots which, if viewed from above, would have looked like a backward "h". Obviously, the idea was to rent the cottage whenever the larger house was completed and the family could move into it permanently and the hedge would provide a bit of privacy to each house. Finally, the foundation was dug for the "big" house and blocks laid for the basement.

But tragedy struck and suddenly, their dreams were not to be...To Be Continued.