EVEN AS POETS TAKE "POETIC LICENSE," SO TOO DO I EVOKE "WRITER'S LICENSE" AS I POST FAMILY NAMES OF FOLKS WHO HAVE TRAVELLED ACROSS THE STAGE OF MY NOW-LENGTHY LIFE. I MAY HAVE LOST CONTACT WITH MANY OF THOSE WITH WHOM I GREW UP, BUT THEY HOLD A SPECIAL PLACE WITHIN MY HEART AND I WILL NEVER FORGET THEM. THUS IT IS WITH THE FAMILY OF SHIRLEY WHITEBREAD, FRED AND EDNA KUSER, DON SLABICKI, ERNIE PLAAG, MADELYN LEAR, THE LENHARDTS, EMILY REYNOLDS, MARY KELLEY, JULIA MCLAIN, AND MANY OTHER KUSER SCHOOL AND HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS, AND TOO MANY OTHERS TO LIST.INCLUDED IN THE ABOVE LIST ARE MEMBERS OF THE BENCIVENGO FAMILY.
THOSE WHO HAVE FOLLOWED MY MANY COLUMNS RECALLING GROWING UP IN THE KUSER FARM AREA WILL RECALL THE COLUMNS I WROTE INVOLVING ONE OF MY SERIOUS TEEN AGE CRUSHES, MADELINE BENCIVENGO. MADELINE'S COUSINS, ALEX AND NEIL WERE ALSO IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, RESIDING ON ATKINS AVENUE, ACROSS FROM PLAAG'S GROVE. ALEX AND I WERE THE ONLY YANKEE FANS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND HE WAS ONE OF OUR GUYS WHO PLAYED TRUE "SANDLOT" BASEBALL ON PLAAG'S GROVE'S VERY DUSTY AND SANDY FIELD. ALEX COULD HAVE BEEN A PROFESSIONAL BALL PLAYER. HE WAS OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SHORTSTOP AND FIELDED THOSE HOT GROUNDERS AND FIRED TO FIRST BASE WITH A BLAZING FAST BALL. HIS HERO WAS PHIL RIZZUTTO. PHOTOS OF ALEX AND NEIL ARE POSTED ELSEWHERE IN THIS WEBSITE, AS ARE PHOTOS OF MADELINE AND ABOVE, JOSEPHINE. COULD THIS BE A RELATIVE OF MAYOR JOHN BENCIVENGO? ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
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