A Trip Down Memory Lane (Literally)

Notice the street sign on the left! Kind of faded, seen better days, right?

My mother and I were in Orange in search of Lawson Way, and we found it, thanks to Gladys, the GPS navigator on my Samsung Blackjack. Little did we know that we were going to also be on the REAL Memory Lane. This was not just some random quest due to the name of the street. A long time ago, the powers-that-be in the city governments of Santa Ana and/or Orange chose to name Lawson Way after my grandfather, who was a real estate developer. One of his first projects upon leaving Los Angeles and coming to Orange County was the Town and Country shopping center, located at the OTHER end of Lawson Way. I do, in fact, have childhood memories of visiting my grandfather (who was not a nice man at all) in his office there, and stopping in at the Mouse House, a cute little store. Also in this shopping center was a very elegant restaurant, the Villa Fontana. I remember getting all dressed up to eat there.

Not having seen my grandfather since I was 15 years old, I have only bad memories of the grief he caused my father. But I do remember driving up to Santa Ana to shop at Bullock's, back in the day when there was no other shopping area in Orange County, and then going across Main Street to see my grandfather's shopping center. Bullock's is now Macy's and part of a huge shopping mall, the Town and Country shopping center is ugly and half empty now, and the only thing that remains is MY street! Named after ME! My mother and I went from one end of the street to the other. We contemplated how much life changes and laughed about the irony of Memory Lane.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My Dad's not on this earth anymore, but he is certainly not forgotten. Today would have been his birthday. I miss him every day and I hope he knows how much he influenced me.

Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
And her gain than fine gold.
Proverbs 3:13-14

Howard Beasley Lawson, Jr.
1929-2005

7964 West 4th Street, Los Angeles, California

I had a mission yesterday, and it was to see the house in which my father lived when the 1930 census taker dropped by. The census taker noted that my father, who was 8 months old at the time, lived with his father and mother in a house located at 7964 West 4th Street in Los Angeles.

I happen to have a photograph taken of my father when he was approximately that age. He is that cute baby in the car. The two boys in front of the car, wearing leather football helmets I believe, are his cousins who are twins.

So I'm thinking that the house in the background of the picture could possibly be the house my father lived in, or it could be the one across the street since the car seems to be parked on the opposite side of the street. West 4th Street, it turns out, is one block off of Fairfax, and two blocks from the old Farmers Market and new Grove shopping center. Since this is Suzy's neighborhood, she had already scouted it out for me. This time we went together with the picture.

Things do change in 78 years, but it didn't take long to recognize that house in the picture. It is directly across the street from 7964 West 4th Street. So the photographer (probably my grandfather) was standing in front of their home to shoot the 3 boys. The house now has a tall hedge in front, but the distinctive roof line made it easy to recognize.



Walking up to the opening in the hedge in order to see the front of the house confirmed it - this is where the picture was taken!


We knocked on the door of the house in the picture, and the man who answered was completely unimpressed with the fact that we were standing there holding a picture of his home taken in 1929 or 1930. We decided to cross the street and knock on the door of the house that my father actually lived in. This man was much nicer and invited us in to show us around. He said that he had done exactly the same thing when he returned to the village in which he grew up, in Switzerland.

As we left Suzy took this picture of me in front of the house.

My dad would have gotten a kick out of my tracking down the house, one that I don't think he even remembered living in. I believe that shortly after the census taker came by, they moved to Brentwood. I think it's amazing that both houses are still standing and I'm glad they were not torn down.

Jeanne Casenave (1906-1995)

My grandmother. Don't you love that bow?

Parlez-vous français?

142 years ago, this letter was written by Arnaud Casenave to his brother, Pierre Casenave. Pierre Casenave was my great-great-grandfather who left the Basque country of France to settle in Los Angeles.


From 1866 to 1883, letters were written back and forth between France and Los Angeles. The original letters, all written in French, were passed from Pierre Casenave, to his son Marcus Casenave, to my grandmother Jeanne Casenave, then to my father Howard Lawson, Jr. and finally to me. Not ever having learned any French, I was left to wonder what mysteries they held.


Now thanks to the internet, one of the letters written from Los Angeles to France has been located in the hands of a distant cousin in France. This letter is from Pierre's wife, Cayetana Alaniz, telling the French relatives of Pierre's death. Distant cousin speaks limited English, so maybe we will begin to unravel the mystery. In the meantime, I have got to find a translator and figure out what these letters say!