Name: Patricia D. Cafferata

December 1999

Dear Family:

This letter describes some of the homes I've lived in during my life. All the places that I remember were white single family, two-story homes, except when my father was in the Army during World War II. My family lived in a couple of apartments during that time. During the war, my mother grew a victory garden with other women who lived in the same apartment complex as we did. At ages 3 to 5, my brother, Mike, and I "helped" to plant the vegetables. I remember the garden was a long walk from the apartment. It was sunny and hot there.

Most of my homes were heated with oil, had electricity, and used city water. I now live in a white two-story colonial style house with blue shutters in Reno, Nevada. This house is quite similar to my grandmother and grandfather Farrell's house in Albany, New York. My mother, my brother and I lived there with my grandparents in the early 1940's.

My grandmother maintained a wonderful flower garden with such flowers as, peonies, lilies of the valley, and roses. We don't have lilies of the valley in our garden, but we have peonies and roses. When I smell them, I am reminded of her. Our garden is my husband, Treat's, domain. He spends many hours planning for the seasons in the garden. He considers the colors and size of the flowers and the blossoms on the trees. Some type of flower is in bloom in the garden from February to the first freeze in the Fall.

The first home my husband and I purchased was in Northwest Reno. It was a brand new ranch style home with about 1400 square feet, with 4 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. The house had a fireplace in the family room. It cost about $29,000. We bought the house just before my husband left for Vietnam. We lived there for the year he was overseas, and sold it when he returned home. That house wasn't one of my favorite houses, but it was a beginning for us to get some equity in a home, so we could buy a better house when we sold it.

The house I live in currently is the most favorite of all the houses I've lived in. There are 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and a full basement. The interior of the house is decorated in blue and bright yellow. The walls are off white and the carpet is slate blue. We have a few antique pieces of furniture that we "inherited" from my husband's family and from my mother when she sold her big house and move into a smaller place. The yard and garden are lovely, thanks to my husband. We also have a patio with a fire pit in back of the house.

I've lived in several towns or cities over my lifetime. I was born in Albany, New York and live there until the Second Grade. Then, I lived in New York City(Queens) until the Fifth Grade, when I moved to Reno, Nevada. I have lived in Reno most of my life with sojourns to other places for a year or two, mostly for education or employment. I attended college first in Oakland at Mills College, and then, in Portland at Lewis and Clark College. I married Treat after my Junior year in college. Although he is a Reno native, at that time he was a student at the University of Oregon Medical School in Portland. We lived in Portland for his last three years in medical school. Our daughters, Elisa and Farrell were born there.

We lived the next 6 years in San Francisco, while my husband completed his internship and surgical residency at the University of California. Our son, Reynolds, was born when we lived there. The first place we lived in San Francisco was a flat close to Golden Gate Park. We lived there less than a year. We moved because we had our car stolen twice within a two-month period. Moreover, I was glad to move away from the many cockroaches in the building.

I came home to Reno in 1970 when my husband went to Vietnam. We bought the house I mentioned above. When he returned home we were stationed in Anniston, Alabama. We couldn't get quarters on the post, so we rented a house in Jacksonville, Alabama, a few miles from the post.

We returned to Reno in 1972, bought a house on Lakeside Drive, and 7 years later bought our current home. I temporarily lived in Los Angeles when I attended law school from 1987 to 1989 where I lived in an Oakwook Apartment complex. My apartment was fully furnished. The complex had two swimming pools, laundry facilities, and underground parking. I didn't spend much time at the pool though; I was busy studying.

I also temporarily lived in Eureka, Pioche, and Battle Mountain, Nevada. I was the Deputy District Attorney in Eureka in 1991. Eureka is a small mining town with about 700 residents. I rented a prefabricated house, the kind that is brought in on a flat bed truck and assembled and attached to a concrete slab. The house was fully furnished including kitchen utensils and bedding. The house was tiny with 2 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The yard was fenced with chain link. I hired a gardener, the landlord insisted, who I paid $25/month to mow the lawn weekly and water more frequently. Late at night deer would jump my fence passing through town.

In 1992 when I was District Attorney of Lincoln County, I lived in Pioche in two places, both were old. At first I lived in the daylight basement of an old house. There were windows on only two sides of my place. I had a living room with a kitchen area, a bedroom, and a bath. I really camped out there from Sunday night until Friday evening.

When my mother told me she was coming to visit and wanted to stay with me, I realized I needed to find a more suitable place. I rented an old house that had been remodeled. The kitchen and bathroom were completed renovated. The house was mostly one large room with a living and dining area with a full kitchen off one end. There was one bedroom with bathroom and laundry room. The basement consisted of a large carpeted room that I didn't use.

The house was heated by a Franklin stove in the great room. My secretary's husband, John Etchart, chopped the wood I burned. The house was cold in the mornings when I got up, and it was cold in the evenings when I got home from work.

When I was District Attorney of Lander County, we bought a little white house in Battle Mountain. The house was old and had been added on to over the years. We had a living room, a dining area off the kitchen which was open to the family room. There were two bedrooms and two baths. We bought the house because it had a dishwasher and two bathrooms. The yard was completely fenced with a deck in back. We added another deck to the front of the house. It was a block from the courthouse, so I walked to work everyday and walked home for lunch.

I've lived in big cities and in small towns. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of them; I enjoyed them all.

Until the next letter...

Patty Cafferata