You won't yet find any photos here of the home where I lived from the date of my adoption until I was 8 years old, from 1951 to 1959, nor the schools that I went to. I lived at 67 Upham Street in Malden, Massachusetts. My adoptive parents rented out the lower flat in a two story home that was owned by my adoptive grandfather, also named Stephen Grande. He lived with some of his other children in the upstairs flat. The house and street where I grew up look so much different than the way they look today, that it is difficult for me to envision having grown up in that house on that street. At the top of the street used to be a building where I went to nursery school and kindergarten. That building has been torn down and a newer building is in its place. The private nursery school and kindergarten that I went to was held in a veterans club and wasn't actually a school building.
I went to the Lincoln Elementary School, but that school has either vanished or I have misplaced it. When I was in first grade, part of the school burnt down and was replaced with a new building in 1957. However, all I could find there now was an empty field. That seemed odd. There is another building that used to be a school building that is still standing that looks like it was built around the turn of the century or in the early 1900's. That building is still there while the newer school that was built around 1957 has been torn down. Thus, no pictures of that school!
This is the house where I lived with my adoptive parents from about 8 years old to 20 years old, about 1959 to 1972, from 3rd grade through my 2nd year of college. This house is located at 132 Oakland Street in Malden, Massachusetts. When I was growing up, this huge tree blocking the view of the house was just a tiny sprig!
Views up and down Oakland Street. All these trees were small saplings while I was growing up. The street did not look filled with trees.
Emerson School where I went to school from 3rd to 6th grades. This school was built by the Grande-Volpe Construction Company. John Volpe was one of the owners of this construction company. He became the governor of Massachusetts and then the Secretary of Transportation under President Nixon. John Volpe was highly instrumental in the creation of Amtrak, the nations national rail system.
The above are two bakeries near my elementary school. One is called "Harvard Pasteries" and the other is called "DiPietro's". The later had one of the best pizzas in town! The price was right too. Even as late as 1979 when I moved out of Massachusetts, they were still selling large cheese pizzas for $2 !
This used to be the Beebe Junior High School. Now the name on it just says "Beebe School" and there is playground equipment in the yard. The arch is all that looks familiar. The rest of the school has been greatly expanded. I went to this school for 7th, 8th and 9th grades from 1965 to 1967 when I was 12, 13 and 14 years old.
Malden High School. This is the high school that I attended for 10th, 11th and 12th grades from 1967 through 1969 when I was 15, 16 and 17 years old. Part of this school was torn down since the time I attended and a new larger building erected in its place. The part shown in this photo was in place when I attended, but was not there when my adoptive father, Edmund F. Grande, attended this school.
36 Magoun Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts. This is where my wife, Barbara Cepinko, and I lived from 1974 to December 1979 until we moved to California. This house had two flats and we lived in the upstairs flat. We did not discover until after we moved in that the house was owned by distant cousins of my adoptive mother and the children and grandchildren of that distant cousin were living in the lower flat.