Nigel’s Christening, London 1954

It’s time for Guest Blogger #2 – Nigel Glover! Nigel is Ken and Doris’s eldest son (and my uncle!). He was only two months old when Ken and Doris left London for Montreal in 1954 (see Memory Fourteen). Nigel obviously has a lot of memories from growing up and was nice enough to share a few of them here.

So, if I start with my first memories of family life, we would be in Connecticut as I was too young in England and Canada to remember much…

The Glovers & The Shaffers, Connecticut 1962

I remember Dad and Russ Shaffer playing Competitive Friz which was a wild game of throwing the Frisbee at each other fairly firmly and counting points off for either poor throws or poor catches. They both came in sweaty but had new names for their catches like a “single bounce knuckle scraper” and a “pants splitter.” (Editor’s Note: See Memory Eighteen for more on Competitive Frizbee with Russel Shaffer.)

Then there was this guy across the street named Horvath. Round, no shirt, but friendly. I think of him when I am the only one without a shirt doing yard work in Snellville.

At Brookside Elementary School, where I saw teachers cry the day Kennedy got shot, I was offered musical lessons. I’m not sure how I chose the cello, but Dad claims it was so I would have to be driven to school 2 days a week rather than walk.

The walk to school was fun some days. There was a sewer line under the street where we could crawl and sneak up on folks. One day, up near a main highway, I was chasing the other kids on my bike and simply ran across the traffic. I was hit by a big car and the bike was totaled. I got x-rayed and had a very colorful leg as the bruises went from black to green to yellow as they healed.

The Glovers’ house in Rowayton, CT

The back yard in Connecticut included a patio that Arthur and Dad built. Maybe it was another relative from England who helped. But it was really great for games. This is where we started what Dad called Patio Soccer. Everyone gets their own goal; the width being based on one’s age and skill. Then you shoot at all other goals while defending yours. Like with Competitive Friz, you start with 10 points and lose when you get to zero.

Patio Soccer made it to Atlanta where John Leggerton, Mark Jolly, Brian and Rodney Frazier, and Jeff Woodard all played with the Glovers. We had 6 to 8 goals some days.

Then we also had a bike game (also with a 10-point start) where you tried to squeeze the others in to the curbing and make them put their foot down…

The Atlanta house was fun with the creek in the back. I’m sorry I was probably the cause of the fire because I left a guitar amp plugged in and the aluminum wires (since outlawed in residential homes) got too hot. Living in an apartment for the summer (pool, tennis, different kids) was sort of fun.

I’ll let the others tell about Destin. Starting each time with lining up in size order, everything we did in Destin was fun. 

(Editor’s note: I’m sure the granddaughters will have much to say on the topic!)

Dad… Mom…. You really knew how to show us kids a great time. Thanks for everything. We love you both.

Thanks, Nigel, for giving us a taste of the fun times you had growing up in the Glover household.

Stay tuned for the next guest blogger – coming soon…