Anne Purtell McCarthy-my first memory

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jTjQvBRhJbnX5w1G7 My very first memory involving Anne McCarthy occurred during the summer of 1951 when I was 6 years old. My family and I were staying for a little vacation at my Great-Great Aunt Bridge’s farm ( Bridget Byrne O’Reilly was my Great Grandmother’s (Hannah Byrne Coleman)sister in St. Joseph, Pennsylvania. Coming from the hot city streets of Brooklyn, this time on a farm in the country seemed like heaven. Being 10 years older than me, Anne was a teenager and still “Anne Purtell “. At that time, she was living at the farm with her mother, my Great Aunt Norene Coleman Purtell. They had moved into the farm to help Norene’s Aunt Bridge who was quite elderly and incapacitated. When my mother brought me into a bedroom behind the staircase in the old farmhouse to meet my Great Great Aunt Bridge, I remember seeing a frail, ancient woman sitting in a bed, a big old cat lying on on the blanket beside her. At that time in her life, Anne appeared to me to be a popular and socially involved teenager. Even as a 6 year old I took notice of Anne “fancying herself up”, leaving the house, and jumping into the front seat next to a young man in a pickup truck. One rather clear memory from a truly magical vacation was this interaction: When my cousin, Anne, invited me into her room I noticed and admired a little canvas Indian teepee and canoe that she had recently acquired at a local county fair. When she saw my wide-eyed excitement, she picked up this treasure, handed it to me, saying “Here, you can keep it. “ The fact that she was willing to give it to me “for keeps” impressed me beyond words and I knew, then and there, that I would love her forever.