CHAPTER FOURTEEN—CLIFF HOLMES AND WINIFRED ZELIPH

Chapter 14—Cliff Holmes and Winifred Zeliph

     Cliff Holmes was my closest friend in Continental Village.  

     Soon after my family moved into our new house, Cliff Holmes and Winifred Zeliph, both eight years old, showed up in a field near our house. It was early September, 1947, after the start of the school year.

     My mother saw them through the kitchen window and announced that there were “curious” young children outside. “I’ve seen them before,” she said. “They are the neighbors’ children who live on the other side of the apple orchard.”

     My brother and sister and I went outside to meet them, while my parents and the two youngest children stayed inside the house.

     We were city kids meeting country kids. We had seen Cliff and Winifred on the school bus but there were no introductions. Cliff was holding a long stem of timothy grass which projected from his mouth. He was chewing on the broken end of it. Winifred stood near him with large curious eyes. They smiled at us but said nothing.

     The silence on their part was momentary but it seemed like five minutes. When we spoke to them, we discovered their names: Cliff Holmes and Winifred Zeliph. We were amazed to discover that they were aunt and nephew, that there were twelve children in the Zeliph family and that Winifred was the youngest. Her sister, Beatrice, was Cliff’s mother.

     I got to know Cliff and Winifred better as we sat and talked on the school bus during the school year. Winifred had brown hair. I don’t remember the color of her eyes. I do remember that her young face was pretty. She was as tall as her nephew. Cliff had long black hair, and at that time he was an inch shorter than I. He weighed as much as I did. He had a compact build and when he got older he played football in high school. He was a determined and successful competitor and a reliable friend.

     My sister Eustelle and I would visit Winifred and Cliff after school. That is how I met Al and Maude Zeliph, Winifred’s parents, and Cliff’s parents too. Eventually I met the other relatives who lived in the compound near the Zeliph’s house and barn.

     It turned out that Cliff and I had varied and similar interests. We played baseball, football, basketball and hockey. We hunted and trapped. We fished together at the lake. When I was not with my brother John, Cliff and I explored the many trails and dirt roads in every direction within a ten mile radius of our homes in Continental Village.

     Once Cliff and I fought each other to a draw after an argument on the old tractor road which connected Sprout Brook Road and Putnam Road, and I took the blame for starting the fight. We never fought again. We respected each other’s strength and tenacity. His mother phoned my mother and complained about it. For several weeks after the fight Mrs. Holmes reminded me of my bad behavior when I showed my face at her door. I don’t recall what she said but it was something on the order of “Here’s the city boy!” and there was a bit of mockery in her voice as she said it. Whenever Mrs. Holmes did this, I felt like crawling out of sight or eating humble pie.