"709"  (Hanover Street, Fredericksburg, VA)

 

Three little numbers

One gracious home

A lovely garden - now

all alone.

For 66 years did

Helen C. Doumas

nee Lucy Jenelle Jennings

make this address

a home.

Her husband,

Constantinos Athanasios

owned the Mayflower Restaurant

was a businessman, and

loved his cigars.

The children,

Christine, Bill & Art

loved this house

since before the age

of ten.

Not to forget the years

of tenants, who added

to the richness and

diversity of the halls

of the house.  They were

part of the history.

Childhood memories,

adolescent dreams,

teenage concerns

young adult dramas-

all made memories

at “709”.

The rains would tend

the garden, with Helen, who

was known for her green

thumb, her herbs

were quite famous. 

The children are gone,

her husband passed on, but

the great/grandchildren

kept coming - filling “709”

with laughter and mischief.

Calendar pages turned.

“709” stood elegant and

quiet as Helen, dreamt

of her garden, and sat in her

final years.

Memories sustained her,

she was once again,

in the hey-day’s of “709”.

Then without any fanfare,

Helen quietly left

her home of 66 years to

be with her husband.

Maybe to find another

family to nurture for

a lifetime of love – for

decades, as the

Doumas’s were.

Her memories, and

our memory of her, are

entwined with the arms

of “709”;  we shall never,

ever forget.

With the richness of a

fine brocade, and a

dusting of lavender,

“709” will forever live in

our hearts.

(written by Amy L. Allison,

 daughter of Christine Doumas Conlin.
 Christine is daughter of the late Helen Doumas)

for the Doumas Family

Copyright  © May 25, 2005    Amy L. Allison

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