Well, given the house I mentioned was/is in Massachusetts … I don’t think slaves factored into the equation, Lisa Gallagher! I am certain that back staircase was for the help. I know how much fun it was for us kids!

The owner was my dad’s brother, and another brother also owned a house with a stairway that we could see directly in front of us as you entered — one of those that are often seen in mansions that was wide at the bottom (flared out), and went up to a few bedrooms on the outer edges of the second floor that could be seen through a railing. Amazing house, although I also remember the teensy kitchen as so many were back in the day.

My house was a nice enough one, but no one in his/her right mind would have called it grand. Two stories, typical stairway to the bedrooms (all small) with the smallest closets I could have imagined! Perfectly adequate for the four of us, even if it was about half the size of the cousins’ places.

Wow. Time warp!