When my family lived on Leicester Terrace in Hampton, Virginia, our neighbors two doors down from us had two sons, Greg and Tim. Tim was about my age and Greg was a bit older. They were both my friends and we played together all the time both outside and inside both of our houses. Their Mom had the first Electrolux Model E that I ever remember seeing, and even as a three-year-old I was utterly obsessed with it and realized, even at that young age, the differences between their Model E and my Mom's Model E-A. And I can still recall it very clearly to this very day. I have always remembered Greg and Tim all these years and think about them often. And I especially wondered what ever became of the Model E. Every so often I'd google their names, hoping to find their names and, if I get ballsy enough, ask about the Electrolux -- but nothing ever came up for them that I could connect a direct link to them. Then last night, on a whim, I started looking on Facebook. There are a zillion Tim and Greg Strouds of course, but then I was looking at the friends on one of the Greg Stroud pages and saw that one of his friends was named Tim. I looked at the photos of the two of them closely and saw a resemblance to the two little boys I remember (see attached photo from my 1960 birthday party -- that's Greg just to my right and Tim just to my left and slightly in front of me). And by the way, for many years I had a birthday card tacked onto the wall of my office at home. The card was from my fourth birthday in 1960. It was signed "from Greg and Tim" in, probably, their mom's handwriting. I only took it down a year ago (almost to the day) when I moved. I packed the card away in a box of "sweeper stuff" and it's still packed away. As soon as I unearth it I'm going to scan it and send it to Greg. So I sent them both the following message via Facebook: ========== Hello, my name is Charles Lester. I live in Los Angeles but from 1957 to 1961 my family lived on Leicester Terrace in Hampton, Virginia. We had neighbors a couple doors away named the Strouds. There were two sons who were around my age (b.1956) and were my friends. I see in your friends list you have a Tim Stroud listed and am wondering if he is your brother -- especially since the same Tim Stroud has you in his friends list, and if, so, you might have been our neighbors! ========== Almost immediately, I got a reply from Greg: ========== Yes, Tim and I were your neighbors in Hampton. We knew you as Chuckie back then. It's nice to hear from you. I have lived in St. Louis since 1963. Tim currently lives in North Carolina. I'm surprised you remember us. I thought I was the only one who remembered that far back in my childhood. What have you been up to all these years. I am currently a teacher but am retiring this year after teaching for 31 years. ========== So I wrote back: ========== Hey Greg, well, what a delight to hear from you! I have often wondered whatever became of your family. Do you remember your house number? Ours was 114 Leicester Terrace. I think you lived two doors down from us. My Aunt Dabney (mom's older sister who passed away last year) lived just up the street right on the corner of Yorkshire Terrace & Northhampton Boulevard. We moved from Hampton in 1961 to the Roanoke area, then from there in 1965 to a little island not too far from Williamsburg called Gwynns Island, then after moving around that area for a while, we moved to Annapolis, Maryland in 1970. (My dad had a bit of gypsy blood in him, I think!) I "ran away from home" in 1980 to seek fame and fortune in Los Angeles. Never found either one, heheh! My parents are now both retired and live in Yorktown. I am going to give you my email address -- I think it will be easier to catch up that way. I'll send you a Friend request, and you'll see a photo of you, Tim and me from my fourth birthday party in 1960!! See how many people you can remember! Really looking forward to catching up with you!! Oh, and P.S.: Does Electrolux mean anything to you?! ========== I received the following reply today from Greg: ========== Hi again. Here is a little bit more about my family. After leaving Hampton we moved to Newport News for about a year and a half. My dad then got transferred back to St. Louis. He was working for McDonnell Aircraft. He retired in 1982 and he and my mom moved to Illinois and built a house on the farm where my mom grew up. My dad died of a heart attack on Dec. 5, 2006. My mom is 81 and still lives in her house and is doing well. I got married in 1981 and my wife, Kathy, and I just celebrated our 30th anniversary last Monday. We have 2 children. My daughter, Julie, is 24 and just got married last July. She is an art teacher. My son, Michael, is 22 and will be graduating from junior college this summer. He works in the early childhood program at one of the local school districts. My wife just retired last year from being a principal. However, she is more busy now than ever. She teaches at 3 different universities and also teaches for an online university, which she loves because she can do it in her pajamas. As for Electrolux - It was my mom's old vacuum cleaner, which she still has and it still works! I'm guessing you asked about it because I see you collect old vacuum cleaners as a hobby. I also see you are pretty good on the theremin. I always thought it would be interesting to try to play one. I just play the piano. Not quite as exotic an instrument. Well, that's about all I've got. I hope your having a great birthday! Greg Stroud ========== Well, just go ahead and knock me over with a feather. Because we moved around so much, any ties I had with anyone or their vacuum cleaners dissolved long ago. And I remember many of them -- I actually remember more people's vacuums than the people themselves! But everyone whose vacuum cleaners I remember from childhood has passed away or else I've lost contact with them. I just never imagined I'd ever find someone who still has the vacuum cleaner they had when I was a little kid. So imagine how even more astonished I am to find that the "Holy Grail of Vacuum Cleaners" -- the one that started it all, is still around and still in use! I would just absolutely be in Sweeper Heaven to have it! So of course I am going to ask Greg if there might be any chance in all that his mom might want to sell it to me. I just can't imagine a greater thrill than to have the one that really started it all. Stay Tuned.......