The Ups and Downs
by Dylan Woodburn
Hello, my name is Dylan Woodburn and I have been given the duty of writing about Anne Downs. From my original point of view, she just seemed a little old lady who was very pleasant to have a conversation with. As I talked more with Anne she told me so much about her life; I took away a lot from that conversation and now I’m hoping you can too. Enjoy.
Anne Downs was born in Dover, New Hampshire, 74 years ago. Since she grew up in a very country place, she only had one girl she hung out with, and her brother was slightly more popular with two guys that he hung out with.
In Dover as a kid she experienced many ice storms. Her childhood neighbor used to keep the lanes clear at the local airport for the Air force. Anne and her family would see him leave but then not even know if he came home.
"You should’ve seen the big hair when I was a kid," Anne remembers everyone's hair being very teased for volume.
Because she has always liked water, she and a few friends tried to dig a pool in her backyard. When her mother realized that Anne and her friends were digging a hole in the middle of her backyard she got mad and she didn’t usually get mad but in the moment she said, “If you want it enough someday you’ll get one” after saying, “someone’s going to break their leg.”
I think that my biggest takeaway from Anne’s childhood is that she was always grateful. Even when she was talking about it with me I got the impression that she looked back on those memories fondly and had no regrets.
Anne met her future husband senior year of high school. His name was Larry. Anne and Larry went on many trips to California to see Larry’s father, six times, to be exact. Once while they were up there, they went to a dam near Sacramento. Anne recalls it being 113℉ up on that dam, so she asked her father-in-law what everyone does up there and he said everyone has air conditioning. Another time Anne and her family went to Disney when it was very recently opened. Every time they were up in California she saw her aunt who lived in San Francisco and her father-in-law made sure that they went over the Golden Gate Bridge. They also used to stop and eat on their way where they could look over the water and see Alcatraz. The last time was just before 9/11 so, then she and Larry decided that six safe times was enough for them.
Anne moved to Lancaster, New Hampshire, in 1974, 45 years ago. She remembers that it was a small town and everybody talked. Lancaster also had a reputation of not being very welcoming or friendly and that showed when she and her family weren’t treated nicely especially their third-grade son. This all happened at the same school that she would work at as the librarian.
I think that the situations that Anne ended up in could have knocked people down, but Anne overcame them and persevered. It teaches me a lot about staying strong and not wavering.
Anne's life came full circle when she got a pool in the backyard of her home in Lancaster. Anne still had the fond memory of her mother saying that she would get one if she wants one, except sadly her mother never got to see the pool.
A few years later, Larry was on vacation from work so he decided that he would grow facial hair. Anne remembers saying, “I won’t kiss you if you do.” It didn’t take any time after that before she could hear the razor in the bathroom shaving it off.