By Sylvia Wright Roosa
My parents brought me to New York as a one-month-old from Spartanburg, South Carolina, looking for a better life.
My grandfather had made the move first and settled in Brockway about three miles from Beacon, closer to Wappingers Falls. He worked for Dennings Point Brick Works which also provided housing for the workforce.
My dad followed and got a job and an apartment there for the three of us. Thirteen siblings were added to my family over the years.
As the family story goes, when my grandfather got hurt at work and lost his life, my grandmother bought a real house in Beacon because houses in Brockway had no running water, inside plumbing, or even heating.
Looking at a real house for the first time made me fall for Beacon. I met the most handsome young man there and fell in love. That is my story.