I only have pictures of my grandparents, and that's it. I sent the 3 portraits of my grandparents , and the photo of my grandfather in his WW1 army uniform to be restored. I have received 2 of the 3 pictures back they look a whole lot better than they were receive to me but I am glad I can do my part to protect my family from being forgotten through the ages . I have real fond memories of when I was a child visiting in old Delray. The smells of chicken soup and hungarian cooking was always in the air.

I remember walking the streets in the early 60's and it was a safe place to live . I remember how the doors were left open all night without any alarm from anyone. What has happen to our world? I guess it is greed. Nobody has time to connect with their families.

I can remember how the priest would walk his dog and he would regularly pay visits to his flock. What chances do you think we have these days where the priest would visit your house out of the blue? Yes a lot has transpired over the years, but I have vivid memories of my Grandmother fussing over me as I would walk thru her doorway past the Catholic Shrine in her doorway with Holy water and usually a candle lit in remembrance of past family members. Boy, I'm very happy to have grown up knowing that there was a real close community of Hungarian culture that preexisted in what is now a war zone for poverty and corrupt politicians and drug dealers

 I often wonder what or grandparents would have thought if they have seen what has happened to there town? I also remember the close connection with the church and how if you were late for church you wouldn't get a seat and God forbid if you missed mass on sunday the community would wonder what happened to you the church kept the community solid as it should people would look forward to spending time with God and spending time with the people of their community, the butcher the store owners the the gas station attendants and so on.

I also remember how nobody worked on Sundays and it was a rare sight to see a semi truck on the road. Forgive my typing skills I'm not much at this so bare with me I'll get the point across. I hope it's not as bad as morse code, but close. Again I say greed has played a part.

I always liked the memories of going to handlers park to watch Ziggy Bella play his violin, the King of the gypsies. I got a kick when my Grandmother, all of 4 foot 7 inches in height, would grab me when a good  hungarian dance song would play, and she would swing me to and fro and she had such a gleam of happiness in her eyes, and man, she could dance. Oh how the music would fill the air and the drinks and the smell of hungarian kolbasz and szalonna drippings on bread were the fare of the Day but nobody minded. Not much in today's standards but hey, it was a lot to me and I was fine with those days.

I remember walking to the candy store at the end of Vanderbilt and Dearborn ave street to buy penny candy. 15 cents went a long way in those Days. 2 cent peach stones were my favorite. A whole bag of candy for 15 cents, wow what a deal! I'm glad we didn't have cell phones or beepers or cable TV.

I remember how we would walk past someone's house on our weekly sunday visits to Grandmas house and  and you would smell a pie cooling on someone's porch and you might stop to speak and the women of the house would invite you in for a slice of pie. What's the chance of that happening these Days ?

I could remember going with my grandmother to the butcher and she would walk back with the butcher to make sure she got the whole bird guts and all I can't imagine why? but she had her reasons. I never asked, but later my dad said she used parts of the bird we wouldn't dare eat to make things. That was all I asked, but the smells of sawdust filled the air. At the butchers, the chickens hung behind the counter.

I remember the 5 and 10 store on Jefferson and Delray blvd. I remember how people would wear bands around their arms when a family member passed I have so many fond memories and more will come, but hey, Delray is gone. But all the memories live on. Oh, I wanted to tell you that the closest you'll find for good kolbasz, it's the Joy road market on Joy road and Telegraph road. He still makes good hungarian smoked kolbasz. He doesn't make smoked pork or seasoned paprika pork but I'm learning I can my own. Hot peppers, it was a rite of passage for me.

I can still remember my Grandmother's back porch filled with canned pears, apples and vegetables, no labels. I knew when she was failing when she no longer would can her food but she could do so much for her size I never saw my grandmother in bed, She always was either in the kitchen or cleaning,  or ironing clothes. She was awake when I went to bed and awake when I woke up. How did she do that? 

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Hello Richard and hello to your hungarian families I hope all is well I have been waiting for stories from the children that grew up in Delray during the early 60s i know there were children back then becuase i played baseball and got in a few street fights back then i wonder where that guy went who socked me right in the eye i just wanted to thank him for making me tough i sure needed a start into manhood so if your out there and you remember a fall night next to the train track at the end of vanderbuilt street im not mad at you anymore plus im too old now to make a difference but i have alot of old stories about old Delray boy i remeber how you went out all day to play with the neighborhood kids they were always doing something fun fishing was always a good time down at the end by west jefferson and dearborn ave they still fish there today boy i sure miss those days nobody had much money but we still had fun you didnt get in too much trouble in those days becuase adults would keep you in line back then kids had respect for elders back in those days and god forbid your parent found out you were causing trouble or smarting off to an adult your pop would let you know back in the garage why you shouldnt treat others that way but that was just a small story about life in old delray i remeber the hunky women from the church getting together in the church basement for crafts or cards or just getting together to see old freinds the church was a large part of life in delray the church always had activities for the community families had get togethers and something was always going on in old delray it was a very tight knit community the streets were always busy the stores were always filled and the town was alive with life and bounty i miss delray as it was it was a abeautiful place to live the streets were clear of garbage oh there was a few drunks but not like today the trash was in the cans not on the streets the people of old delray had town pride they keep delray safe and sound the streets were clean and people kept there homes neat and the grass was so green and the flowers were everywhere you looked you thought you were in the movie oz the colors were so vivid some of the roses and lilies and people washed the walks everyday becuase of the soot from zug island and the smell of wayne soap i think thats why my grandmother always had something cooking or baking to cover up the smell of the factories but nobody seemed to mind but hey who cared anyway it was our town good bye for now ron Takacs robert takacs is my father and im glad he took me to grandmas house in old delray

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