Our parents, Charles and Amelia Buchan moved from Brooklyn NY to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1946. The family lived in a small mobile park, Colonial Gardens on 4th Street North. The mobile home park still exists behind a row of commercial establishments. Our younger brother, Russell Buchan was born at St. Anthony’s Hospital on May 24, 1947.   The family attended Sunday Mass at St. Paul’s Church. Almost every Sunday after Mass, our father would take the family for a ride around Coffee Pot Bayou and to Snell Isle for a drive around Brightwaters Blvd. As we rode we looked in awe at the stately homes, many of them hidden behind high walls or fences laden with shrubbery. Occasionally, Father would stop in front of an opened gate and we would catch a glimpse of the home and a car, usually a Cadillac parked in the circle driveway. The stop lasted only for a few seconds for fear we would be spotted by the residents who would come out and chase us away. After the drive, Father would drive to downtown and we would have lunch at the Tremor cafeteria.   Mom and Dad worked hard. Dad’s first business in St. Petersburg was driving his own “Good Humor” ice cream truck. Later they opened a neighborhood corner grocery store and gas station. Our parents developed the commercial property next to our home and built the first strip store center in St. Petersburg. In 1954, our parents purchased a small LP gas and fuel oil company in Pinellas Park, Florida. It later was renamed Buchan Gas Company and remained in existence for over fifty years. Describing my parents in one sentence, I would say, “Hard working small business owners who always put the customer first.”   The drives around Snell Isle continued as the dream of living there lingered on. They even visited open houses after Church. In the sixties, they purchased a vacant lot on Shore acres just across the bridge from Snell Isle with hope of building a home there. The lot was sold a few years later. In the seventies my mother purchased a home on Shore Acres, but everyone know location is King and Shore Acres was not Snell Isle.   While living on Shore Acres, Mom continued talking about one day moving to Snell Isle. The fastest route to shopping in downtown from her home was 40th Avenue NE, but Mom normally drove the circuitous route through Snell Isle to run her errands. She was living her dream as she drove. Mom never fulfilled her dream of living on Snell Isle. She did not know her youngest son had devised a plan so he could live in a waterfront home on Snell Isle.

After Russell Buchan graduated from College and returned to the Tampa Bay area, he lived with his mother for several years at her home on Shore Acres in St. Petersburg. In 1979, with financial help from his mother, Russell purchased a home on 36th Avenue NE.   Russell lived at this home until his recent home purchase at 1910 Brightwaters Blvd on Snell Isle with the help of proceeds received from his mother’s estate. I guess it can be said that since birth, throughout his life and even now, Russell has lived in homes provided by his mother. The expression, "From Cradle to the Grave", comes to mind. Mom provided a home for Russell from the day he was born, and from her grave she paid for Russell's waterfront home on Snell Isle.    I would not consider my brother, Russell Buchan a homemaker. I remember his residences having the appearances of a college dorm room. One time during August,, I visited Russell’s home at 36th Avenue NE and was greeted by an eight foot folding church table in the living room. On the table were a punch bowl and an assortment of glasses. I asked Russell if he was planning a party and he answered, “No, I had some friends here on New Year’s Eve.” I asked. “Are you going to move the table?”  He answered, “No, I may use it again next New Year’s.”

The picture on the above left is a backyard view showing the landscape of Russell Buchan’s new home at 1910 Brightwaters Blvd. Russell must be excited as he never had a lawn before as you will see from the photo below.   The center picture is a view of the backyard of Russell’s Home on 36th Avenue NE. Yes, the front yard looks the same. Just imagine Russell’s savings on lawn care these past 18 years.   The picture here on the bottom left is an interior view of Russell’s home on 36th Avenue NE from a recent real estate listing. The home is now for sale and listed as a “Tear Down”.     The purchase price of Russell's home on Brightwaters Blvd was $ 1,890,000.The tax appraiser’s office states Russell paid almost a half a million dollars above the appraised value of the property. Russell’s real estate taxes this year are in excess of $32,000, a ten fold increase more than his prior residential real estate taxes. It almost puts Russell in special taxing district all by himself. Does Russell care? Probably not because he is paying for it with OPM. (Other Peoples Money)     To obtain this new home all Russell had to do was murder our Mother, confiscate his parent’s estate and abandon his family.   I wonder if Russell moved the church table and punch bowl to the living room of his new home. It would be an interesting New Year’s Eve party. Could the attending guests ignore the host murdered a family member? I imagine it would be like attending a party at O J Simpson’s house.