I have enjoyed writing my story; and as I have been creating the words in my mind to place upon the paper, so many memories have made me smile. I have especially enjoyed the stories told about the antics of my sisters.
My sisters and I are married now with children, grandchildren and Lynn has great grandchildren. Each of us has a story to tell and maybe they will write theirs.
Our parents were divorced after I graduated from high school in 1961. There was a better life for our mother after that when she married again in February of 1962.
My father died fairly young at the age of 54 and one day before his 55th birthday due to the health complication of the disease of alcoholism.
Mother passed away in March, 2008 at the age of 87, one month shy of her 88th birthday. She lived to see all her grandchildren and most of her great grandchildren.
Michele, Lynn, her daughter Laurie, along with her children, my daughter, Julie, her children, Christopher and Amber, husband Philip, my husband, Stewart and I live in the state of Florida and our youngest sister Pam lives in Texas.
Our grandson, Christopher, went into the Air Force in Feb., 2009. He graduated from boot camp in April and began attending Tech School training. Christopher is now stationed in England for two years.
His sister, Amber, graduated from high school in June, 2009. Amber went to school and is now a certified Medical Assistant.
We see each other mostly by meeting in Orlando, FL in the company of either Mickey Mouse or Shamu.
I am 67 years old and sometimes I sit and wonder where did all the years go. I wanted to write my story so my family could share in my memories.
We were a dysfunctional family and we are all survivors!
Monday, May 30, 2011
OUR PETS ARE IN ANIMAL HEAVEN
Over the years of our childhood, we had many pets. The most beloved of all was our Schnappsie, a mixed dashhound. The story goes that Lynn and Pam went for a walk to the drugstore, located on Rhode Island Avenue, (a very busy highway). Schnappsie followed them and ran out into the highway and was run over by a semi truck. The truck driver backed up to see what he could do to help. Pam was so upset, she kept yelling at the man that he had killed her dog. None of us are sure how Schnappsie got back to our house. We think the semi truck driver helped. This special little dog was buried in our back yard, as were other pets that followed.
Pam and her friend Kathleen had a conversation shortly after that day as to whether either of them had seen Schnappsie floating up to heaven; after all that is what happen in cartoons.
A special spot in our back yard was designated as the resting place for other pets; such as kittens, a bird and a hamster.
Pam and her friend Kathleen had a conversation shortly after that day as to whether either of them had seen Schnappsie floating up to heaven; after all that is what happen in cartoons.
A special spot in our back yard was designated as the resting place for other pets; such as kittens, a bird and a hamster.
BANG,BANG,BANG
These were shots that were not only not heard around the world--but were not even heard in our neighborhood. When Lynn got bored, you could bet something was about to happen that would be memorable. To amuse herself she took the buckshot out of the gun shells she found in the house. The next step was to build a fire in the bottom part of our yard and throw the shells into the fire. Her Guardian Angel must have jumped ten feet; and yet still managed to keep her from harm.
Pee Yu
The spray man is coming. The plight of the mosquitoes was death by chemicals. Hot summer nights brought the pests out to make our lives miserable. The roar of the truck, or the stench of the spray usually sent us to the confines of our houses on the day the "spray man" would come. If your windows were open, you closed them; and all would be fine. However, Lynn decided to use this opportunity to once again torture her gullible little sister. Pam was told, in order to save her life, to go into the house, crawl under the bed and do not come out until Lynn told her it was safe. After a while, Pam asked if she could come out. Lynn replied no. Pam's question was--"how come it is ok for you to be out and not me"?
I am sure if there were spray trucks today--Pam would run and hide under the bed.
I am sure if there were spray trucks today--Pam would run and hide under the bed.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Fun Times
We had many hours of fun on our swingset. There was a bit of an accident on this fun piece of equipment that I can never forget. I was hanging from the bar between the ladder of the swingset and the swing my sister Michele was on; I fell to the ground landing under her swing. Protruding from beneath her swing was a long screw that scrapped across my left eyebrow leaving me with a scar to this day.
Daddy build a brick barbeque that was fired up many times for picnics with groups of children coming to our house from our Brownie and Girl Scout troups, as well as the church Girls Auxilary (G.As). My favorite food from the barbeque was Sam'ores (graham crackers, chocolate and toasted marshmallows). After eating we would play hours of badminton. Going to the Girls Auxilary camp in the summer was a treat. Being away from home was fun but it was also a disciplined time; including assigned chores. I did not like cleaning the latrine (Sunshine House is what they called it).
We attended the Berwyn Baptist Church every Sunday and Michele and I were very active in G.As. I have memories of activities such as sewing, making potato stamps and growing sweet potato plants. We learned Bible verses and passed the "Forward Steps" program. Michele and I only made it to "Princess".
Mr. Schinner would pick us up and take us to Sunday school and Mrs. Schinner was my teacher. I always told her I wanted to be a missionary when I grew up. We were shone many movies about mission work in other countries and I thought it would be adventurous.
I grew up in the suburbs and when I had an opportunity to go to a church picnic on a farm, I discovered a new way of having fun; we played in the hay loft for hours.
When I was twelve, I was baptized. Mother said that when Reverend Koch lowered me back into the water she thought that he held me down there too long. Maybe I needed an extra long dunk.
My mother used to always tell the story about going on the overnight camping trip at the Girl Scout lodge. We were all settled in our sleeping bags when the sound of the whipporwill made me feel scared. I some how reached over to my mother's air mattress and proceeded to let the air out bringing my mother to the hard wood floor beneath her.
Mother worked for The Hot Shoppe restaurant company. Each year they held their family picnic at Glen Echo Amusement Park. We all got on the Whip ride after eating ice cream and soon discovered that was not a very smart thing to do.
My uncle was a Shriner and always got us tickets to see the circus. That was really a very exciting time. The music, the costumes and all the funny clowns were a very special treat for me to experience. The circus took you out of reality and into a fantasy world.
My favorite type of movies were musicals. After each movie I would pretend to be the character who had done all the wonderful singing. I remember seeing a movie with Anna Maria Alberghetti and thought she had the most beautiful voice. However, I do not remember what the name of the movie was.
Daddy build a brick barbeque that was fired up many times for picnics with groups of children coming to our house from our Brownie and Girl Scout troups, as well as the church Girls Auxilary (G.As). My favorite food from the barbeque was Sam'ores (graham crackers, chocolate and toasted marshmallows). After eating we would play hours of badminton. Going to the Girls Auxilary camp in the summer was a treat. Being away from home was fun but it was also a disciplined time; including assigned chores. I did not like cleaning the latrine (Sunshine House is what they called it).
We attended the Berwyn Baptist Church every Sunday and Michele and I were very active in G.As. I have memories of activities such as sewing, making potato stamps and growing sweet potato plants. We learned Bible verses and passed the "Forward Steps" program. Michele and I only made it to "Princess".
Mr. Schinner would pick us up and take us to Sunday school and Mrs. Schinner was my teacher. I always told her I wanted to be a missionary when I grew up. We were shone many movies about mission work in other countries and I thought it would be adventurous.
I grew up in the suburbs and when I had an opportunity to go to a church picnic on a farm, I discovered a new way of having fun; we played in the hay loft for hours.
When I was twelve, I was baptized. Mother said that when Reverend Koch lowered me back into the water she thought that he held me down there too long. Maybe I needed an extra long dunk.
My mother used to always tell the story about going on the overnight camping trip at the Girl Scout lodge. We were all settled in our sleeping bags when the sound of the whipporwill made me feel scared. I some how reached over to my mother's air mattress and proceeded to let the air out bringing my mother to the hard wood floor beneath her.
Mother worked for The Hot Shoppe restaurant company. Each year they held their family picnic at Glen Echo Amusement Park. We all got on the Whip ride after eating ice cream and soon discovered that was not a very smart thing to do.
My uncle was a Shriner and always got us tickets to see the circus. That was really a very exciting time. The music, the costumes and all the funny clowns were a very special treat for me to experience. The circus took you out of reality and into a fantasy world.
My favorite type of movies were musicals. After each movie I would pretend to be the character who had done all the wonderful singing. I remember seeing a movie with Anna Maria Alberghetti and thought she had the most beautiful voice. However, I do not remember what the name of the movie was.
Our Yard
Daddy had rabbits in a pen in our back yard. I was never sure if they were supposed to be pets or food. I am pretty sure we did eat them. However, we also played with them.
My father had a really nice backyard made for us by having the area at the point of walking out of or basement to be flat. This is where our games of Croquet were played; my sister Pam's swimming pool was placed there. Pam says she remembers Croquet balls ending up in her swimming pool. On the flat area was installed our clothesline. I can remember taking down many a frozen diaper from the line in the winter.
Daddy had the next part of the yard terraced. Where he planted many varieties of flowers. The beauty of Tiger lilies, Iris and Lily of the valley are visions in my head as I type this. Other visions come to mind about Tulips, Azaleas and a beautiful Mamosa tree in full bloom with pink feathery flowers.
My father had a really nice backyard made for us by having the area at the point of walking out of or basement to be flat. This is where our games of Croquet were played; my sister Pam's swimming pool was placed there. Pam says she remembers Croquet balls ending up in her swimming pool. On the flat area was installed our clothesline. I can remember taking down many a frozen diaper from the line in the winter.
Daddy had the next part of the yard terraced. Where he planted many varieties of flowers. The beauty of Tiger lilies, Iris and Lily of the valley are visions in my head as I type this. Other visions come to mind about Tulips, Azaleas and a beautiful Mamosa tree in full bloom with pink feathery flowers.
Friday, October 8, 2010
SEE PAM RUN-WAWAY
What possessed this child to run-a-way to Smith Lake? Could life have been that bad? Smith Lake had a huge gravel pit. We, as older kids, Michele, Lynn and I would go there and slide down those pits. That was dangerous since at the bottom of the mountain of gravel was the lake--kerplop, splash.
There was Pam and Andy sitting at the bottom, (on the safe side of the pit), thinking about their life. Pam started getting a little concerned about the fact that the Easter Bunny would never find her here. This tells us that the time of year must have been very close to Easter. As it began to get dark, the two adventurers headed home to hide in a safer place; that being the basement of our next door neighbors, (the Demmicks). Mother, as a last resort, before calling the police decided to check the Demmick's house. Pam was not greeted with a scolding--she received hugs, a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of milk. The Banner WELCOME HOME PAM might as well have been hanging over the front door!
There was Pam and Andy sitting at the bottom, (on the safe side of the pit), thinking about their life. Pam started getting a little concerned about the fact that the Easter Bunny would never find her here. This tells us that the time of year must have been very close to Easter. As it began to get dark, the two adventurers headed home to hide in a safer place; that being the basement of our next door neighbors, (the Demmicks). Mother, as a last resort, before calling the police decided to check the Demmick's house. Pam was not greeted with a scolding--she received hugs, a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of milk. The Banner WELCOME HOME PAM might as well have been hanging over the front door!
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