Saturday, October 4, 2014

Lovella

My mother's mother was Lou . She was a very warm simple woman. Very religious. Overnight at her house and you were required to kneel and say the rosary before bed.   I don't think it did me any harm. She was a farmer and seldom did I see her or my grandfather Bill away from the farm. They had a car until their later years, but everything the needed was within a few miles. They were surrounded by family and fiends. Church important in her life, was a mile down the road in the small village.
My most vivid memory of my grandmother was one of the few times she came to the city. She took my younger brother and I to the movies. It was during World War 11 and the movie was "The Fighting Sullivan's". It told the story of four brothers who shipped out on the same Navy vessel to fight against Japan.
Their ship was sunk by enemy fire and the brothers gave up their spot in the lifeboat to others. the climax saw the brothers on the fantail, praying, as the ship slipped into the deep. My grandmother took a rosary from her purse and began to pray silently ,tears running down her cheeks. She still had sons in harms way .
I never forgot the day.  We never went to another movie together and I believe it was the last time I saw her in town. She died in her early sixties and left my grandfather alone for the next 25 years,
She had the most wonderful kitchen producing the worlds best apple pie and fresh bread.

Multitasking

Multitasking- doing several things badly at the same time

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Lotus June2014




Nettie

Nettie was my father's mother. She was the backbone of the family and held them together through the roughest time in American history. She and Tom married in twenties and had children in time to face the great depression and World War II. Nettie was a force to be recognized and generally ruled with a strong hand. She had little time for idleness or stupid people. She taught me many things. How to play Canasta ; how to hook a rug; how to hang wall paper and how to make a good tasting meal when you had very little to work with. Because of her experience in the depression she was extremely careful with money. Long after my grandfather died, when she was well over 80, she drove the oldest car in town . It was a prewar Dodge. I think, and the antique box shape made it very easy to spot. She wore her hair in bun and I only saw her once with it down. I was amazed when I realized that her hair extended well below her waist. Those days when times were hard, people did things that we now consider cruel. But as was common practice for people with poor teeth, Nettie had each child as they reached maturity have their teeth pulled and fitted for dentures. There were no more dental bills. Nettie had a good heart and would give anyone in need what she could. She was a major element in my education.

  

 

 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

My brother and his wife celebrated
50 years of marriage. An amazing accomplishment in today's world.

Monday, March 24, 2014

The Wrong Word

I am bother by the direction of the language and new words that have emerged that don't really mean anything. "like" is the most obivious.  But how about Proactive. How can that be a word? You are either active on not. Very active: not so active : inactive  but Pro ?

What is the opposite of Proactive? Propassive ?

Does thar mean that you are passive to an extreme ? can you be a little passive?  very passive? inpassive:

Propassive?

I wonder if anyone else has these relatively unuseful thoughts?