It is a summer night in August, but it’s my own personal Thanksgiving.

I am four days post-surgery, tired, sore, and just generally wiped-out.

I am thankful for all the activity that has gone on around me since my return home to keep the house running smooth, to see to my needs, to make my world comfortable and manageable.

George and Rebecca have been with me every step of the way. I am thankful that George was with me seconds after I hit the bathroom floor. I am thankful that Rebecca packed up her car and drove up from North Carolina as soon as she heard of my mishap. I am thankful that Garrett drove down from Buffalo Friday night to be by my bedside when they moved me down to the second floor, when I needed his sense of humor, then filled the house with good food since he knew that I wouldn’t be shopping. I am thankful that Morgan is a phone call away, has the most reassuring voice, and leaves me with the sense that all will be okay.

The dishes here are washed, the clothes are clean, the floors are swept, the pets are cared for, the house is in good order, my needs are met, I need only ask. I could list a thousand little things that have been done for me that have meant so much. I love my family. Life is good.

Posted: August 18th, 2008 under celebrations, family.
Comments: 1

Cherrie was her first name, and I never thought of the word alone. She was my grandma, mother of my mother. Today would be her birthday, born in 1895. She had three children, Gordon who died on the beach at Normandy, my mother who died at the age of 41, and Jack, who died at the age of 60. There were eight grandchildren, and they were the focus of her life.

I never knew Grandma to have a home. She lived out of the trunk of her car, a very independent woman. By the time I came around, she was making a living as a live-in companion to the elderly, and I would stay with her sometimes in the family’s home. Between jobs, she would stay with a member of her own family, always pulling from the back of her car, anything she needed to get by. She came bearing bags of groceries, knitted slippers, new “leggins” to keep us warm, and children’s workbooks. She taught me every game of solitaire that she knew, and had me help her with the Daily Jumble in the paper. Cultivation of the mind, staying warm, and staying fed, were very important to her.

I remember riding in the back of her car to Naples and back, sitting up on a little red stool, so I could look out the windows. There were no seat belts or warnings back then. We would do a word search on the way, finding something out the window to go with every letter of the alphabet. To this day, I think of one house in Geneva as the Knob house. I used its doorknob to come up with the letter K, and she praised me heartily for that. Every summer, she would take a car load of grandchildren on vacation with her. I was one of the youngest, so when my turn came, it was just me and my cousin, Scott, and off we went to the Thousand Islands. She was proud to show us off, but we had to mind our manners, and speak up when spoken to.

My mother died when I was eight, and Grandma came to stay with us for a time. She had just put my sister, Kathy, and me to bed, when she was back at our bedside, telling us to get up, and come see a new television program. This was so unusual, to be invited back out to the livingroom after bedtime. The show was The Flintstones, and it tickled her, and she wanted to share it with us. Around that time, too, we stayed with her at our cousin’s cottage on Canandaigua Lake, and I remember her calling us all from our beds, to come out to the beach and watch a satellite pass over. She seemed to want us to know and experience as much as we could.

When I was in high school, I caught the Greyhound bus to Rochester over winter break, to stay with her at a home in the city. She was taking care of an elderly woman, so it was a quiet time, but comforting, to be snowed in at a cozy house, with Grandma, a deck of cards, and quiet conversation. I remember how beautiful the city streets looked from our second story bay window, and that evening we sat together and watched Ben-Hur as the snow fell.

After I was married, Grandma would send care packages now and then. She sent me recipes, odds and ends of kitchen utensils, a new iron. I think an idea would hit her, and it would go in a box, and sent on its way. I enjoyed writing letters to her, and she would always write me back. A favorite time, was meeting her in Naples in the fall, and having chicken dinner at Bob and Ruth’s in the park. After we ate, she would take us around town, to visit with her homebound friends.

It was hard to watch Grandma lose her independence in her later years. She had fallen on the job, broken a hip, and never really bounced back. After she entered the nursing home, she was found to have cancer, and it eventually took her life just a few weeks before her 94th birthday.

Grandma Cherrie had such an impact on my life. She seemed fearless to me, and showed true grit and perserverance in her life. I have missed her all these nineteen years that she has been gone,  but she left a wonderful collection of memories that will never leave me.

George, Rebecca, and Grandma Cherrie during a visit to Naples, 1978

Posted: August 12th, 2008 under celebrations, nostalgia, family.
Comments: 3

Happy 23rd Birthday Garrett!   I found this while cleaning out my desk drawer, and like many things you do, it made me smile.

Posted: July 29th, 2008 under celebrations, family.
Comments: 3

This little note awaited us, when we checked into our motel last weekend. It was a very simple gesture, but warm and welcoming, as was the wedding day itself.    We had a wonderful time.

Posted: July 23rd, 2008 under family.
Comments: 2

Somehow it is Tuesday, and I feel like I’m running behind. Yesterday is a blur, as it was too soon back to work, when I still had so much I wanted and needed to do around home.

Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day with a picnic at my sisters. I was especially thankful to have the day to honor my Dad, who has had a great influence on all of us through the years.

It was also a day to celebrate my husband, who has journeyed with me through parenthood these 31 years. Garrett was able to make the trip over from Buffalo to spend the afternoon with his dad, and later he took us to a movie in Auburn before we parted ways.

It was a nice day at my sisters. We don’t get to see each other often enough. She has such pretty plantings around the house, we couldn’t resist taking some pictures.

Posted: June 17th, 2008 under celebrations, family.
Comments: 2

It was supposed to rain today, with a front moving through mid-afternoon. We thought we would head up to The Windmill (a farm and craft market) to walk around and see what was new this year, and get back home before the rains came. My niece has a booth there where she is selling items that she and her husband have made, so we checked that out and came home with a little bear for out front.

We bought our lunch of chicken barbecue, and enjoyed that at a shaded picnic table with my sister. By the time we headed home, the sun was beating down, and the temperature had risen to the mid-80’s.

There was no sign of rain when we returned home, but we could feel a change in the air. As a precaution, we tied up the canopy to save it from the winds, and brought the fuschia indoors so it wouldn’t take a beating. The clouds gathered, and the air cooled a little, but the rains passed to the north of us, and it turned out to be a pretty nice day.

Posted: May 26th, 2008 under road trips, family.
Comments: 5

We were on our way to Ithaca soon after George and I arrived home from work. The bus to New York City was leaving at 6:45. Morgan and Albert are currently en route to Port Authority, and I will listen for the little door chime on my cell phone about midnight, that will be the text message saying they have arrived safely.

It was a pretty drive to Ithaca, with blue skies off to one side, and dark skies on the other. As we arrived at the intersection in Alpine, there was  a bright rainbow crossing the road in front of us, as though it was making a bridge for us to pass under.   It took our breath away,  to suddenly see it after rounding the curve,  and Morgan and I pulled out our cameras to see if we could capture it.

We had our quick dinner at Moe’s Southwestern Grill, where Albert was able to try out his new bottle-opener hat, amazing us with his dexterity.

All too soon we were making our way to the bus station, where Morgan and I have shared numerous goodbye hugs. Albert got a heart-felt one too.    It was such a pleasure to have them both here with us,  a chance for us to get to know Albert,  and to enjoy the light and laughter they share.

Posted: May 21st, 2008 under family.
Comments: 3

We’ve been enjoying company the past couple of days. Morgan and friend, Albert, have come up from the city. They arrived in Ithaca yesterday afternoon, and return to New York tomorrow evening. It’s a little getaway for them, and a nice treat for us. Since George and I have had to work while they are here, we have had indoor picnics to celebrate our evenings together - grilled chicken last night, and london broil on the grill this evening. Of course, Morgan doesn’t participate in our meat-eating, so we have had other picnic foods like potato salad, baked beans, fruit salad, vegetable kabobs. It would have been nice to have our picnics outdoors, but it has been cold and damp since they arrived.

They are off visiting friends tonight, but I have put a rhubarb crisp in the oven for them to enjoy when they get in.

The cats have found Morgan’s suitcase to be the most pleasant resting spot. It would appear that Picasso is entertaining thoughts of a return trip to the city…….but if you ask me, she’ll think twice about it.

Posted: May 20th, 2008 under family, day-to-day.
Comments: 3

We arrived home this evening, around sunset. It was a long drive, on a different route than what we usually take, and George said it added over thirty miles to the trip. We probably won’t venture that route again.

We spent a very full couple of days. George and I did some birding at the wildlife sanctuary in East Aurora.

We had our lunches with Garrett (check out the monstrous candle in the window)

and last night Garrett treated me to an excellent dinner at the Roycroft Inn. We fit in a matinee yesterday, one of many showings of Iron Man. That was a movie George wanted to see, and Garrett wanted to see a second time. I wasn’t sure that I would appreciate it, but I enjoyed it too.

We had talked about driving out to Lake Erie today to check out the birds near the water, but the wind was whipping this morning, and we could feel the rain moving in, so we decided against it. Instead, we went back to Garrett’s apartment, and he entertained us with Guitar Hero.

By four o’clock, as we were getting ready to head home, the skies were dark, and the rains came.

Rebecca and Morgan called this evening, to make my day complete. Through all the ups and downs of thirty-one years of motherhood, I feel very blessed. I have three children who have turned out to be really great adults.

Posted: May 11th, 2008 under road trips, family.
Comments: 1

A February 27th doesn’t go by, that I don’t think of Grandpa Dick. I really miss him. He gave a sense of steadfastness, of continuation, of belonging. He was something of the family historian, through his journals, his words. He could tell you so much history of his place and time. Grandpa was part of the community fabric. Everybody knew him. He knew everybody. It was fascinating to listen to his stories, no matter what age you were, you could find the humor or the intensity of his narration, and you had to hear him to the end. He had delivered mail with a horse and wagon in the early 1900’s and stayed with the post office into the 1950’s. He had so much to tell.

Grandpa was born in 1892, he was 61 when I was born. I always remember him looking the same throughout my life, though I do remember him becoming lamer as the years went on, and his glasses changed prescription, so that his eyes seemed bigger, more magnified. He had a bald spot on his head, and he carried a cane, sometimes leaning on it while he visited.

I can see Grandpa in his recliner chair in his livingroom, watching a football game on a Sunday afternoon, or at his desk in the corner, the one with the cubbyholes, that I thought was so neat. He wrote in his journal there, recording the comings and goings, the births and the deaths, the weather statistics, the years the lake froze over - he could tell you each one. I can see him getting in or out of his car. He would sometimes pick me up after school, waiting out front, with the engine warming. He would never forget.

I can see Grandpa at the lake, checking the rain barrel, carrying out the corn cobs or watermelon rinds from dinner. He could line peas up on his knife, and slide them into his mouth, just to make you smile. He methodically would wipe the gummy ketchup from its lid, so that it was always tidy. You could count on it. The cottage belonged to him and Grandma. He had built it. It was a great gift they shared with the whole family.

Every birthday, till he went into the nursing home, Grandpa would send me a birthday card, and started it out “Jan, old girl” or something like that, and it would warm my heart. I miss those tokens of his affection for me.

Today, my affection is for Grandpa, his birthday, never forgotten.

Posted: February 27th, 2008 under nostalgia, family.
Comments: none