July 6, 2009

July 6, 2009

In the beautiful mid-afternoon sun yesterday Evelyn, her caretaker and I went for a walk around the block. Despite the constant sun and endless warmth, Evelyn was dressed in long trousers and a sweater. She still felt cold on the walk. When we reached a corner there was an old Buick station wagon. She asked me if I remember that car. I thought she was referring to the station wagons that we had when my brothers and I were young.

The beauty of a station wagon is that approximately ten children and the driver are able to fit inside of its long stretch of a body. Of course, this can only exist in days before child car seat laws. As long as the seatbelts could stretch over everyone, (all the children in the back and center would share), then all would arrive safe and sound to a final destination. My mother worked for my grandmother at her school in Indiana and used the station wagon constantly for daily field trips in the summer. I thought my grandmother was referring to this station wagon. I cried out, “Oh yeah! I loved stations wagons! My brothers and I could be easily separated into three different sections to keep us from fighting during road trips!” Then I carried on about our trip to Florida, my older brother’s problems with motion sickness, and whatever strong memory that filled my mind regarding station wagons.

Then, she said, “Yeah, you remember, I used it for the school and shared it with my sister”. I was not born at the time when my grandmother and her sister worked together, (before her marriage), and therefore it proved to be difficult visualize this specific wagon. I asked about her work with her sister and she said they had a school together in Chicago. I asked if it was a school or more of a day care and her response was that it was more of a day care. She also added that the school didn’t last long. In response I mentioned that it must have been difficult to work with her oldest sister.

I don’t know much about Bernice, but from stories told by others in our family, it seems that she was a VERY strong woman. I remember meeting her with I was about ten years old. She looked like an older duplicate of my grandmother. She also enjoyed seeing her great niece and nephews and gave us all digital wristwatches. When Bernice found something on sale, she would take advantage of the opportunity and buy as much as possible of whatever there was. This included children’s digital wristwatches of which she had a full box. Then she slipped us some dollars and we all went out to eat at Old Warsaw.

In Czech Republic, a friend of mind told me how during communism people would buy a lot of something in order to keep it for a later trade. For example, if there was a lot of salt, people would buy a lot hoping to sell it when it was in short supply. In a later date it would prove to be valuable for a trade of other spices or food. In the end of communism, people continued to hoard large amounts of anything for a possible greater tradeoff. Of course, this just created more unnecessary waste, (of both money and materials). It reminds me a lot of my grandmother and her sisters. They all had a strange habit of believing that one day their finds would be worth a fortune. Sadly, fortune was not in their favor and their relatives gained the gift of boxes and boxes of things that were seemingly useless.

Despite their strong wills, my grandmother and her sister Bernice always had a soft spot for children. Teaching has remained a part of both Bernice and Evelyn’s families and the greatest gift that they gave us helped us to understand the value to human life versus material worth. Taking out years and years of unloved and unused materials has given me an even greater sense of my own waste and why no matter how much Evelyn asks to keep something that I know she won’t need, love for my grandmother is endless.

My mother has contributed to today’s blog. After reading the first few blogs, she wished to add her memories of Joanna and Adolf.

About Grandma Joanna: Grandma was always busy also. She might not have had the education like Grandpa, but she made money. She cooked, (a problem was she never let anyone else help her), canned everything, had a vegetable and fruit garden, kept duck/geese to make her feather beds for all the beds (up and down), bought the house next to the parish and turned it into an apartment so to earn extra money, (it was the depression starting in 1929 when Mom was 8 yrs. old) and basically kept the family together. Grandpa worked, but when I knew him, he was retired and repaired old toys in his fix-it shop in the garage out back. He would take us kids to the candy store across the street and caution us not to tell anyone, especially our parents. Then before we would leave, Grandma or Grandpa would slip us each a $1.00 or so and tell us the same. Another thing, when I got married in 1977, my Mom gave me a card from Grandma and Grandpa. I thought she was joking, because my grandparents had been dead for at least 8 years. Inside the card were 2 saving bonds, which my grandma bought years ago to be given to me on my wedding day. It was like a hug and kiss from the grave from them.

*I hope others may enjoy sharing their favorite memories and experiences.