Grandma's House

The picture in front of grandma's is going to be a classic: Anna in pig tails, teasing Tommy in his Polo shirt, and Jack in his Pirates of the Caribbean Hockey Shirt that has Captain Jack written on the back. The three of them are so cute and enjoy each other so much. What makes it even more fun is how Anna refers to Jack as Jackie, a name my grandma used for my dad.

The three loved being at grandma's house. They spent the entire time exploring.

Interestingly enough, that is what I loved to do at my Grandma Liza's house whenever I was there. She had this apple peeler that I always begged her to use each time we visited. She stuck an apple on the machine's tongs, turned the crank, and my sisters watched it do its job. It mystified us.

I knew where the door was in one bedroom that led to the attic, and I also knew about the boxes of grandpa's things in the basement. Little kids are always that way and probably always will be.

Until I was four, I always thought I could find my grandpa among those things downstairs. He died when I was a bit more than three. But in my mind, I always thought I could find him waiting for me down there. And I looked every time I was there. I even dreamed about it, seeing a room in my mind that I could never find.

My mom's front room, in the photograph below and on the right, has a large picture of my dad immediately over the fireplace. For our family, it is the centerpiece. An artist painted it from an old bent photo we had of my dad when he was very small, the one below and at the left.

The house is truly beautiful. And Anna told her so at least once.

The kitchen cabinets--as seen in the picture above--are a light wood finish, and my grandkids will always remember it. It is the room where we often sit and talk with grandma, although she always had us come into the front room to sit in one of the chairs or on the sofa.

In the basement, my mom showed Lydia and the grandchildren my dad's belt buckle with our family brand on it.

Tommy liked the pocket watches the best.

The spurs that Grandpa Cles had are the most interesting for me.

The picture of him and Grandma Liza is one that I always remember as a child. It was on top of the DuMont T.V.















Tommy did not like this room. He was getting a time out, and he continued to dislike it until I told him that it had been my bedroom when I lived at home.

The bed and matching oak desk and chest of drawers were the only pieces of furniture in the room. The captain's chairs were originally in the large family room.

When I was home, dad had a pool table in the family room. It was my favorite part of the house at the time, and I loved to play pool with my friends there.