5.3.14a

Driver Ed

We went for a short car ride today through OW where L and E grew up.  We moved to CP in 1971 when Mom was already pregnant with baby sister.  But we did not know that yet.

The family home in OW was multigenerational, and there were three small wings with lots of entertaining area.  Thanksgiving and Christmas were always a big deal, and Grandma would rent tables and chairs and dishes and glassware and cloth napkins to that there was seating for everyone to have a sit down meal.  The property was on two acres, with a pond shared by several neighbors.  We really did have ducks for a short while and there was a gardener who would come with his rider mower.  Grandma drove a Lincoln Continental or a Cadillac.  Uncle R had an MG convertible.  We took the bus to school, North Side Elementary.  Neighbors nearby like the Fortunoffs had mansions.  We pretty much stayed to ourselves as the property was big and we were little. 

Later, Grandma sold the property (taxes were probably too high) and moved to a regular house in GC to be nearer to Uncle.  She still cooked for us, but most of the meals devolved into watching New Years or a sporting event on tv while some of the women helped to cook/chop/prep a big meal.  She maintained a fantastic garden by herself, and Mr. Larsen helped her to do errands when we were not available.

After Sister L. was old enough, Mom started working part time at Hamburg Savings Bank.  She also took us for tennis, skating and golf lessons among other things.  Eventually she chose NOT to have a station wagon and picked up a used Toyota Celica.  Mom!!

There are also side stories about Mom and Dad throwing lobster parties in our smaller backyard, having family BBQ's, letting me throw a few blow out high school parties (refer to Jimmy B), and other ones about Big Aunt Lucille and Uncle Tang, Aunt Sabina and Uncle Donald, and others who hosted us over the years.  Remember going to Joyce and Perry's house because we wanted to watch the Islander game on tv and they were the only ones who had Cablevision?

Cuzzinfest had its origins in those old days.  It all comes back to me now, driving around with my sons.  Now we are the adults.  Who woulda thunk it.