My Mom's Family

My great grandmother lived in Kansas. She lived by herself and mowed her acre of lawn till she was 95. She finally went into a nursing home the year before she died at 97. She had a hard life. She outlived a couple of husbands, had 13 siblings, and raised three children under three during the great depression by herself. She loved eating at Dairy Queen.

My grandparents were a big part of my life. They spent a lot of time with me. They made me feel valued because they made time for me. They would fly kites with us, drive us around the countryside to pick up dropped vegetables and fruit. I'm not sure why I thought that was such a treat but I did. I tasted my first mango by picking it up when it fell off a truck. My grandma would fix us a picnic basket and we would drive to a roadside park and have a picnic. I loved her fried chicken, sweet pickles, and boiled eggs. Another treat for me was for them to drive an hour away for me to stay in a hotel. It is funny that a little girl would want to drive an hour away with no TV or game boys and stay in a hotel without cable and or a pool. I guess I liked all the games we played on the way. My grandparents always played card games with me, spades, old maid, etc... My grandpa had big hard hands. I felt safe when he held my hand taking walks. He let me use a small cane while he used his big one. He always wore khaki pants and shirts. I loved to play in the back of grandpa's truck. He had blue eyes and red hair. He reminded me of Archie Bunker, though. He loved to take trips with us. We went to Colorado, Arkansas, Disney, and Florida.

My mom has one sister, Betty Jo. She is a great aunt. She is generous, fun, and thoughtful. Growing up I remember my uncle always bringing home candy bars from the store when he came home from work. I though that was a great idea.

I grew up with my cousin Brenda. She is a few years younger than I am. They moved 10 hours away when she started school. We still spent Easter and Thanksgiving together at least. We usually had matching clothes or at least colored chickens. I realize I don't have any pictures of this because my mom won't let me have any. Maybe this will add the proper pressure for her to let me make copies of them. Brenda went to Disney with us. She is much loved by me. Brenda and I both were only children for a while so we were the closest thing to a sibling that we had. I got a sister at almost 9 and she got a brother at 13. I was so excited when George Richard was born. My grandpa was so proud to have a grandson. I thought they looked alike because he had reddish hair like grandpa. He was such a likable little boy. He is a great guy now, too. I can't believe he has a daughter who is almost three. It is so nice that my kids have so many second cousins to play with. My cousins on my dad's side are all older than I am. I guess that happens when your is 10 -20 years younger than his siblings.