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On September 3, 1962, I started school in Belfast at the Robert Bell Primary School. My daddy had already been in America for over two months; and it would be less than two months until I would be in America too. This picture, which was taken at the school, is a definite classic. Each day my mommy would give me money for my lunch, with the instructions "don't give it to anyone but your teacher". Apparently my teacher was a "smacker" (not uncommon in the "olden days"). My teacher smacked me because I broke a yellow crayon. Although I do have some vague memories of my early childhood in Ireland, and even of school... I don't remember being smacked. This is not an unfamiliar picture to those of you who read my blog, it's there on the sidebar every time you pop in. Recently I looked at the picture and saw a resemblance between me and one of my grandchildren. Who do you think I look like? Or should I say... looks like me?
You must promise to read this post first... then scroll down to see the picture.
Yesterday was my Dad's 75th birthday. Mother called the bakery at her favorite grocery store and ordered Dad a birthday cake (she and Dad have ordered cakes at this store for years). She didn't want an assortment of colored roses on the cake; just white roses... for Yorkshire where Dad was born. She told the girl at the bakery that she wanted the cake to say "Happy Birthday Granpa". Notice how we spell "Granpa" without the D. The girl was a little confused so Mother spelled it for her G-R-A-N-P-A. The girl thought Mother said M instead of N. "No" said Mother, "it's N as in Nancy." But the girl didn't understand Nancy, so Mother told her, "N as in north." She understood north.
When Mother went to pick up the cake yesterday this is what she got (you may now scroll down and look at the picture):
When I first saw the cake at Dad's birthday party last night, I wasn't sure what to think of it, and for a brief moment I thought Mother had ordered it that way on purpose. Then Mother told the family the story of how Dad's birthday cake came to be. We all had a very good laugh over it. Mother told us that her reaction when she picked up the cake at the bakery was, "it's a good thing we are a family with a sense of humor."
Michael, who has been in the retail business FOR-E-VER... told us that 99 out of 100 people would not have had Mother's generous reaction. So... I'm curious, what would you have done? What do you think of this story? Please, please tell!
On April 16, 1998, Granpa and Granma arrived home from their mission to England. We had a fun family weekend together, including a trip to the zoo. Only two of my children are in this favorite picture. Caitlin is sitting in the wagon with Derek and Chelsea, and Jeremy is just over Granpa's left shoulder with Tara and AJ in front of him. Jeremy's hair blends nicely with the giraffes. More than once I've heard Granma tell her version of their arrival at the airport and seeing the family for the first time in 18 months. She remembers seeing a strange boy with bright yellow hair and she wondered, "why did they bring a neighbor boy to the airport?", then she realized... it's Jeremy! Welcome home Granma; and... I'm glad Jeremy "grew" out of that bright yellow hair phase.
I have often heard my parents proclaim that Britain has the greatest public transportation system in the world... the bus. Although they rode the bus, I think that this was probably my Mother's most often used transport to get her and her children from point A to point B... the pram. No minivan or SUV for my mom; neither of my parents even had a drivers license until they came to America.
This classic picture reminds me of stories that my parents have told me over the years of our life in Ireland. One in particular is that my parents used to walk to church with all three of their bairns (me, Archie, and Timothy) in the pram. It often rained, and so Archie and Timothy, being younger and smaller, sat together under the hood and I sat at the other end. I wore socks and sandals and by the time we arrived at church my feet had gotten wet (it was okay to wear socks and sandals back then... it was even okay to wear socks to church back then ;) Mother, who is always prepared, removed my socks and dried my feet, she then took a dry pair of socks from her bag and redressed my feet.
I'm not exactly sure when this picture was taken; but guessing the ages of the wee bairns, it was probably shortly before Dad came to America.
Another picture from the beach. What can I say? I love it!! This classic picture of the grandchildren (Granpa and Granma are in there somewhere) was taken in 1999, ten years after the picture of the grandchildren I featured in the first installment of this series. We have so many memories of our vacations at the beach as an extended family. A memory from this particular trip was the huge log that had washed ashore. It became a "playground toy" for the kids all week long... and as you can see, a great "photo op" for the photographers in the family. I love the beach house!!
It has been over a year since I sold my bedroom furniture and have been "looking" for a new set. Well... when I say looking, I don't mean it's been a top priority, but I have looked. Last week I went into Noble House Furniture and Design and found this bed at a great discount. I loved it!! Totally different than what I've been looking for but it called to me. I'm excited to find the rest of my pieces and eventually put my room together. By the way... I have a nice king headboard (looks like leather... but isn't) with a king bed frame that I'm selling. They're just a year old and in new condition. If you know of anyone that is interested...
