Nurse Ratchet?

I stood in front of the gathering, our wedding, and proposed a toast. So it wasn't traditional, it was our wedding. Three women. The three that had made our day possible, Grace's Mother, My Mother and Sheila Patten. Others deserve to be honored, but for the previous year Sheila had been the beacon keeping us on a straight line. She was Grace's nurse.
Granted, she wasn't all that exclusive. After all she did work at a community hospital and have a few other obligations, but bottom line she was Grace's Nurse.

That year and the next I became very familiar to hospitals, nurses, doctors, emt's, etc. Grace had some serious troubles and was facing major surgery. Not alone! Her daughters were there, so was Brenda, our friends and Sheila. It has been about twenty years since that toast and we heard from Sheila again this past summer. Retired, but still a nurse, and still a friend. Next year Sheila! 

Grace is back fighting the good fight one more time. Sheila is up in Massachusetts and we have met a new group of wonderful people. Surprise, they too are nurses. In all honesty I would much prefer a different way of meeting nice people! But I am equally happy to find them at the most needed time in just the right place. Kathleen, Donna and the rest...here is a morning toast..."You are doing your job, but it seems so much more to us, so you have to be doing it well! Thank you!"

Our House...

 ...is a very special house! Great lyrics and appropriate for our first home.

A new home isn't an easy decision to make. In our case the decision was a lot easier than the hunt!

Through work, Grace new someone that was a realtor. We contacted her and got together for a sit-down. our wants were fairly basic, something not requiring huge amounts of remodeling and ready to move into. The rest negotiable. So began the trek.

The short sweet version of this is, "not gonna happen"! Agent a very "sit-down" type of gal...she sits, we hunt! So on that premise we went off  on our own. Week-end after week-end, neighborhood by neighborhood we searched. "For sale", notes taken, calls made, MLS checked and houses visited. No sale!

This routine was our weekend vigil for a few months, until totally depressed I spy another "open house" sign. We turn down the street and the first thing we see is a huge bluff at the end. The street dead-ends against the Lynn Woods. Impressive. Another turn and we are in front of a cute little cottage with a wrap around porch. Mission complete! We are home!We were married on that front porch!

Naturally the "sit-down " gal now wants to split the commission. We let the selling agent deal with that and finalized the deal.

Before leaving, many years later for Rome, that little house was the hub of our universe. Parties, celebrations, holidays, beers on the front porch we enjoyed our place. Nice neighborhood, new friends it was a joy.

It was where Grace and I started our annual tree trimming party that first Christmas. Not very big that first year, but it grew! Now the number of attendees is in the thirties. I can remember the look on Ricks' face when we gave him our first Flamingo...he has a small fetish! The kids running room to room, up and down the stairs, dragging poor 'Raz. Easter egg hunts in the back yard, even my brother Tom was involved. One other memory was just how much stuff we had accumulated when the time to move on came.The warm spot in our hearts is a lasting memory also.

This year we are a long way from that little cottage and a lot warmer. But the tree trimming party wasn't as much fun . Grace was knocked flat by a lung infection, so her sisters and I ended up decorating the tree while the Doctors and nurses tended to Grace. Well, there's always next year!

Under the tree

 We seem to be missing a train set...Marx, Lionel or American Flyer from the man who saved Christmas, A.C. Gilbert. Cute Christmas story to be viewed at a later date.

This is not an old family photo, but it reminds me of the Christmas of our youth. Do parents really believe putting the kids in bed early is a good idea? That only made us get up earlier. How about your house...any sleep there?

Erector Set, Lincoln Logs, Daisy, Schwinn, Flexible Flyer, Radio Flyer, Louisville Slugger, Rawlings, Spaulding, J C Higgins, Parker Bros, books...Bobbsie Twins, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift Jr, Toni Home Permanent dolls, Home Bake Ovens...these were some of the names we were looking for under the tree. Baseballs, footballs and BB guns! A puppy!
We were kids hoping for good things. I'm a lot older now and what I have are good memories. Many years of Christmas, the tree, the excitement, the expectations of family and friends.

This week-end Grace and I will have our annual homage to the season. The tree gets trimmed! It sits in the front room now, bare and unlite, waiting for all of the elves to arrive and magically transform it into a glistening, gleaming, shiny thing of hope and joy. We do it every year and each time it gets better. The tree itself isn't the secret ingredient, it's the always expanding crew of elves!

The elves, aka friends, are well fed. That is also tradition. Heritage insists that when you come to a family ensemble good and plentiful morsels must abound! The table will be full to the brim and no one has ever left unhappy or hungry.

We have come a long way from shopping on Washington St. in Boston, oh so many years ago. All of those stores, Stearns, Filene's, Jordan Marsh plus the little "off the street shops" on the lower end of Washington are all gone. Going into Boston just to see the windows and having a hot chocolate is a thing of the past. Now the lights are everywhere, especially along the "Jerry Jingle" highway!

We are not kids now, but we still hope for good things. Less material, perhaps but good. Warm, friendly feelings. Happy memories. Something called fellowship. Peaceful thoughts and ideas. And the proper setting...lot's of desserts too!

Buon natale a tutti!

One step...

Age has not been something that I have put much thought into. When I was a child most of my friends were older. Today younger. If everyone you know is the same age, don't you all think alike? How do you learn? Do you even want to?

One of my friends growing up was quite a bit older. I was a teenager and he was twenty something and married. His story, this one, is one of perseverance.

Bill was born in the Pittsburg area. At age 13 his Mom and Dad were in a terrible car accident, which only his Mom survived. She spent a year in and out of the hospital recovering. Spent the rest of her life with severe problems walking. She had been a teacher. But nevermore. Because of this event Bill left school, got a job and supported his family. Something he did for the rest of his life. 

Mom got better to the point of being able to get a job and return to her spot in the family. Bill was not able to return to school, he was no longer thirteen. Somewhere in here the family had moved north. Bill, now in late teens, met Evelyn, married, joined the Army, had a daughter, etc. 

When I finally met him, he was joining us in our tag football, stickball games. Competitive and never able to shake it. Even when we were unable to play outside, he had table hockey or board (APBA) baseball to play with or simply cards. Work was always hard for him because of lack of schooling. Factory worker, steel worker always hard labor. Key word, always. 

Three daughters, but no son. Then little Billy. For some people there is no justice. Little Billy never grew up. He drowned as a youngster. 

No one that I have met has ever tried as hard as Bill to keep his head and those of his family up. His ability to do this was most evident to me when I spoke with him years ago for what was the last time. One of his girls was now able to do for Bill and Evelyn what he had been doing for so long. He was still able to have his family around him. Life and everything it threw at him just could not wear him down.

You need to pay attention to all around you, because the most important lessons can be learned from the most surprising people. 

Wish you were here. Happy holidays to you both, wherever!

Chestnut St

After a couple of years of renting, it was time to make another try at home owning. One of the people Max worked with lived in Natick. A town about 15 miles from Everett. It was also much less city and much more suburb, at that time almost rural. A big old victorian style house was found and purchased. Now the move. This was the first time I was involved in a move. Believe me , it does not get better! 

Car load after car load, down the stairs over the balcony, ropes to lower some of the furniture, how I miss it! But I was definitely there then. Most of the trips went through Boston, out to Brookline and finally onto Rt. 9, ending at the new abode. All of our accumulated goods plus all the kids didn't begin to fill this place. But we tried. 

As this was a summer move we got some time off before school started. Remember going to see Max's friend Jack on the other side of town and  taking his boat out on Lake Cochituate. They were an older couple with no kids at home, so we didn't go over there very much. Later, I ended up working for Jack before the Navy. There were plenty of kids to play with and friendships started with the McGee's and their cousins the Healy's. Jim and Frannie McGee  lived across the street. His kids Connie and Jimmy were in our age group so we formed a quick alliance. Think that was the first time I realized girls might be something other than pains!

The Harwood boys lived down the street and around the corner. Their Dad owned a baseball factory near downtown. I wish now that I had visited the factory. Hindsight! They were the only friends of mine that had servants! We would be playing and a maid would knock and ask if we needed cookies. Even after all these years I find that pretty cool. When we built a tree house a carpenter did the work! Getting accustomed to luxury was nice, but reality was also very much in evidence. Big house, old windows (drafty? yep), old furnace (cold? yep), old roof (leaky? yep), lots of money to fix...never gonna happen! House proved to be an insurmountable problem. 

The struggle lasted for several months and we got another summer before the end, but the end came. 

My downtown trips to the library were coming to an end. The first girl that invited me to her house for supper (Paula) ended up disappointed, at least in MY memories she did. But, we were headed back to Everett. Paris Street. Where we remained until I graduated. 

Natick was one of the shortest of our domestic stays, but Everett was the longest. While I have some fond memories of that short time, Everett is where I grew up...and remember the best. 

The Test

Dating as an adult is strange. You remember the things you did when you were younger, but they don't work as well now. Two straws in a soda...not cute any more! Movies? Not if you don't like what's playing and that isn't even the reason you used to go!

Both of us liked antiques, flea markets, etc because, one it was a nice day together. Two, there was always the treasure hunt aspect. Three, it was a sure way to meet people. 

By the time we met I had built a couple of collections. One was a group of over one thousand record albums...the big, black round things with a hole in the middle. The acme of music at the time, but not particularly mobile. The second collection was in two parts. Glass swizzle sticks from clubs, bars, restaurants, hotels from the thirties on. And the second part, whiskey pitchers to hold and display them . Boy did Grace laugh at them...until I sold the collection and bought her a car!

Grace, later spent a few years selling our treasures on e-bay. Our house was well endowed with the antique motif as well. All to be sold when we eventually left. 

Grace worked in the Theatre Department at the college, so plays seemed a "slam dunk"...sometimes you win! We went to a few in Boston. Mostly musicals. Have to admit traveling in the van was a bit strange to her at first. I hardly ever used my car and simply didn't think about it much. Sold it finally. When we did our weekend foraging it came in handy.

We both had tests for each other, not sure if they were tests on a conscious level or not, but they worked that way. She got me first when she said we were going to visit her Aunts on sunday. "Really? Where?" Aunt Emma's in Malden. OK.

I think I was the only male there, or perhaps it only seemed that way. Emma, Queena, Anna, Nancy, Grace. Oh yeah they had a great time! I'm not really bashful so I joined in and enjoyed myself too. Must have passed that one!

About a month later I returned the favor. We went for Christmas brunch at my sister-in-law's house. That would be the sisters of Mary-Ellen's. My first wife. This was something that I didn't stop doing after the divorce. I just kept the entire family with one exception. And of course during the meal Mary-Ellen called and Grace was introduced! Heh, heh heh! May have gotten ahead with that one. Don't worry it didn't last. We've been married a long time and that was the only time that I "might" have been ahead!

Finding nice restaurants with some kind of nice music turned out to be our true "night out". Over the year's we have found several and are happy to say some extremely nice folks are life long friends because of our search. Naturally there is one food story that I have to relate. 

My buddy Ken and I had spent a few beers more than needed at the club and decided to go have a nice meal. I called Grace and asked her to join us. She did not seem all that thrilled with my choice but did agree. She had not been to O'Fados. 
A nice Portuguese place, more like a club in Peabody Square. A place that I had been too with my daughters. I think Ken got the pork and clam mariscado...not sure. I ordered the Quail and Grace (the adventuress) got steak. And as you would guess really liked my Quail...the steak was pretty good too, but I knew that anyway. The owners remodeled the place, big, loud, pretty? Then they divorced...it's still there, just not the same.

As I said we have been married for several years, some low points but mostly I would have to say we figured the adult dating thing out ok.

Campo Dei Fiori

The center of the known universe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!