Summer Fun for Three Sisters part 4
While we were visiting out Aunt and Uncle and the week was winding down Grandpa and Grandma would drive out to the country to pick us up, We always had an outside barbq with all the trimmings such as hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans and the trimmings. Grandma always brought something she baked or bought from the store. Grandpa always made sure to bring lots of ice cream.
We would sit outdoors on the picnic tables that were gaily decorated and covered with a red and white checked oil cloth cover. There was always music piped outside to make it ore festive. Later we would return to Grandma and Grandpas house.
Sunday our cousin would come over in her huge black car with her three children . we all loved the animals at the zoo. Mother especially loved visiting the big cats because her Aunt and Uncle went on a trip to Arizona with their two youngest children and when they left Arizona, unknown to them, an adult cousin gave their two youngsters a “kitten” in a shoe box. When they were pretty far down the road they heard the kitten and asked where they got it. the boys answered cousin Joan had given the kitty to them to take back to the country house. Not pleased having a kitty to haul back they could not just abandoning it they took it home. well after a few months they knew kitty was really a bobcat. he grew and grew and got placed into a giant cage. Uncle did not want to let him go out in the wild because he never could fend for himself so they made arrangements for him to live at the zoo. He was a gentle cat and a beautiful cat so he got donated to other zoos to visit his lady friends. Mother always looked for DIABLO when at the zoo. Sometimes he was there and other times he was on loan to the Chicago zoo.
Soon it was time to get back on the road again and take our bus trip to Lawrence Massachusetts a town thirty miles outside of Boston. Our Father’s mother lived there and we would stay with her a few weeks before returning to California. We loved our Grammy Mary so much. What a sweet and loving lady she was to us. she had come over to America from Lithuania a long tie ago. She said she traveled with her siblings on the boat to America to make a new life. Once she landed on American soil she and her sisters stayed in a boarding room and slept four to a bed. We asked how could you do that and she told us by sleeping sideways so they all could fit and keep warm. She knew two languages then learned American English and worked in a sewing shop while learning to become an American citizen in the evenings. Soon she did become a citizen of the United States and was a very proud accomplishment her whole life time. Later on she also met her future husband who had also come to America on a previous boat. He also knew seven languages and became a citizen of the United States learning American English. Once they met and were married they came to Lawrence, Massachusetts and he opened a grocery store. It was a two story building so they lived upstairs and the business was downstairs.
We never got to meet our Grandfather as he was deceased but we had wonderful times with our Grammy Mary who lived in the same store upstairs over what now was a barber shop. one of her daughters lived there with her and on days she was not working she would take us to historical places or the beach with another lady and her children. What fun we had with the Little family. They were all happy and noisy children yelling and laughing which was something we did not get to do a lot back home when our Father, who liked quiet, was around.
Mother would walk us down to the old town where the Mills were and we got to pick out nice socks and other items to take back to California for our new school year.
we did get to go to our friends cabin up in Wells Maine. He and his wife were such nice people. We went outside and picked and picked wild Maine blueberries to take back to Grammy Mary. She made a lovely blueberry soup out of them. After visiting Grammy it was time to return back home.
That is just part of my story because we made many trips to visit families in the sumer time.
I am little sister Claudia remembering our childhood.
©Julia A Knaake