Aunts

I have been thinking a lot about Aunt's this week.  Will's Aunt Uneva passed away last week and the funeral was Sunday.  I haven't known Uneva very long, but I could tell from the first time that I met her that she was a wonderful person and someone whom I would have liked to be my Aunt.  I am lucky.  I got some really good Aunt's.  First we need to get one thing clear, when I say Aunt I say it like the little crawly worker insect, not the other way that honestly I can't even think of a word that rhymes with it.  I have been in the South for over 25 years and I still can't get used to how Aunt is said here.

Now to my Aunts.  I could go on for pages on each of these remarkable women, but I am going to try and keep it brief.  I will start with my mom's sisters.

The first born (notice I did not say oldest- do I get brownie points for that?) is Bonnie. Christian name Margaret, I think, but the Church wouldn't let you baptize a Bonnie, so she got named after her mother.  I never have figured out why the Church cares what your name is, pretty sure God doesn't, but I digress.  Bonnie is one of the most amazing cooks I have ever met.  I remember her selling her cookies at Christmas and it was great because so many of the relatives bought them.  We got to eat them wherever we went.  The woman has been in charge of more than one community cookbook and I still use them. For my friends whom I have cooked for- she is responsible for Cream Puff Cake, Sour Cream Cookies, and Bourbon Slush.  She also bought Kraft Chicken Noodle Dinner and my mom would never buy it.  I have vivid memories eating this in her kitchen.  Weird, I know, but it makes me feel good just thinking about it.  

I get confused if Mary or Sue came next.  I didn't really know Sue because she passed away when I was young.  There is something about Mary.  No really there is.  Mary was like Pinterest before the internet.  One of the craftiest people that I know.  She can sew, she can cook, she can arrange flowers, she can do it all.  My kids have tents, sleeping bags, blankets and clothes that were lovingly made by her. I have very rarely heard Mary say a bad word about anybody or anything.  I think my favorite thing about Mary is her voice.  She should be a narrator of children's book.  I swear if she read me a book it would lull me to sleep with a smile on my face.

The youngest (notice I said youngest- do I get brownie points for that?) sister is Fran.  Fran is closer to my age and her kids are closer to Liam's age.  Frances Ann Gallager is her full name.  Imagine the snickers when my grandmother put her initials FAG on a bag.  Grandma didn't get it, but it has been the butt of many jokes.  Really I think Grandma should have just marketed the FAG BAG.  I would think they would have sold very well in some areas of the country. Fran is one of the coolest motorcycle mamas that I know.  She isn't like so many women that buy the fancy Harley Clothes and ride on the back of bike.  She can actually fix a bike.  I am pretty sure that she could fix just about anything.

My dad didn't have any sisters but he did have an Aunt that was like an extra grandmother to me.  Her name was Muriel, but she was called Minnow from the time my uncle was a baby and couldn't say Muriel.  Everybody called her Minnow.  Her CB handle was "The Little Fish".  She did not have any kids so Graham, Ness, Jason, Ashleigh and I became her surrogates.  I think she worked early in her marriage, but not during my lifetime.  For somebody who didn't work she had quite the routine though.  Breakfast at Bob's Big Boy which sometimes turned into lunch because the waitresses at Bob's became like family to her.  I am pretty sure she never cooked a dinner my entire life.  She always ate out.  She was always going to Kmart and always running around.  Really not doing anything, but always in a hurry.  We would tell her that a party would start at 2 when it didn't start until 4 because the woman was always late. She had a heart of gold, but she was the person at the party that you didn't want to get stuck by because she could have an hour long conversation about the most mundane things.  She was forever cutting out news articles and giving them to us.  Now I wish that I kept some of these, but at the time I was like "what in the world?"  The picture above is of her at my grandmother's house.  Don't get excited, the cake was one of those square frozen Pepperidge Farm  cakes.  You didn't think Grandma baked a cake did you????  Minnow was always the last to get the joke and when she did she would yell "oh for crying out loud" or if it was a particularly bad one "you are a horse's ass".  She was obsessed with our teeth and would grab our chins and look in our mouth's and say "you better be brushing those choppers".  I would like to send a message to her in heaven - I had no cavities at my last checkup. And yes I go for a cleaning two times a year.  I would go more Minnow but the insurance won't pay for it.  Yes I know that I only get one set of teeth.  Yes, I know how important a good smile is.  Yes, I will make sure the kids brush their teeth.  No I didn't know that the waitress at Bob Heaven's just got a new cat.  Yes, Fluffy is a cute name...

 I don't have a sister so my kids don't get "blood related" aunts.  I am really lucky to have two amazing Sister In Laws, Hye and Rachel,  that I am proud to call my kids Aunts. They are like sisters without all the sibling rivalry.  I get to be an Aunt to some pretty amazing kids too.  I am not crafty like Aunt Mary and I think we would all bust out laughing to think of me fixing a motorcycle like Aunt Fran.  I will probably never be as good of a cook as Aunt Bonnie (although I can make some mean Kraft Dinner).  I hope one day these kids feel as much love for me as I feel for my Aunts

Molly the Kitten Killing Dog (Graham made me do it Mom)

This may look like a picture of a happy family with their beloved pet.  It's not.  This is a picture of a happy family with a dog named Molly that really only liked my mom, sometimes my dad if my mom wasn't around. Let me say first that I am not a dog hater.  I am pretty sure that Graham and I begged to get Molly.  She was born in the house next door on 25th street.  Mom assisted at the birth. She was so cute and cuddly and we couldn't wait for her to be old enough to come live at our house.  I am sure that once the newness wore off Graham and I did not want the responsibility of a dog.  We totally lost interest in her so her care fell on my mom.  What we didn't know is that cocker spaniels tend to get very attached to one person and just seem neurotic to everybody else.  Around this same time I found a stray ginger kitten that I was able to keep.  I named her Lucy.  Lucy wasn't really the smartest cat, but she was sweet and I loved her. Even better, she would actually use the litter box and didn't scratch the furniture so she didn't have to go live at the "cat farm" like some of my other kittens.  - There is another story here, but let's just say if things became undesirable at our house they just disappeared.  Cats went to the "cat farm" and dad's old clothes that he refused to throw away got picked up by the "bag lady".   Graham went to "camp" ( just kidding Graham you weren't really undesirable most of the time).

Anyway, when we moved to Tennessee Molly and Lucy went with us.  When we crossed the Mason Dixon line hormones started kicking in.  First it was Graham, the fresh meat at Vance Middle School, and then it was Lucy.  She had always been an inside cat in Ohio, but the fresh mountain air and big yard allowed her to be an outdoor cat in Tennessee.  She was the new hot thing in Bellebrook and soon she was pregnant.  Not a planned pregnancy, but we were excited none the less.  She had a litter of 4 or 5 kittens.  My friends and I watched them grow to be cute little furballs.  One day we were sitting around and decided to name the kittens.  The only name I remember was J**** S***** ( name blacked out to protect the stupid)  We named this particular boy kitten after this particularly obnoxious meathead at school.  He had the mullet with spiky on top, shaved on the sides and long in the back  ( is this a Mullhawk?).

This fine specimen would stand in the main hallway at Tennessee High with his obnoxious friends bullying me and all my friends.  I saw him knock kids into lockers and I think I would throw up a little in my mouth every time I saw him.  One day he knocked into me and I sarcastically said back to him "Excuse you!!!!"  He walked a few steps away, probably more than a few because it would take him a while to come up with a comeback.  He yelled back" YO MEG... SUCK B***" Need I say more.  What a perfect name for the kitten that bullied his siblings, pushing them out of the way and walking all over them.  

One evening we were cleaning up after dinner. The kittens were wandering around and Molly was spastic because there was food around.  J**** S***** ventured a little too close to the food dish and the fierce animal attacked.   She had him in her mouth and wouldn't let go.  Needless to say I lost it.  Who knew a smelly black cocker could have such a taste for blood.  She whipped him all around and dropped him on the kitchen floor to flop back and forth until he died.  I didn't know what to think.  Was this divine intervention getting back at J**** S***** for being such a bully?  Or was it the dog who hated me killing one of my kittens that I loved to show me who was boss?  I know, I know, it was just a dog acting naturally protecting it's food source.  Whatever!!!!  I never could fully forgive Molly.  Even when she grew tumors all over her body and looked like a cocker with elephant-its.  Even when the tumors  in her ears would get infections that smelled so bad you couldn't be in the same room with her.  Even when my parents nursed her back from kidney shutdown with peanut butter crackers. Ok- maybe I did forgive her when they finally put her to sleep.  But I only did it when I saw how much my mom loved that lumpy, smelly kitten killer.  When Molly died she took a little piece of my mom with her.  Mom swore she'd never get another cocker, but a few years later came Lady, another black cocker.   She was neurotic of course, but never did hit the level of crazy that Molly did.  Now my parents have Max, a multi colored cocker mix who is probably one of the greatest dogs I have ever met.  He completes their family and if you call their house you will get the message that Greg, Kate and Max are not in.  

You may ask whatever happened to mullet man?  I see him from time to time in his police cruiser.  His son and my son were briefly friends (awkward) but luckily I only had to speak with his mom to arrange sleepovers. Hopefully he won't figure out that I named a martyred kitten after him, pull me over for speeding and say Yo Meg... Here's your ticket.

My Mommy and Daddy are Getting Married

Most kids born in the early 70's did not get to attend their parents wedding.  Sure, some kids got to go to a wedding of one of their parents remarrying after divorce, but I am talking going to your biological parents wedding.  I did.  Well, sort of.  So my parents got married in 1969- the summer of love.  They moved to Columbus for my dad to attend Pharmacy school at Ohio State.  He graduated in 1972.  I attended the graduation ceremony in my mother's womb and arrived on the scene a few months later.  About 2-1/2 years later my brother was born. After a few moves we had settled into a nice neighborhood on 16th Street in Cuyahoga Falls.  I don't remember much about our time there because I was so young, but I do remember my parents telling me that they were getting divorced when I was 6 or 7.  I didn't really know what that meant so I don't think it really upset me that much.  If it did I don't remember.  I don't remember any drama.  I don't remember any fighting.  I really only remember 3 things.  1.  My dad made my brother and I bunk beds to sleep in when we went to his house.  2.  My dad let us get the good cereal when we went to stay- Count Chocula or Lucky Charms usually.  3.  One time we were supposed to go to Geauga Lake with him when we were at his house.  He told us we had to stop and pick up a surprise before we left.  We were really anxious to get there so we really just wanted him to hurry up, but what a surprise when he pulled in to our duplex where we lived with mom.  Mom was going with us- that was our surprise. Shortly after Mom and Dad were back together.  I honestly cannot even tell you how long they were apart, but I don't think it was even a year.  They weren't divorced long enough for Graham or I to blame any of our personality flaws on the divorce.  We have to come up with other excuses for those.  The funniest part is the day they got remarried at the courthouse I was in 2nd Grade at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School.  I turned in a note that I needed to leave early for an appointment.  The nun asked me what the appointment was.  I said "my mommy and daddy are getting married today".  Sister said with a bit of shock- "O- you mean your mommy or daddy is getting remarried today?"  I said "no- my real mommy and daddy".  I think she said " Reeeaaaalllly????"  I was really excited because I got a pretty dress and got to carry a bouquet.  I didn't have many older girl relatives so I had never been a flower girl.  All our family and friends came for a party. I love weddings and parties.  I was really lucky to get to go to my parents wedding.

I don't know why they got divorced and honestly I don't really care.  I imagine they were going through what all people go through several times in their life. Wondering why you are where you are, wondering if you made the right decisions and trying to figure out if you are on the right path.  Sometimes we think we know the answers and make a change.  Sometimes that change is for the better.  Sometimes it is not.  I think it takes some really brave loving people to know that they made a mistake, admit it to each other and everyone else and go back and fix it.  I am really glad they did.   

Me in utero

Sarah Makes Me Smile

I honestly don't remember it because I was 4 and she was 3, but this is how I imagine it.  A cute little 3 year old strawberry blond girl named Sarah is playing quietly in her yard.  A cute little 4 year old brunette girl named Megan (pre H)  sees her down the street and decides she looks like much more fun to play with than her little brother so she goes up to her and asks "Do you want to be my friend?"  The little blond girl has impeccable manners and is always very polite so she says ok.  The lifelong friendship begins.  Sarah (always had an H) has been my friend since before I can remember and I have so many memories that they just all get jumbled up together.  When you are a kid you are really at the mercy of your parents on who your friends are.  If your parents don't get along with their parents the friendship is essentially doomed.  Luckily our parents got along great so we got to spend so much time together.  I remember going to the Sphar's for dinner and Sarah and I pretending to be asleep so my parents would just leave me there to spend the night.  I am pretty sure they weren't fooled, but I did get to spend the night often.  We would play dolls in her room.  I had a Jenny doll with brown hair.  She had a Mandy doll with blond hair of course.  We would play Barbies in her basement.  We would also do anything we could to torture Graham or get him in trouble.  We would go to Cedar Point and Sea World together.  We would ride our bikes all over the place.  Sarah was with me for a pivotal moment in my childhood.  A moment that a girl really needs a true friend by her side. The moment she receives her first Michael Jackson album.  Off the Wall.  You need a friend with you to truly admire those glow in the dark socks.  Mrs. Sphar- Kay as I am supposed to call her now but still have a hard time doing- made me a nightgown.  It was pink and the words "I Love Teddy" were all over the fabric.  She made a matching nightgown for my Jenny doll and a shirt for Theodore, my teddy bear. I found mine the other day at my mom's and Theodore has never taken his off.

As we grew older our interests went in different ways so we didn't spend as much time together but I can say that I always had a true friend in Sarah.  I don't think I was always a good friend to Sarah- middle and high school drama.  The fact that she still considers me a friend is testament to what a great person she is.  I guess what I am saying is that generally my memories of my childhood are happy, and I owe some of that happiness to Sarah.  Our parents were and still are very good friends.  My mom always says "the kind of friends that you just pick up where you left off even if you don't see each other for a few years.

Sarah is getting married in a few days.  I haven't met her fiance, but I have been assured that he is wonderful man.  Her wedding is in Ireland so I will not be attending, but I am planning on going to the stateside reception in October.  So- to Ivan I say- you've got a wonderful woman there but I suspect you already know that.  I am sure she will give you as many happy memories that she gave me.

Asheville- aka The Perfect Place

The older that Grandma got the more, how shall I say this, the bitchier the grumpier she got. As I am growing older and my body is not acting the same- hurts more, doesn't work as well, seems to be gravitating downward- I understand why people get grumpier in old age.  Especially those who were very full of life and fiercely independent.  It had to suck for my grandmother to not be able to walk normally or not use an arm that was debilitated from a stroke.  It had to suck to rely on others to do things for you that you could do before.  Let's just say she sometimes went way a little too far.  When I was pregnant with Liam and she was seeing me for the first time she said "You're Fat".  It was sometimes hard to take her in public because you never knew what she was going to say.  I remember taking her to the Museum of Art in Cleveland and as I pushed her past the more modern art work she would say in her best stage whisper- "This is crap" or just "Shit".  One time at breakfast at a restaurant with my uncle she sent her pancakes back to the kitchen (quite dramatically) because the pancakes weren't round.  Who would dare serve her this shit.  Sons of bitches.  Even though we all complained about it to each other we just came to expect it and we all just dealt with it because she was our Grandmother/Mother.  She would remind us from time to time that she wiped all of our asses when we were babies you know.

Once a year for three consecutive years I got to see a different side of Grandma.  After Grandpa died Grandma went on a Frank Lloyd Wright kick.  EVERYTHING was in the style of or a replica of Frank Lloyd Wright.  She had read about the Grove Park Inn and how it was decorated in the Arts & Craft style which was popular during Mr. Wright's time.  She also read that F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed there while Zelda was spending time in the nearby sanitarium.  She asked me if I wanted to go stay there with her and of course I said yes.  She was staying with m
y parents for the winter and insisted that her Cadillac be brought down to chauffeur her around.   So I picked her up and I drove the Caddy over the mountain to Asheville.  I am pretty sure as we crossed the peak at Sam's Gap the skies opened, a rainbow and the sun appeared and there was a beautiful AAAAAHHHHHH that came down from the clouds.  Instantly everything was perfect.  I could have been gray and raining and she would have said the weather was perfect.  We pulled up to the hotel.  We had called ahead from home (before cell phones) to let them know we would need a wheelchair.  I swear to God they must have calculated how long it would take us to get there because there stood the bellman with her wheelchair waiting.  They rolled her to the desk so we could check in.  The bellman took our bags up and she instructed the other bellman to take her "TO THE BAR!"  She ordered her Johnnie Walker Red and just took everything in.  We had dinner at the hotel.  I thought it was actually pretty bad, but Grandma couldn't quit talking about how wonderful it was.  I just went with it.  Not gonna ruin a good thing. She loved everything about the hotel.  We went to all the floors and looked at all the pictures.  We frequented the lobby(bar).  She insisted that I go swimming ( I really don't like to swim that much) but once again, just went with it.  The next couple of days we went downtown to the antique shops and Biltmore Village.  She was a delight.  The shopkeepers and restaurateurs loved her.  How wonderful it was that she got to take her granddaughter on a trip like this.  What a sweet little old lady she was.  And she really was.  I don't remember for sure, but I don't think she said Shit once.  When she asked me if I wanted to go again the next year of course I said yes.  And you know what- It was perfect again. I think for Grandma when we went to Asheville for a few short days she was able to remember what it was to be young again and that let her forget some of her troubles.  I am pretty sure that her corner of heaven is decorated in the Arts and Crafts style with a gorgeous lobby with big stone fireplaces and plenty of Johnnie Walker Red.

Here are some pictures of one of our trips.  Grandma was a horrible photographer and her 110 Camera did not help, but I don't care.  I think they are perfect.  Pictures are the backside of the inn, some of the Arts and Craft furniture in our room, Grandma on the GPI veranda with her JWR, and a picture she took of me in the bar.  (Yes I had a perm- no comments please)

Grove is Coming Up

When I was a kid we would often visit the cemetery.  The cemetery near my house was very pretty and had a pond where we would ride our bikes and feed the ducks.  We would bring paper and crayons and do rubbings and  then we would go across the street to Babb Run park and get into all sorts of trouble.  We would swing on vines and climb on rocks in the water all by ourselves.  Today you would probably go to jail if you let your kids run around like we did, but this story is not about that cemetery. 

In Lorain there are two cemeteries across the street from each other.  I am not sure, but I think one is for Catholics and one is for everybody else.  Almost everyone from my family who has passed is buried in one of these two cemeteries.  When I was a kid if we were out for a drive on that side of town we would cruise through and say hi to all the relatives.  I hadn't met most of them, but a visit would mean I would get a story about them.  My mom's family was all Catholic so they were buried on one side of the street.  My paternal grandmother's family was Catholic so they were all over there with them.  My paternal grandfather was not Catholic.  Not a big deal in today's world, but such a big deal then that my grandparents had to elope.  This also meant they were buried on the other side of the street.  Where they were going to be buried was a REALLY big deal to my grandmother.  My grandfather bought their plots for their 40th wedding anniversary.  (On the 41st anniversary he told my grandmother he wasn't getting her a present because she didn't use what he got her the previous year.)  The plots were carefully chosen so they would be up on a slight hill (or at least a hill by Northeast Ohio standards).  The plan was for them to be buried so they could each look at their parents and other family members during their eternal rest.  Grandma would have to look a little further, but since she had the cataract surgery she would be able to see them.    

 I think Grandpa could have cared less about where he was buried.  He always said he wished he was Jewish.  He wanted to be in the ground within 24 hours and not be embalmed.  He didn't want the ceremony and the wake.  He was in poor health for many years so I think he had come to terms with his mortality.  But sometimes things don't happen the way that you want.  My grandfather died a few hours after arriving at our house in Tennessee.  Being 3 states away from your final resting place causes some logistical issues.  You can't cross state lines unless you are embalmed and being that far away meant the 24 hours was out of the question as well.  We finally got him to Ohio and because things weren't going as planned anyway we went ahead and had the funeral ceremony.  At the cemetery Grandma kept saying this is the wrong grave and everybody just thought she suffering from grief, but she wouldn't let it go.  She would have someone take her to the cemetery and would say I know this is the wrong grave.  She finally found the paperwork and a few phone calls later found out that the cemetery had double sold the plots to my grandparents and to Mr. and Mrs. Grove.  When the error was discovered she announced victoriously "GROVE IS COMING UP!!!" and the scary thing is she was serious.  She paid for those carefully selected plots and by god she was going to have them.  After much negotiation and reasoning my dad and uncle were able to convince her to take the settlement and let poor Mr. Grove rest in peace.   

Road Trip

The day after tomorrow I am making the trip. The trip I have made so many times I have lost count.  Bristol TN/VA to Lorain, Ohio.  We moved from Cuyahoga Falls in January of 1988.  It is now 2014. 26 years, probably 4 trips a year on average, yep. Over 100 times.  People always say oh it must be a nice drive through the mountains. Or 7-1/2 hours, that is really not too long.  Those people haven't done the same drive for 7-1/2 hours over 100 times.   In high school I had exactly enough Smiths on cassette to listen to my Walkman the whole way.   Now my playlist is a little more varied, but still has Morrissey serenading me. I have had many road trip companions over the years.  My family of course.  My high school friends to go to concerts in Cleveland.  Rachel and I to see INXS at Blossom.  I will never forget stopping at Biscuit World in the middle of the night with my dad, Sharon, Priscilla and Shannon to go see the Rolling Stones.  My kids, my husband, my grandmothers.  Sure each trip was/is different but generally different is not a good thing.  There was the time the van broke down in Sharon, WV.  There were multiple traffic jams due to construction, accidents or holiday traffic.  I have done the trip in one day and in two days.  Sometimes the two days were planned.   One of my favorites is when Will and I left work to drive part way for our Christmas together with my family.  We had just gotten engaged and sat up in the hotel talking about how we would tell my parents and the boys and planning our future.  Sometimes the two days were not planned.  Christmas blizzard forcing us to stop in nowhere southern Ohio.  There are a few things that are always the same though.  We drive for about an hour on I-81 to get to I-77. On 77 you go through 2 tunnels , 3 toll booths, 2 big bridges and "the football bridge".  Then you get to the Turnpike and you are almost there.   We all look for these landmarks to gage the time.  I will hear somebody from the backseat yell was that second or third tollbooth.   I can tell you which restaurants are at all the exits.  Want Bob Evans?  Stop at Macorkle Ave in Charleston, WV ( approx 3 hours from home) or Ripley or Parkersburg. The one in Marietta is really not that good.  Make sure you  have everything you need before you leave Marietta because it is the deadlands until you get to Cambridge.   Knock on wood I haven't had too many speeding tickets and we have always arrived safely.  I am expecting this week's trip to be uneventful as well.  The trip has gotten much easier since they put DVD players in cars.  And right now all three kids love Frozen so if you see a Toyota Sienna driving up 77 on Thursday with the lady driving singing Do You Want to Build a Snowman at the top of her lungs it is just me.  Honk and wave!!!