Seminary . . .

I have rewind the hands of the clock to tell this story.  

When I left off, I was 6 years old and my mom was making us white shirts with iron on letters.

Today's story takes place when I was an only child so I must have been 1 or 2 years old.

Mom and I went out to lunch today at a Mexican restaurant.  I ordered Huevos Rancheros.  When the plate was delivered to my table, they had included a slice of tomato with my order.

I did not eat the tomato because I have a love/ hate relationship with tomatoes.  As I admitted this to my mom, she told me the story about when my father attended seminary.

That was brand new information because I never knew my father had attended seminary.  She told me that she would drive him to seminary and luckily some people would allow her to come over so I could nap.


Afterwards she told me of our neighbors would grow vegetables.  He would drop them off at the front door so we ate a lot of free produce.  One of the veggies, he grew was tomatoes.  She would make a lot of stewed tomatoes out of those tomatoes.  Maybe I ate too many of those tomatoes when I was a child so now I do not like tomatoes that much.

Today I learned some new details about my childhood.  I never knew my father had attended seminary.

Just say no to white shirts with ironed on letters

Sometimes you have to wonder what you were thinking when you look back to the outfits you wore so many years ago.

While I was in Pittsburgh over Labor Day weekend, I found a photo of me wearing a shirt that made me say Why?  Mine you I was only 6 in the photo so I had no choice in the attire I was wearing.

No, the why?!? was directed towards my mom.  She had decided to make white t-shirts with iron letters.  Each shirt had the family member's name on the shirt.  The only one who avoided what I call the shirt incident was my cousin because she was only about 6 months when my mom made the shirts.

So what was the reason for those shirts?  We had a family reunion in Lancaster, Pennsylvania since my aunt who at that time lived in California was in Pennsylvania.  My mom did not have much money so she created the shirts with the little bit of money she did have at that time.  The style though screams early 1980s.

I can only remember going to Hershey Park while they were in town.  During that reunion, I rode the Super Dooper Looper, my first roller coaster.  

That hair of mine - Did I take a weed wacker to it?

Me this past July riding that roller coaster - I even helped a little girl conquer her fear of riding the ride.

Traci

I went to the Poconos?!? / Manhole

Today I'm going to share two stories.  I only know bits and pieces of these stories.  

Both involve one of mom's friends from college.  Pete helped her out in the one of the stories.  In the other story, Pete took her, my sister, and I on a trip.

One of the stories Mom has told me is about the time my father was at disability camp or training.  I don't really know which one he was at.

Anyway Pete decided to take us to the Poconos.  So he came and picked us up and took us there for a guess a weekend.

Father did not know we were going.  The only person or people who knew were my Ohio grandparents.  

I don't know what we did there.  All I can do is tell people that I have been to the Poconos.

The other story Mom has told me is about my father walking around without his cane.  The town we lived in was doing construction and had manhole open.  

Father was suppose to use a cane when he was walking around.  However he decided not to use the cane.

Open manhole, blind man without a cane - What do you think happened?  Yep, he fell in the manhole and broke his leg.

Pete came up from Virginia to help because Mom had to deal with two toddlers and a man child with a broken leg.

Until next time,
Traci

Next Comes Marriage

After my mom left West Virginia Wesleyan, she moved back home.  By the time she left school, she was engaged to my father.  Once again when she was asked about the engagement, she does not remember how or when she got engaged.

They got married in Clairton, PA which is just south of Pittsburgh.  The church where they got married was the church my grandpa was serving in at that time.

She tells the story of how they were watching the parsonage during the winter before they were married.  It was so cold outside and the furnace went out.  The water in the toilet froze.

Their attendants in the wedding party was my two aunts and two other guys from the church.  Mom doesn't even remember their names.  She thinks one was the choir director.

For some reason there was two different rehearsals.  My uncle had to step in for my aunt.

After getting married, they moved to the Harrisburg area. Father had a lunch counter in a department store.  

Mom has told me stories about being stuck in her third floor apartment when Harrisburg was flooded during Hurricane Agnes.  I guess they were in the department store when the rain began.  A British lady kept telling the angels in heaven to stop peeing.

They did not have a lot of money so she started eating Chef Boyadee straight out of the can.

They also lived in Jonestown which is located in the same county as Hershey.

Then almost 4 years after getting married, I was born.

The story will be continued tomorrow.

Traci

What about my mother?

Vicki was born in December 1948.  

She is the oldest of 3 kids.  My uncle was born a year and a half later and then my aunt is 10 and a half years younger than her.

In between my uncle and aunt's birth, my grandparents had a stillbirth - Gregory.

My mom describes the neighborhood she grew up in as idyllic.  Her paternal grandma lived next door and her cousins were down the road.

My grandpa's siblings were close so all of the cousins grew up together.  My grandma and her brother were also close.  

When she was seven, I think, she was hit by a bus tire.  It was an icy morning.  Her school was one of the only schools in session.  The bus driver hit her.  She ended up breaking her leg and being in the hospital for a long time.  

Her family attended Concord United Methodist Church.  In fact that is where my grandparents met.  My sister and grandparents are buried in their cemetery.

As a child, she was part of a Girl Scouts' troop led by her doctor's wife.  When they were in 8th grade, they went to Washington D.C. as their last big event before disbanding.  Mom has such good memories of that trip.

She graduated from high school in 1967.  After high school, she went to West Virginia Wesleyan where she met my father.

She attended the college for two years.  During those two years, she met two of her best friends - Peter and Winston.  They are still friends after knowing each other for 50 years.

Some of my stories about my life involve those two men.

This a brief synopsis about my mom's life growing up.

Join me tomorrow so that I can share photos of my parent's wedding.

Traci