Years ago, I sat down and asked my grandma a whole bunch of questions, and recorded the answers. I'm finally getting around to sharing it with you. If you are anything like me, you've heard a lot of stories, but they got so complicated I wasn't sure I understood them right. This is my attempt to understand the life of my wonderful grandmother. Enjoy!
Vaughan was a friend. He was an older man and she took care of him more or less.
My dad--Larry--well, first of all he remarried a lady named Ida and they had a baby. I remember going to their house and seeing the little baby. I think my dad was a lady's man and a gambler. Anyway, they divorced and then when I was in about the sixth grade we were living in Vaughan's house and my dad came, and he was getting married to Ruby, and she had two children. My mother kept the two children--Buster and Marie while they went on their honeymoon, except they stayed for a couple of years. I'm not sure how long. I must have been in the sixth grade. Buster was only about three and he couldn't talk very well. We couldn't understand him very well, I should say.
Marie was about five and neither of them went to school. 3 & 5. Little Buster was so cute--well Marie was pretty too, but we remembered for years afterwards when we'd say "there is is" he'd say "did a bum". There is is. Did a bum. That was his "there it is."
So mother tended my dad's third wives children, and then he was killed.
Did she come and take the kids? Yes.
Was that hard?
Yes. It was. Everybody was like--I mean everybody--friends and the whole family. Everybody just loved them. I don't remember her actually coming and getting them and taking them away, but she did. I must have been at school or something, because I don't remember her actually taking the kids, but I know we just loved them. That's just how your great grandmother was.
What special quality do you remember about your mother?
That everybody loved her. She made friends so easy. I mean my girlfriends, my old boyfriends--they were like her children and she lived her life for me. I mean she was always--that's all there was, just mother and I. But she made friends so easy. She made friends with anybody she met. She was an outgoing person. But, when she moved up to Heber--she knows more people in Heber than I ever knew living there for as long as I lived there. Everybody always liked her. I envy her. She was so outgoing and made friends so easy.
You know, she lived a pretty hard life. She was a waitress from the time she was 16 until she got emphysema when she was 80. She was waitressing right up until then. In fact, I think she said she was 13 the first time she waitressed. She was a waitress all her life.
Even in Heber?
Oh yes. Even in Heber. The doctors and everything. Dr. Bogess. She was an outspoken person. She tells the story--Dr. Bogess tells this story. She worked at The Hub and Dr. Bogess and Dr. Jenson used to come in all the time and sit and have coffee for two or three hours sometimes and never leave her a tip and yet, "Hey! Bring me another cup of coffee! Hey!" So she said that after a couple of months of them coming in every day, finally she blew her top and she finally had it with him. She told him off. "You sit here and order me around!" Well, I don't know just what she said, but anyway, she called him an SOB right there in the cafe. She said, "You never leave a tip" and they were just dumbfounded.
She got it off her chest and every time they came in after that they would leave a tip, believe me. And Dr. Bogess was a good friend of Boyd's--your grandpa, and he had to tell him--he didn't know that she was related to us, and when he found out, cause she told Boyd, she told us about telling doctor's off, and when Dr. Bogess found out she was my mother, he had to tell the story. "You know, I never thought about it til she told me. You know we sit here, and take up the table" and so forth. But he got a kick out of it anyway. And he came to her funeral. He said, "I'll never forget it. I was never so embarassed in my life! But it was true. It just dawned on me--she waits onus!" but anyway. that was the kind of person she was.
Do you remember the way she dressed?
No, not really. I mean, she was a waitress. Mostly in her uniform. She was just an average person. She didn't dress fancy and she didn't dress sloppy. She just dressed. Acceptable.
In California, did you live in just one home?
Oh no. I never lived in one home. That's what I remember most. We moved. We moved. We moved. We moved.
Did you like that?
No. I had...I mean I had a wonderful, happy childhood. But I hated it. In junior hight I went to three different junior high schools. I was a very unhappy person at that time. Chianging junior high schools every time. I hated that. But in the sixth grade we lived with Vaughan when she took care of him, and then we moved. They build a new junior high school--Kearn's junior high school, and I started it, because I'd been to the sixth grade with all the kids and then we moved into the new junior high school. We moved a lot.
Were you still living with Vaughan?
We moved. She must have met Bill Gordon, her third husband, because I remember junior high as being with him. I was unhappy and I wanted to go back to where I went to sixth grade, and that's why in high school we moved back there. And that's whe we lived across the street from Vaughan and that's the place where I lived all during high school. That was the last of the moving and then I got married. But before that we moved and we moved and we moved.
Of course, in the fourth grade I went to a private school for girls and it was wonderful! It was so much fun. I lived in a big dorm and that's where I first rode a horse. They had horseback riding lessons. It was a very private, expensive school.
How did you manage to get in?
Well, mother worked two jobs. She worked two jobs and she'd come on weekends, but she couldn't afford it. The main thing too, I believe my aunt told me, cause I had asthma all this time too and I was in and out of the hospital. I'd have a trigger of allergies and get rushed to the hospital and finally the bills got so high, even though she was working and trying to pay off the doctor bills and school. She had to get two jobs in order to pay the doctor bills off and yet keeping me in school. That was in the fourth grade. Then she couldn't afford to keep me in that school any longer, and I stayed with my aunt and uncle that next year, but mother was always there. Even when I was in the private school she'd come and get me on weekends and we'd go to this place where they had barbecued spareribs which I so loved--with the little fingerbowls, which they don't have anymore, and then we'd go play miniature golf or something. So I was with her on the weekends, but I lived with my aunt and uncle for a while, and I have a cousin who is three days younger than I am. Ed is 3 days younger than me, so that's the only brother I have ever known, and he's in California. I was born on the 26th and he was born on the 29th. so anyway, I lived with them for a year and then I went back with my mother.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
My Grandma Part 1
Years ago, I sat down and asked my grandma a whole bunch of questions, and recorded the answers. I'm finally getting around to sharing it with you. If you are anything like me, you've heard a lot of stories, but they got so complicated I wasn't sure I understood them right. This is my attempt to understand the life of my wonderful grandmother. Enjoy!
Part 1: (speaking about her mother)
She could remember every telephone number, every address clear from when she was a child and I couldn't even tell you what my telephone number was before this home. As soon as anything's over, I forget it.
When and where were you born?
I was born in St. Louis, Missourri in 1926. I remember going back and forth because all my mother's family was back in Missourri and we travelled back and forth all the time (from California).
I went to Catholic school in the first and second grade...All my schooling was in California
What is your first memory of your parents? Do you remember your dad at all?
Oh yeah. My dad, I guess they were divorced--I don't know just when. It was when I was real tiny, but they always remained friends. I saw my dad off and on.
What was his name? Larry--Lawrence Frank Zimmer.
You wanted to name my dad after your dad?
Yeah, I thought I would, except your Aunt Mina named her boy Larry, so I never did name one Larry, because we already had a Larry. But I remember my dad coming quite often.
Didn't he live in Missourri?
No. He was in California. He was a cab driver. They got divorced when I was real young. My mother packed up me, put me in a stroller, and she and her girlfriend hitchhiked with me in a stroller all the way to California when I was real young.
Why?
I don't know why, just to get to California. And then, apparently, she moved back to St. Louis and met her second husband, who was Daddy Mack. McMillan was his name. Clyde McMillan--met him. I had asthma and I guess she was told the asthma was too hard...Anyway she and Daddy Mack moved to California for me and I guess I was 2 or 3 or o4. I don't know. But apparently he couldn't find a job and he didn't like it or something or rather, so I guess she had to make a choice between him and me because he was her one true love, I understand. But anyway, he went back to St. Louis and she stayed in California. So anyway, that was the end of their marriage.
Did they stay friends?
Oh yes. She stayed friends with every one of them. When I went back when I was a teenagers, he came to visit. Oh yes, they stayed friends all of their life. He remarried. She even wrote--well she wrote to everybody, bue she even wrote and stayed food friends with his family and everything. They kept in youch more or less.
Was he like a father to you?
No, not that I remember very much, because I was so very young. I don't remember him very much. I was on 2, 3, 4 years old.
Did she get married again after that?
Then she had a boyfriend for most of my young years. His name was Ray ____________. She never married, but that was my dad for many years.
Was he a good guy?
Yes. He was an alcoholic. I remember they used to have quite a few fights, but he was good to me, and they were together for years and years and then I met him again after I was married. I can't remember where, but I remember meeting him again after I was married. He said, "I remember when I used to change you diapers," No. He didn't really say that cause I was older--5? Anyway, he was around most of the time when I was a young girl.
But she didn't ever get married again?
Yeah. Oh yeah. When I was in junior high school she married Bill Gordon-during my junior high school years. He was a quiet, moody man. We didn't talk much. He used to mostly sit and play solitaire if I remember right. He was a cab driver also. He was during my junior high years. He wasn't around much--he was either driving or sitting, but there were no problems he was just there. And then, after I got married, well, she divorced Bill, and he died, but right after I got married...almost immediately, she married Merrill Wise.
Was that in California?
Yeah, they're all in California. She married Merrill Wise and she was married to him for a few years. He ran off with some young girl and that was the end of her marriages. That was enough. She never got married again.
**** My grandma wanted me to add this comment: I must add that my MOM was a wonderful loving person. .Ask anyone who knew her!!! She always put me first thruout her life... She was always there for me... She had a hard life but with a smile.....She was truly giving, caring & loving...XXX***
Part 1: (speaking about her mother)
She could remember every telephone number, every address clear from when she was a child and I couldn't even tell you what my telephone number was before this home. As soon as anything's over, I forget it.
When and where were you born?
I was born in St. Louis, Missourri in 1926. I remember going back and forth because all my mother's family was back in Missourri and we travelled back and forth all the time (from California).
I went to Catholic school in the first and second grade...All my schooling was in California
What is your first memory of your parents? Do you remember your dad at all?
Oh yeah. My dad, I guess they were divorced--I don't know just when. It was when I was real tiny, but they always remained friends. I saw my dad off and on.
What was his name? Larry--Lawrence Frank Zimmer.
You wanted to name my dad after your dad?
Yeah, I thought I would, except your Aunt Mina named her boy Larry, so I never did name one Larry, because we already had a Larry. But I remember my dad coming quite often.
Didn't he live in Missourri?
No. He was in California. He was a cab driver. They got divorced when I was real young. My mother packed up me, put me in a stroller, and she and her girlfriend hitchhiked with me in a stroller all the way to California when I was real young.
Why?
I don't know why, just to get to California. And then, apparently, she moved back to St. Louis and met her second husband, who was Daddy Mack. McMillan was his name. Clyde McMillan--met him. I had asthma and I guess she was told the asthma was too hard...Anyway she and Daddy Mack moved to California for me and I guess I was 2 or 3 or o4. I don't know. But apparently he couldn't find a job and he didn't like it or something or rather, so I guess she had to make a choice between him and me because he was her one true love, I understand. But anyway, he went back to St. Louis and she stayed in California. So anyway, that was the end of their marriage.
Did they stay friends?
Oh yes. She stayed friends with every one of them. When I went back when I was a teenagers, he came to visit. Oh yes, they stayed friends all of their life. He remarried. She even wrote--well she wrote to everybody, bue she even wrote and stayed food friends with his family and everything. They kept in youch more or less.
Was he like a father to you?
No, not that I remember very much, because I was so very young. I don't remember him very much. I was on 2, 3, 4 years old.
Did she get married again after that?
Then she had a boyfriend for most of my young years. His name was Ray ____________. She never married, but that was my dad for many years.
Was he a good guy?
Yes. He was an alcoholic. I remember they used to have quite a few fights, but he was good to me, and they were together for years and years and then I met him again after I was married. I can't remember where, but I remember meeting him again after I was married. He said, "I remember when I used to change you diapers," No. He didn't really say that cause I was older--5? Anyway, he was around most of the time when I was a young girl.
But she didn't ever get married again?
Yeah. Oh yeah. When I was in junior high school she married Bill Gordon-during my junior high school years. He was a quiet, moody man. We didn't talk much. He used to mostly sit and play solitaire if I remember right. He was a cab driver also. He was during my junior high years. He wasn't around much--he was either driving or sitting, but there were no problems he was just there. And then, after I got married, well, she divorced Bill, and he died, but right after I got married...almost immediately, she married Merrill Wise.
Was that in California?
Yeah, they're all in California. She married Merrill Wise and she was married to him for a few years. He ran off with some young girl and that was the end of her marriages. That was enough. She never got married again.
**** My grandma wanted me to add this comment: I must add that my MOM was a wonderful loving person. .Ask anyone who knew her!!! She always put me first thruout her life... She was always there for me... She had a hard life but with a smile.....She was truly giving, caring & loving...XXX***
Thursday, April 25, 2013
V Is For...Very Interesting
I'm still finished with that challenge. It's just that I had something to say, and it happened to fit in the challenge's parameters. It's a coincidence.
This is day 7 of me not being on a diet and meaning it. My brain is finally starting to believe me, just a little bit. And an interesting thing is happening. Today, I stood in line at the grocery store and thought about buying a candy bar. And then I turned to look at the magazines and forgot all about the chocolate until I was walking to my car. How did that happen??
This is my theory, and I'm crossing my fingers and toes that I'm right. My subconscious knew I would buy a candy bar if I wanted to. It knew I would buy one WHEN I wanted to. I wasn't feeding it some ridiculous story about this being the last hour I was going to allow myself chocolate until next month, and then only a mouthful.
I think that every time I told myself I wasn't going to eat badly any more, my silly subconscious BELIEVED me. Believed me and panicked. Every day for years and years. Foolish, foolish subconscious. Or foolish, foolish me, for doing that to myself for so long.
Maybe it's just a fluke. But I hope not. I may never lose weight, but today I ate 1/4 cup of watermelon sherbet for dessert. I told myself that I might have a bowl of Boston Red Sox Fenway Fudge ice cream later, if I wanted to. But guess what? I don't think I'm in the mood.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
U Is For...You
I was feeling pretty discouraged yesterday, and decided to give up the A-Z Challenge, even though it wasn't really the challenge that was making me discouraged. I still feel really great about that decision. And yet, here I am. What's up with that?
Well, one of the things that made me sad about this challenge is not having enough time to look at all the other amazing blog posts. I'd quickly glance at six or seven, try hard to think of comments and give up. I'm not great at comments.
So, this morning, it hit me. I could spend a little more time perusing the other blogs on this challenge and post links to two or three of my favorites here on this blog. I'm still not going to read dozens of posts, so don't be hurt if yours isn't on here. I'm sure I would have loved it.
The Prosers: Yeah. This is my other blog. But the ladies I work with over there are amazing. Check out T Is For Toothless by MaryAnn.
U Is For Unhealthy Relationships from In Which We Start Anew is a great blog post. In Which We Start Anew has been a great find for me during this challenge. It's not the kind of blog I usually read, but maybe I should.
Patience, Persistence and Perspiration is about a woman struggling to lose weight. I've been so impressed with her journey, which seems to be just beginning. I plan to continue following her efforts for a long time. U Is For Understanding.
Now, From Sarah, With Joy is exactly the kind of blog I usually look for. She's a talented writer, she's very committed to her goals, and she's very nice. My favorite. Her latest post, U Is For Unarmed, was exactly what I needed to hear today.
http://bethandwriting.blogspot.com// is a new find for me (T is for Turkish carpets.) So is http://dacairns.blogspot.com/ whose latest blog post is called U Is For Opposites. You'll have to chek it out if you want to know why.
So, this took a lot longer than I thought it would. Goal for tomorrow: put a time limit on how long I have to search.
Well, one of the things that made me sad about this challenge is not having enough time to look at all the other amazing blog posts. I'd quickly glance at six or seven, try hard to think of comments and give up. I'm not great at comments.
So, this morning, it hit me. I could spend a little more time perusing the other blogs on this challenge and post links to two or three of my favorites here on this blog. I'm still not going to read dozens of posts, so don't be hurt if yours isn't on here. I'm sure I would have loved it.
The Prosers: Yeah. This is my other blog. But the ladies I work with over there are amazing. Check out T Is For Toothless by MaryAnn.
U Is For Unhealthy Relationships from In Which We Start Anew is a great blog post. In Which We Start Anew has been a great find for me during this challenge. It's not the kind of blog I usually read, but maybe I should.
Patience, Persistence and Perspiration is about a woman struggling to lose weight. I've been so impressed with her journey, which seems to be just beginning. I plan to continue following her efforts for a long time. U Is For Understanding.
Now, From Sarah, With Joy is exactly the kind of blog I usually look for. She's a talented writer, she's very committed to her goals, and she's very nice. My favorite. Her latest post, U Is For Unarmed, was exactly what I needed to hear today.
http://bethandwriting.blogspot.com// is a new find for me (T is for Turkish carpets.) So is http://dacairns.blogspot.com/ whose latest blog post is called U Is For Opposites. You'll have to chek it out if you want to know why.
So, this took a lot longer than I thought it would. Goal for tomorrow: put a time limit on how long I have to search.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
T Is For Top 10 Tuesday
And all the other memes I think I want to participate in with blogging. Top 10 Tuesday bloggers post top 10 lists of books every week. This week, for example, the theme was:
Top 10 Books You Liked More/Less Than You Thought You Would
So, first of all, you've got to come up with a list.
Then, you've got to explain why.
Then, you should probably put some pictures in, and maybe links to the books so people can get more information.
Finally, you should sound incredibly chipper about the whole thing.
This is a book meme for people who review books as their hobby. I've tried reviewing books for a hobby. Maybe someday I'll try it again. It's not where I'm at in my life. So why do I feel so compelled to join everything?
I thought this A-Z Challenge would be a great way to get back into blogging. And for the most part, it's been good for me. But yesterday, and even more so today, I'm feeling done. I don't want to give it up, but I think it's time, at least for this blog. It's been a party over at The Prosers. We're all having a good time with it, and we've met some friends, and it's been awesome.
But I'm done over here. So, if you come to visit, please follow this link over to The Prosers, where the alphabetical bash is still going strong: The Prosers.
Top 10 Books You Liked More/Less Than You Thought You Would
So, first of all, you've got to come up with a list.
Then, you've got to explain why.
Then, you should probably put some pictures in, and maybe links to the books so people can get more information.
Finally, you should sound incredibly chipper about the whole thing.
This is a book meme for people who review books as their hobby. I've tried reviewing books for a hobby. Maybe someday I'll try it again. It's not where I'm at in my life. So why do I feel so compelled to join everything?
I thought this A-Z Challenge would be a great way to get back into blogging. And for the most part, it's been good for me. But yesterday, and even more so today, I'm feeling done. I don't want to give it up, but I think it's time, at least for this blog. It's been a party over at The Prosers. We're all having a good time with it, and we've met some friends, and it's been awesome.
But I'm done over here. So, if you come to visit, please follow this link over to The Prosers, where the alphabetical bash is still going strong: The Prosers.
Monday, April 22, 2013
S Is For...Sleep
Which I'm not going to get enough of if I stay up to write this post, since...
S is also for...swimming, which I've got to get up bright and early and do before school.
S really was going to be for sleep. If I've got enough time tomorrow, maybe I'll fill in the gaps. If not, T will be a much, much better post. I promise.
S is also for...swimming, which I've got to get up bright and early and do before school.
S really was going to be for sleep. If I've got enough time tomorrow, maybe I'll fill in the gaps. If not, T will be a much, much better post. I promise.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
R Is For...Ruins
Ruins is the name of the book I'm reading right now. I'm only about 1/3 of the way done. On the other hand, I only started it last night.
Ruins
Book 2 in the Pathfinder series
by: Orson Scott Card
published in 2012
544 pages
Summary (from amazon):
A complex fate. A deadly path. Book two in the New York Times bestselling series Publishers Weekly calls “an epic in the best sense.”
When Rigg and his friends crossed the Wall between the only world they knew and a world they could not imagine, he hoped he was leading them to safety. But the dangers in this new wallfold are more difficult to see. Rigg, Umbo, and Param know that they cannot trust the expendable, Vadesh—a machine shaped like a human, created to deceive—but they are no longer certain that they can even trust one another. But they will have little choice. Because although Rigg can decipher the paths of the past, he can’t yet see the horror that lies ahead: A destructive force with deadly intentions is hurtling toward Garden. If Rigg, Umbo, and Param can’t work together to alter the past, there will be no future.
The adventure, suspense, and time travel continue in this second installment in the critically acclaimed New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestselling Pathfinder series.
My Review:
You can find my review for Pathfinder here. Or I can just tell you: I loved it. Rigg reminds me more of Ender than any other character I've ever read, and that is high, high praise from me. I can't really review Ruins yet, because I'm still reading it. But let's just say that so far, I LOVE IT. This is science fiction at its best.
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