Remembering the stories

Saturday, September 16, 2023

Road Trips: The South 1969

When Richard passed away last September, Laura and I discovered a box of old scrapbooks. I knew that my mom would make scrapbooks after some of our trips, but hadn't seen this collection of scrapbooks in many years- if not decades.

My heart did a little flip flop of joy- imagining the stories contained within these weathered pages.

That is until I started to look through them.

Confession time- Audrey was not an accomplished scrapbooker. For in these pages were postcards, glued to the pages, an occasional ticket stub but next to nothing was written next to the photos. Next to no photos of people and no reflections on the trip itself.

But rather than dwell on what wasn't included, I shall look at what was included.

In the Spring of 1969 our family would take a vacation- as noted on this very detailed title page

The South, eh? That's pretty broad description.

Upon further reading...it seemed to have been a pretty epic road trip..

for there are postcards from

And from a Stone Mountain in Georgia...

where the inscription on the back of this post card reads

"Confederate Flags waving gloriously above the beautiful reflecting pool".

Curiosity led me to see if they still fly given all the changes within our culture of celebrating the confederacy- and they were relocated to less controversial location within the park earlier this year (2023)

Charleston was also part of the adventure..

as was a trip to

Notice the cost of admission- these days they range from $85-105 for a one day ticket...even adjusting for inflation ($3 then is about $25 today)...that's a significant jump.

The album had few if any photos of us-

Except for these gems...

Sister and I at Rock City...

And this one of Audrey and her girls...where yep...I packed my scowl!

Maybe there were more photos in the boxes of slides we jointly agreed to discard without first sifting through. But, some 54 years later...would it really be worth the trouble to sift through even more memorabilia than we already decided to keep?

Yep- no regrets on passing on saving the slide boxes.

And instead- after just a few minutes with the scanner, some time on this keyboard- I am reminded of the gift held within the pages of these weary scrapbooks.

Our parents took us on trips- from a very early age (I wasn't even 4 years old on this trip). Clearly they were epic in scope- for a quick google map itinerary tells me this trip would have involved over 2k miles, all done over probably just a week.

And from this early exposure to travel- my sister and I were gifted with a curiosity and desire to travel. We were shown through example- don't wait until some-day, start with where you are and go from there.

And for that I say THANK YOU Mom and Dad...

Putting the grand in grandparents

I'm about a week late- but apparently, the 2nd Sunday after Labor Day is known as Grandparents Day. Signed into Presidential Proclamation by President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s, the origins of this holiday are a little unclear outside of a day set aside to honor one's grandparents. While our grandparents have long since passed, I figure this occasion would be a good opportunity to dust off the keyboard and chip away at the stack of inherited photos with some grandparent reflections.

My sister and I were fortunate enough to have grown up with 3 living grandparents. Our grandmothers would live long vibrant lives- and I know Laura and I both have a treasure chest of memories- some of which I have reflected upon in past blog entries.

But, what about the pairing of Grandma and Grandpa? Grandpa Norman would pass away in 1978 after a brief battle with stomach cancer.

In looking through the photos I've inherited, I can see that our grandparents were frequent visitors in our home, whether it was Arizona in the late 1960s/early 1970s or Georgia in the 1970s. Now, was this based on a desire to be physically present in our lives, or was it a desire to escape the Wisconsin winters...who knows..but without a doubt, there is a plethora of photos of Laura and I enjoying these visits with our grandparents.

It's a perfect photo- right down to the look of annoyance on my face...

And again- here I am not looking at the camera-

maybe the sun was in my eyes? Sure, let's just go with that.

Hazel and Norman would fly in...

Help out with a few chores around the yard...

Take a siesta or two..

join us for a picnic in the desert

and sometimes joined by their Californian siblings (Uncle Vernon and his wife Lillian)

We'd put on our fancy cowgirl duds...and check out the rodeo

And we'd attempt our own "Norman Rockwell" style family portrait...

featuring of course Norman Granum

and me sporting what appears to be a signature pout yet again..

We'd pause and smell the flowers at the botanical garden...

or bask in the desert sunshine..

The tradition of grandparent visits would continue on into the next generation...

With grandpa showing up in his flashy red convertible.

helping ensure the flower boxes were planted just right..

and take a siesta or two..

Sometimes visiting for a holiday..

and other visits were just a quick visit with a story or two shared

supporting lego creations from Colorado

to Michigan...

It sure was nice that he took the time to come and see the grands on their home turf!

Thanks Grandpa- we miss you!

Saturday, August 26, 2023

A Place to call home: The first edition

August 2023 Editors Note

As I was looking over the blog contents- I see this one was still in draft mode. Hmm...no idea how or why that is...blame it on Covid perhaps?

This is part of a series I hope to complete in the coming months- taking each of the various homes our parents owned and reflecting on the experiences we enjoyed while living there.

Unfortunately- Richard is no longer around to spin the tale- you're stuck with me I suppose..

This post features our house in Menomonee Falls. It would be the first home owned by my parents and the first house my sister and I would call home.

Join me as we take a closer look at A Place to Call home!

April 2020

During a recent trip back to Menomonee Falls, Richard and Martha took a little drive down memory lane. We drove by our home on Queensway and snapped a few pictures. Martha spotted the current owners peeking through the curtains- so, on a whim, we rang the doorbell and Richard identified himself as the original owner of the home-

After that drive by, Martha asked that Richard write down some of his memories of that first home-and here is what he had to say.

Well yes, I have lots of memories and mostly fond ones of the house in Menomonee Falls.
We moved from Cudahy to Menomonee Falls during the 1962-3 school year. I was a member of the first faculty at Hamilton High School in Sussex. We had lived in Cudahy but did not want to commute from Cudahy to Sussex as at that time there was no I 94 or I 694. The route was Layton ave to Highway 100 to Silver Spring Rd. So we rented an apartment on Silver Spring and Appleton Ave.

I do not recall why we left that apartment, we had been burglarized that summer while away on vacation, a case knife job.

Spring 1963

Well anyways we had been house hunting and found this one on Queensway. It was new construction but the builder had gone bankrupt, 1200 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 bath (well really a toilet and sink only just inside the kitchen door and the stairway going into the basement). Bedrooms were 9’ x12’, hardwood floors, patio door but no patio, full basement, but no lawn, no garage, curtains, no landscape planting, and a gravel driveway. My recollection is that the trim on the front was a pale blue (Audrey’s favorite color).

We paid $12,000 for the house. We had been saving up for a down payment. Mortgage companies required at least 10% down (or was it 20%). I think my salary at the time was maybe $7,000 a year, and I know we lived pay check to paycheck. I have never been as nervous as at the closing when I signed for more money than I had scene. Anyway we were short and so we borrowed $500 from my father. We were careful and made it a point to pay him back as soon as possible. When we did it was with a cigar box full of banded $1 bills, yes 500 of them. He had lots of fun showing them off to his friends at Gilbert’s service station in Holmen.

The Backyard- circa 1963

The first task was to put in a lawn as soon as the soil was workable. I used Royal's rototiller and tried to break up the clay clods. There was a lot of raking, rock picking, and rolling and finally we were ready to seed. The second spring we planted shrubs and trees. I recall Japanese yew under the living room window, and a magnolia bush on the bedroom corner. Later we planted a flowering crab and the birch tree in the picture.

We had a garden in the back yard and planted three Colorado spruce behind the garden. The spruce were bushel basket size and unfortunately under the power line. Years later I drove by and they were 20 feet tall and i assume had to be removed as they are gone now.

From one of the "year's later" visit

So I and friend, fellow teachers from Hamilton, particularly Harold Delfose, a shop teacher, made improvements over time. We built the garage, the whole thing. We hired a slab poured for the floor, but framed the building, put on roofing, siding, painted, put in the overhead door, layed the brick veneer to match the house. The gravel drive kept being tracked into the house so the drive was paved.

Hi Mom! 1963

Audrey was pregnant with Laura who was due to be born in March. And I recall Laura's birthday which was Palm Sunday, 1963. We went to church as usual at Holy Crosse Lutheran. While in church Audrey had an accident (water broke) but we were so ignorant we didn’t know what had happened and went home and prepared a meal for Fraederich’s, Irene was there I believe, anyway we ate a big meal. Royal and I went for a walk, and someone came running after us shouting, “It’s time”.

New house, new baby...Laura snuggling with her aunt Phyllis

Oldest cousin meets her first and only cousin...Lynn and Laura 1963

One of the other things about the house which I did not pay attention to was the sump pump in the basement. It ran every 5 minutes or so. The site had been a farm or orchard and it had been tiled and apparently an old tile line lead directly into our basement. We soon got used to it. I think we had to replace the pump once and of course had to try and lead the water away from the lot. At one time there was marsh with standing water and cat tails between us a the neighbors to the west.

Somewhat later (1967), I was attending summer school at the University of Arizona. Wayne Shade, aHamilton teacher was renting a room for the summer, and he and Audrey were there, I suppose with Martha and Laura too.

Anyway the was a severe storm and the power went out. Well a sump pump does not work without electricity so Audrey and Wayne spent the night in the dark in the basement, bailing water out of the sump hole and pouring it down the floor drain. No, I do not believe we ever finished the basement. And Audrey knew that I had planned the disaster for a time I was not available.

Not a sump pump crisis-but shoveling after a snowstorm..

Our neighbors were Matt and Ginny Kesnarish to the south, Mr and Mrs (Grandma and Grandpa) Petroff (Petroff’s bar on the corner of Main St and Appleton Av) to the North, The Kane’s across the back lot, Dave and Judy Lindser who taught science at Hamilton, and Fraedrich’s across the tracks on St Steven’s drive (Lynn, Craig, Sarah, and Ann. Not to sure but I think Paul was born later. )