Hi Family - Happy Autumn!
Here are some of our recent submissions to the Gazette. Hope you all enjoy!
Please share your memories, too!
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Our dear Aunt Louise has sent some photos from her surprise 85th birthday party. We can all only hope we look that great when we reach that milestone.
Louise says:
My party was on June 22, two days before my birthday. I thought that I was going to a surprise party for my friend’s husband. Shocked!!!
I am doing well. I love where I live. There is so much to do. I play poker twice a week can walk to the pool and clubhouse, and attend all the dances. Life is good.
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From Suzy Naples Moorman:
My mom, Virginia Naples, loved her grandchildren. And because we lived more than 4 hours away, whether we were visiting them in Youngstown or later in Fairlawn, or they were coming to Dayton, she, along with grandpa John, made every minute of the visits count!
My sons, all grown now, have very happy memories of their grandma~ some poignant, some funny. I asked each of the boys to reflect on some of their favorite moments with grandma.
Here’s what they had to say:
Sean: Among my fondest memories are playing cards with grandma. We would play War and the winner got pennies. I also remember her amazing cooking, specifically baking. Her cinnamon rolls were dangerously good. I remember her beautiful stained glass window cookies she made at Christmas time. She made them without coconut after my allergic reaction. (Later I realized, maybe I wasn’t allergic to coconut but over consumed!) She had a lot of love for us kids and I remember her with great affection and fondness.
Aaron: I have a funny memory of playing with the skin on grandma’s arms and saying, “What’s in there, grandma? Milk?” And she would just laugh. I remember her laughing a lot. We always played cards. We played “21” and she would say to the dealer, “hit me!” It always made me laugh to hear grandma say that. She & grandpa nicknamed me “Lasher” because I had very long eyelashes. I always liked visiting at Grandma & Grandpa’s house!
Jake: We had special food at Grandma’s that we didn’t have at our house. Besides the delicious cinnamon rolls, they always had grapefruit they would cut in half & sprinkle sugar on. They also used to slice banana and put it in a bowl & put milk on it. Grandma told me once that if I picked my nose and ate it, worms would grow in my stomach! I always think of that whenever I’m tempted to eat my boogers! Grandma wrote me a poem when I was a newborn and my mom showed it to me when I got older and gave me a copy of it to keep.
My mom passed away very suddenly in 2001. In 2003, my dad moved to Dayton to a very nice assisted living facility that was less than a mile from our house. He came to dinner every Sunday and we visited him several times a week. The kids have very fond memories of their time with their grandfather. He died in 2005 at the age of 87 and I have always been very grateful that my boys had this special time with grandpa. They have many happy, funny memories of him as well.
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From cousin Chuck Lowry:
On June 30, 1960, Daddy Groc, Uncle Dick, my dad, Pat and I went to Pittsburgh to see a doubleheader between the San Francisco Giants and the Pirates.
The brass ring, though, was to go to a Pirates game with Uncle Dick. If I have the chronology right (I am 75, so there are no guarantees!), Dick was single, a couple years out of the army and living with his parents on Elm Street, a block north of Wick Park. Now all of the families were pretty much making it, but none of us (my impression—who knows?) were absolutely awash in cash, so after gas, tolls and tickets (my recollection is that box seats were $3.50, reserved seats $2.50), there was not a lot of spendable for extras. That was always the case. Unless Dick was in the party. Then we could count on a tub of popcorn or a bag of peanuts to share, and possibly even ice cream. His generosity was spontaneous, unaffected and very much appreciated.
Of course, with Daddy Groc and his son Richard in attendance, there was no idle conversation. You concentrated on the game, and what conversation there was involved positioning infielders, the advantage of “wasting” a pitch with an 0-2 count, a straight steal as opposed to hit-and-run, etc. These were serious baseball guys!
On this particular day, the Pirates got a measly three hits in the first game and lost 11-0. In the second game though Dick Stuart, the Pirate first baseman, hit three consecutive homers. He came up in the late innings with the bases loaded, and the crowd was dying for a fourth consecutive homers run. He smashed a line drive single and ended up driving in seven runs. The Pirates were 11-6 winners of the second game.
Just a fond memory of Daddy Groc and Uncle Dick, and dad and Pat. The sad thing is that 65 years later, I have no idea how close my memories are to reality.
If anyone is interested, maybe next I’ll dredge up memories of baseball trips to Cleveland, which sometimes involved the train and often involved meeting various Sullivans at Municipal Stadium.
Chuck Lowry
.-Woah, now that is an antique ! And so sweet!
Thanks for sharing it Rich.
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Thanks everyone for sharing all the pics and stories, memories. Those were simpler times for sure. Thanks Gigi for putting this all together!!
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