I made up for the time I was alone

I grew up in Fort William, Ontario. It’s actually Thunder Bay now. At home, I was the only one, so, it was very lonely… it was quiet…. There were two rooms in the house, a kitchen and a living room. My father was a woodworker, a lumberjack. So, he would have periods of going to work, so it’d be three months at a time that he would travel. So, it was just my mother and me.

When I was younger, I always thought that I’d get married at 25, that’s the time I thought I could marry. But I got married at 19. And I had my first child when I was 21. That was Chris. My daughter Chris was born. She was born in Canada. The others were born in America. I had eight children, wonderful children. I loved them all. Three boys and five girls. So, it made up for the time I was alone.

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Childhood Memories

Tobogganing in my coat

The only time I got in trouble as a child was when I went in my good coat, with my friends. We went, like … what do you call that? tobogganing, that’s right. We went down this ski slope. Tobogganing with my friends after school. And when I got home, I got in real big trouble. I hadn’t ruined by coat, but it was my good coat.I shouldn’t have gone… so, my mother was very upset. I wore that coat most the time, that was my coat. So if I ruined it, it would have been a big deal. I was about nine years old when I got the coat, it was a brown coat.

This was a hot pepper!

There was a time, when I was younger, we didn’t have supermarkets like now. There’s little stores. And my mother sent me to the store, and they would give you, you know, different packages. It wasn’t a sealed package, that you could open it and taste it.

So my mother sent me to get peppers, and this was a hot pepper. I wanted to taste it. And, it was very hot. It was a red pepper, yes…HOT. I got fooled at that time. There I go… back to my younger days now.

A different form of baptism

Oh, I think, I was little… I don’t know… what age I was but, it was like a bridge and, like, my parents… they worked in a… my mother was a cook at the camp and my father was a woodcutter, right… And, I think, at that time they would take me, because my mother was there… and they would take me, and… I think, I walked on a bridge that I went across but, I don’t remember… falling in.

I fell…fell off the bridge just walking, right… there was water… and, that’s the only thing… Maybe, that’s the reason that I don’t like water….

It was a very small body of water. It wasn’t that big, no. But, that’s the only thing… I don’t remember, like, somebody must have saved me because… I don’t remember, otherwise, anything.

A different form of baptism, I guess, right?

I don’t know, but I don’t care for water. If I have to travel, I’d rather the plane.

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An extraordinary day at work

As a mother I would say most of the time I was with my children, working. Not working, I mean, taking care of the children. I was home most of my life. But after Giorgio was unable to work, I worked in the liquor store.

And I was held up once, at the liquor store. That was an extraordinary day! There were three girls, they were black, and a guy, right? The guy took me to a refrigerator and started asking me questions about the liquor, the wine, right? And in the meantime, the girls were upfront and they were taking all the good Champagnes, all the expensive Champagnes, and Brandy, they were all in the front. Then, I just felt something, you know, that something was wrong, so, I ran to the front… She had a Piper Champagne, and I was holding it, trying to pull it! I tried to pull it from her, right?

Nobody was around, even to see this! But, I wasn’t afraid. I was just trying to get that Champaign away. So, he was distracting me while they were stealing, right? I didn’t report it because nothing happened. I couldn’t do anything anyway, I didn’t know what they stole. But, I was lucky…otherwise.

At the liquor store, we’d got held up. Yeah, your dad always got held up. It happened quite a bit.

And, one time, when Johnny was there, they tied him up, yeah. That was bad. I had to go to the school… it was a parents thing, something like that was going on. In the meantime, I had to drop Johnny off at the liquor store, right, and his father was robbed. With a gun!

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Young Love

Well, the first date… I wouldn’t call it a date because we had a banquet. You know, the Polish organization got together. That’s when I met your grandfather. We were dancing and that’s how I met him …and I loved his singing. That’s what I fell for, his singing. He had a great voice and I loved the singing. At the banquet, there were 90 of them! So, we had a great choice. Before that, us girls had no boyfriends… it was Polish heritage to get married!

After the banquet, we had to go back to the farm. The banquet was in November and, then, in December, I saw him again because they told us, all the families, to invite them over for Christmas Eve. I didn’t think nothing of it. Not for a while. There were a couple of times that he came after that, and yes… and he would sing.

He had a beautiful voice, yes…Olivia has that voice but so does Ritchie and Holly, they had the voices like their father had. I was surprised that even Georgie said he was impressed by their voices. He said that.

I think, being with him I was more grown up, even though, it wasn’t. I think you could say, I was more of an adult. Because that’s what I would think about… making someone else happy now.

To Doug

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Flying in my dreams

Oh, the only dream that I remember was a dream of myself flying. And, planes… maybe, it was because of the war pictures and that, we saw…

And, it felt so good flying way up in the air.

And, I… in the dream…, they would try to get me, right? They couldn’t… I was just above them.

They couldn’t get me. I wasn’t on a plane flying, I was just flying. Myself, flying over… I loved that it felt so good, flying.

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Mon père et ses forêts en Algérie

Mon père a travaillé dans les Eaux et Forêts. Dans tous les pays, il y a un organisme qui s’appelle les “Eaux et les Forêts”, qui s’occupe des eaux et des forêts domaniales : c’est-à-dire les forêts qui appartiennent à l’État, et pareil pour l’eau. Lui, il était plus pour les forêts. Comme en Algérie il y avait beaucoup d’incendies, avec des adjoints, ils allaient faire des tranchées, s’occuper de la santé des arbres, des forêts… Il avait commencé bas dans l’échelle, agent, et il a fini ingénieur parce qu’il a passé des concours et tout ça. Une grosse tête.

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Ma mère : des ciseaux, une aiguille et du fil…

Ma maman, elle, n’avait pas fait d’études. Elle avait fait la sixième, mais comme elle pleurait et que sa maman était toute seule – pas de père et tout… –, sa maman l’a quittée de l’école. Elle a toujours dit : “J’ai regretté que ma mère m’ait quittée de l’école.”

Sa grande peine, à ma mère, c’est de ne pas avoir eu de père, puisqu’elle avait 2 ans quand il a été tué à la guerre. Mon oncle est né après la mort de son père : mon grand-père avait été en permission et puis “tac tac”… Quand il a été tué, ma grand-mère s’est rendue compte qu’elle était déjà enceinte. C’est triste. Elle ne s’est jamais remariée, elle avait 24 ans. Un jour je lui ai dit : “Mais tu t’es jamais remariée ?” Je l’ai vexée, parce qu’elle avait le souvenir et elle ne voulait pas le gâcher. Elle voulait garder ce souvenir de cet homme qui était le père de ses deux enfants. Moi, je la soupçonne quand même d’avoir eu un petit copain – je l’espère pour elle !

Après la sixième, ma mère a fait de la couture. Elle a cousu. Au début elle faisait des vêtements pour les gens parce qu’il n’y avait pas de magasins comme maintenant. Elle faisait des robes, des pantalons et tout ça ; et après, elle n’en a fait que pour nous. Moi j’étais toujours bien habillée, ça ! Belle robe, un beau tissu… mes frères aussi, toujours élégants ! Voilà, ça, c’était ma maman.

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Mon petit frère, mon filleul

La naissance de mon petit frère Jean-Marie…J’avais 10 ans et maman devait aller à l’hôpital, mais en fait un quatrième enfant ça vient tellement vite que c’est mon père qui a accouché ma maman. Et puis j’entendais que ça bougeait dans la maison, je me suis levée et puis il y avait une dame qui était arrivée et elle me dit : “ah non, non, non tu vas pas là !”. J’aurais bien voulu voir cette naissance ! Mais bon, pour une enfant de 10 ans, c’est pas un spectacle… C’était de la curiosité, parce que ma mère je l’entendais crier ! Je me souviens de ma mère quand elle a appris qu’elle était enceinte, elle était folle. Elle sautait parce qu’elle pensait que ça allait tomber ! Elle étendait le linge très haut. Parce qu’il n’y avait pas l’avortement. C’était impossible d’agir, il y avait pas la contraception. C’est comme ça qu’il y avait des familles de 5, 6, 8 enfants. Et puis, surtout pas l’avortement.

Et donc après ce petit bébé… comme ma mère n’en voulait pas… À 6 mois, il a eu une diphtérie qui l’étouffait vraiment. Le docteur est resté la nuit à lui enlever les peaux qui poussaient. Il avait 6 mois, il s’accrochait, je me souviens, À mon père… Toute la nuit, le docteur était là. Et puis, au matin, il était plutôt guéri. Et puis après il s’est mis à loucher… Mais Jean-Marie, c’est un petit frère que j’ai aimé, vraiment… parce qu’en plus ma mère, elle m’a mise marraine… alors là j’étais fière de mon petit filleul ! Voilà, c’est Jean-Marie. Et puis c’est toujours resté. Bien que je lui trouve des défauts aussi, hein !

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Une famille en temps de guerre

Mon père… c’était un gentil. Ma mère, elle rouspétait beaucoup. Il fallait obéir, ne pas la contredire. C’était son idée qui était la bonne ! Une maman avec 4 enfants, ça peut pas être… et puis c’est plus les mamans de maintenant et les enfants de maintenant qui sont chouchoutés. Quand y en a 4… au suivant, hein! Bon, malgré tout, je garde un très bon souvenir de mon enfance.

Moi, je pense que je ressemble plus a mon père. Là, je me jette des fleurs ! Mais je suis pas comme ma mère. Elle boudait souvent, c’était parfois difficile pour la famille. Moi j’avais toujours dit: jamais je ne bouderai ! De toute façon, après on se réconcilie ! Donc autant y aller tout de suite plutôt que de dire “ah et t’as dit ça”, “ah et j’ai dit ça”… non.

Ma mère, elle n’avait pas vécu avec un père et une mère puisque son père était mort à la guerre, elle n’avait vécu qu’avec sa mère et son frère. Elle n’a jamais senti qu’un père et une mère, c’est deux autorités, et que ces deux autorités ne sont parfois pas d’accord. Donc elle ne se rendait peut-être pas compte. Mais je ne lui en voulait pas non plus, c’était comme ça. Et puis c’est notre mère. Et une maman, c’est précieux !

Y a eu cette guerre, aussi. À partir de 4 ans, jusqu’à 10 ans, j’ai toujours eu un peu d’angoisse. Et encore, on était pas en France ! C’était quelque chose d’inquiétant, la guerre. Ça inquiétait les enfants de 4-5-6 ans ,quand on entendait les adultes chuchoter à cause des collabos qui allaient rapporter à la police ce qui se disait, ce qui se faisait… donc ils ne parlaient pas. Et surtout pas devant les enfants. Ils ne parlaient pas devant nous, mais on sentait cette peur qui était entre eux. Quand l’enfant voit que les parents ne sont pas bien, il est encore moins bien, parce qu’il ne sait pas. Et il se dit : “Si le protecteur n’est pas sûr, comment je fais, moi, pour être protégé,?” Et même pendant quelques années après la guerre, on y pense encore.

Après, il y a eu la guerre d’Algérie ; mais je peux pas dire qu’on en a beaucoup souffert, nous, dans notre famille. Peut-être qu’on n’était pas au mauvais endroit, on était au bon endroit, je sais pas… en tout cas on est passés à travers les gouttes.

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Le retour du soldat

Il y a un truc dont je me souviens et qui m’est resté, et c’est un grand bonheur : c’est quand mon père a été libéré. Qu’il est revenu de la guerre parce qu’il était parti pendant longtemps et ma mère n’avait pas de nouvelles, pendant huit mois. Alors il y a une anecdote rigolote : c’est que ma mère, pendant 8 mois, elle n’a pas reçu une seule nouvelle de mon père. Et tous les jours, le facteur passait et ne s’arrêtait pas, et au bout du compte il n’osait même plus passer devant chez nous. Et un jour, ma mère dit : “Je vais faire une neuvaine.” Vous savez ce que c’est ? Aller à l’église pendant 9 jours, communier à la petite messe du matin pendant 9 jours. Elle est allée à la messe tous les matins, et le neuvième jour passe le facteur avec une pile comme ça de lettres. Si tu crois pas au Bon Dieu après ça !

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Lire, coudre, chanter, écouter la radio…

Il y avait de vraies veillées, comme on les appelait. Après manger, on était ensemble ; les enfants lisaient ou ils jouaient. On veillait en attendant d’aller se coucher. Ma mère, il fallait lui enfiler les aiguilles. Quand j’étais là, je lui enfilais les aiguilles. Après, mon père l’a fait pour elle, et elle cousait. Il n’y avait pas de télé, ils écoutaient la radio : il y avait les pièces de théâtre ou des choses comme ça qu’on écoutait à la radio. S’il n’y avait rien à la radio, on se parlait, on lisait ou… ma mère, elle, chantait. Elle a toujours aimé chanter. Un peu moins après, la pauvre, mais elle chantait bien… Moi, après, plus grande, j’ai écouté aussi, mais mes enfants : à huit heures c’était “closed”, couchés !

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Les vacances

Quand j’étais enfant, je venais en France. Puisque j’étais en Algérie, je venais en France dans l’Allier pour voir la famille de mon père. On allait un peu à la pêche… on n’avait pas beaucoup de distractions dans ces petits villages. Par contre, c’était l’été et il y avait souvent des fêtes dans les villages où on allait jouer “sur le parquet”, comme on disait. C’était le lieu de danse des villages. On allait danser sur le parquet. Dans la famille ou on étai,t il y avait des vieux vélos, alors on prenait un vélo et hop ! on allait se promener un peu en vélo le long de la petite rivière, qui s’appelle la Besbre d’ailleurs, et qui se jette dans la Loire… et c’était Jaligny-sur-Besbre, à côté de Vichy. C’est là que je venais assez régulièrement en vacances d’Algérie. On prenait un bateau pendant 24 heures pour faire Alger-Marseille.

Peut être quand Jean-Marie a eu deux ou trois ans… Peut être que j’avais 14 ans quand je venais. Les quatre enfants étaient contents de partir en vacances en France ! J’étais drôlement fier puisqu’il n’y en avait pas beaucoup qui venaient en vacances en France… Ou même en vacances…

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Mes amies chéries

J’ai gardé, et je les ai toujours, des amies de pension. Notamment Huguette, que je vois toujours, et c’est vraiment une amie de toujours. On s’est connues quand on était en quatrième, et on s’est plus perdues de vue. Parce qu’on était déjà en pension ensemble, on s’entraidait. Par exemple, le samedi je lui faisais ses mises en plis, je lui mettais des bigoudis, comme on le faisait, parce qu’elle sortait beaucoup le dimanche – elle avait une correspondante à Belabes. Et puis ces gens-là avait un fils et tu vois, il fallait qu’elle soit belle pour aller voir son correspondant ! Et puis, quand elle rentrait le dimanche soir, elle me disait : “T’as appris les leçons?” “Oui !” Je lui racontais l’Histoire, parce qu’on avait Histoire le lundi. Elle me disait : “Raconte-moi l’Histoire!” Alors je lui racontais l’Histoire parce qu’elle n’avait pas appris sa leçon…

Et cette amie-là je l’ai toujours. Depuis j’en ai quand même deux autres. Bah y’a Huguette, la grande Maggie, et Marie-Claude, qui s’appelait Latordre dans ce temps-là, et puis celle de Lille. Mais vraiment Huguette… D’ailleurs ils devaient venir avant Noël pour nous voir. Et comme je n’étais pas bien, ils ont remis le voyage. Je ne pouvais pas les recevoir. Elle habite Metz. Je crois que cette amitié est si solide parce qu’on n’est pas tout près. Parce que des fois, à être trop près, on voit les défauts, tu vois. Alors que quand on est loin, on n’a que les bons moments à se raconter.

À Strasbourg, j’ai rencontré la grande Maggie. Pierre-Jean avait trois ans et demi. Après la guerre d’Algérie, comme tout le monde est revenu, on a éclaté dans toute la France. C’est comme ça qu’il y en a eu une à Toulouse, une au Mans, une a Lille et une a Metz. Comme on était tous fonctionnaires, l’État nous a dit : “Toi tu vas là, toi tu vas là…” Moi, comme je venais de me marier avec un Français de France, votre grand-père, lui il était nommé à Auxerre, donc moi je suis venue d’emblée.

Mes parents sont restés encore un an en Algérie après l’indépendance. Et puis mes parents ont été obligés de rentrer rapidement parce que mon père était malade et que les hôpitaux là-bas, c’était… Et ils ont eu le choix entre Nevers et Thonon-les-Bains, puisqu’il était fonctionnaire aussi. Il a pris Thonon-les-Bains… Et il a bien fait, hein !

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Le baccalauréat

Ça, c’était une sacrée épreuve, le baccalauréat ! Plus comme maintenant où ils te le donnent… Première partie de Bac avec écrit et oral : à l’oral, il y avait toutes les matières. La deuxième partie : à nouveau, écrit, oral. Avec ça, les profs qui te posaient des questions… Et puis en plus, j’étais petite. Alors déjà mon physique ne m’aidait pas, et j’étais gauche. J’étais timide, mais je le faisais parce qu’il fallait. “Allons-y gaiement !”… Pas très gaiement quand même.…

Sur une classe de 30, il y en avait peut-être 10 ou 15 qui avaient le Bac, pas plus. Il y avait une sacrée sélection. C’est pour ça qu’on était tous très contractés, très inquiets de cet examen ; alors que maintenant, je les vois partir le matin du Bac et “ha ha !”, ils chantent, ils ont leurs téléphones… Mais c’est tant mieux. C’est mieux !

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Émancipation

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Le moment où je me suis sentie devenir adulte, c’est quand je me suis mise à travailler, à 21 ans. Parce que déjà, on n’était pas majeur avant d’avoir 21. Et puis c’était un peu spécial pour moi puisque j’étais en Algérie, qu’il y avait des évènements, que j’étais une fille et tout ça… Mes parents n’ont jamais voulu que je parte travailler dans les douars. J’étais institutrice, en plus, je venais de commencer. J’ai commencé un peu tard à cause de ça, parce que mes parents n’ont jamais voulu que je démarre là-bas. C’était trop risqué, surtout pour une fille. Donc je suis restée près de deux ans chez mes parents à rien faire. Et puis après, quand même, j’ai pris un poste un peu sécurisé. Il y avait plus d’armée autour de l’école. Autour de moi, il y avait plein de militaires. J’étais la seule fille du village ! Mon premier poste d’institutrice, c’était en Algérie, a Boudjebar. Et puis, j’ai gagné mes sous ! Après, j’ai travaillé et puis je me suis mariée et puis voilà ! C’était 21 ans, quoi. À cause de ce retard pris à cause des événements, qui ont fait que moi, j’avais peur d’aller dans les villages sans protection avec les Felagas qui rôdaient autour, en plus moi une fille. J’avais peur. Et c’est comme ça que j’ai commencé et que j’ai pris mon indépendance à 21 ans. Arrivée à Auxerre, j’ai été mariée, alors elle était limitée l’indépendance !

J’ai rencontré Colbert en Algérie. Parce qu’il était militaire. Il était militaire et puis moi ben… J’étais une jeune fille qui se promenait dans la rue ! C’était à un bal. Il jouait de la clarinette. Je suis allée à un bal du 1er Mai ou du 8 Mai, j’en sais rien. Et puis là, il y avait un orchestre militaire. C’était la fanfare du régiment. Il jouait de la clarinette. Et puis on était trois ou quatre copines et puis on parlait, on disait “celui là, il est pas mal… celui là…”. Et puis je lui ai dit : “Tu vois celui qui joue de la clarinette, il me plairait bien !”. Comme ça. Et puis une danse ou deux après, il pose sa clarinette et il descend de l’estrade. Et puis moi, je ne sais pas, j’étais un peu timide, un peu effacée. Et puis elle me dit : “Tiens, il vient vers nous !” Et je lui dis : “Ca, c’est pour toi”. Et puis non, c’était pour moi ! Et voilà comment je l’ai connu.

Growing Up In Brooklyn

My mother and father had no money, we never went any place. I couldn’t even go to the Statue of Liberty. People were going to the Statue of Liberty or the World Fair. And I couldn’t go ’cause nobody would take me, they didn’t have any money. I remember being jealous that other kids around the block were going. They came home with like a little figure of something.

• 

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1963 New York World’s Fair “Kiss Me” bobbleheads. Both are “puckering up” to kiss each other.

We never ate out for dinner, never went to a restaurant. I didn’t care. But we were poor. And my father also lost his job and I remember we had to eat a lot of potatoes and eggs for dinner. He lost his job at the time…God, another one. I don’t know how long it lasted. He had to use all his bonds that he had saved, I remember. My mother was so upset that he had to use the money saved. He worked for Bethlehem Steel Company. It was a big shipping company, and they used to get bonds. Then they fired everybody, you know, let go, and he had to get another job.

We all had a split up, by the way, and lived with different parts of the family. That was very hard for my mother and father.

We lived in a high rise and we had the front rooms. And if you had those downstairs front rooms, you had to take care of the building, you had to be a maintenance person. So my father became a maintenance man of the building too, besides working he had to do that. He had to do the shoveling of coal downstairs in the furnace, you know, to warm up the building? And because of it we didn’t have to pay rent.

When they finally sold the building, the person that bought it wanted those front rooms, so we had to leave. The lawyer said if we were paying just $2 a month they couldn’t put us out, but because we weren’t paying anything they were able to put us out. So before we found a place to live, we all had to split up and live with different aunts and uncles. My father and mother were with my mother’s brother and his wife and three children.

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My Mother

My mom was a beautiful woman, and she was the sweetest thing in the world, so sweet.

She worked like a dog. My mother’s mother died when my mother was only 13 and there were her three brothers and a sister. My mother had to take over the job of being a mother to her siblings and take care of her father…when she was 13. And so she worked so hard at 13. Her sister wanted to work and so didn’t want to do anything in the house. So my mother did everything, raised her brothers and sister and took care of her father.

And then she had four children of her own and worked like a dog taking care of us, being poor and everything. And she used to have her brothers come to visit and she’d go around the corner and get bags of food for them so they could bring it home ’cause they were either out of work or something. I was so young I didn’t understand why she was doing all this. She was so good to them all the time, you know? But owing money to the person around the corner, to the grocery store, just to give them bags of food, all of them.

So I didn’t realize until I got older that these brothers and sisters, they were like her children because she raised them, you know? And that’s why she was the way she was, so good to them. And I’m thinking, you know, we’re your children – take care of us! Well, she always did anyway. But I’m just saying, I didn’t understand why she was doing this until I got older. I realized that they were like her children and that’s why she took care of them the way she did.

She taught me everything I am, cooking especially. She was a fantastic cook and I became like her, always cooking like a fiend, always cooking. And she gave me her big cake pan. That was her famous cake pan, she gave it to me ’cause she said only I was like her, cooking and baking the way she used to. I lost it, it was in the garage when we moved and I don’t know what happened to it, I’m so upset I don’t have it.

The Nuts!

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My Father

He taught me honesty. He was born on Lincoln’s birthday, February 12th, and he was just like Honest Abe. We used to call him Honest Abe, you know, Abe for Abraham Lincoln. And he taught us to be very honest. I wouldn’t take a penny from anybody. Never, never, never. That’s what he taught me. I think you just try to emulate your parents. Emulating them, they wouldn’t necessarily say a life lesson in words. But we all knew how honest he was from different stories that he’d tell us, where he worked and stuff like that, and I knew he was so honest. We all did.

My father was a doll, very comical, very funny man. Everybody loved him. Oh I could tell you some stories about him, he’s so funny.

Yawning

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Working Days

I worked at 303 Fifth Avenue. My father had gotten a wonderful job in the city from somebody that he knew on Fifth Avenue, and so he got me and my sister a job there, an office job.

That’s was my first job when I graduated. My father knew everybody in the building ’cause he was chief engineer of the building. He used to repair things, you know electrical things. He was an electrician first of all by trade and he’d take care of everything, elevators, so what would you call him? Really a maintenance man right? But he liked the sound of chief engineer of the building.

And he knew the office, he knew everybody, so he found out that they could use some girls to work in the office and he got my sister and I a job, we worked together in the same office. 

My sister was in the entertainment field, so it used to bother her that she was doing office work. You know, my father wanted her to bring home real money so he made her get a job in the office. But she was bad at it. Then she was fired because she was always late and always angry.

And then my father was so embarrassed, so insulted that she was fired, he wanted me to quit. So I told my manager, I said “I’m quitting. My father wants me to quit, I’m quitting the job.” I was a secretary and biller. And he said “Oh, Pat, I don’t want you to go.” He said “I’ll give you a raise, I’ll give you a $5 raise, I’ll put curtains in the room, you don’t even have to do the billing anymore, just make sure the other girls in the office do the billing.” And I said “I don’t know, I’ll ask my father.” And my father said “You tell him if you stay you want a $10 raise.” So I went up there and I told him I have to have a $10 raise… and he said “Okay.” So he gave me a $10 raise. And I stayed ’cause they wanted me to stay, ’cause I was a good worker and I didn’t carry on like my sister.

I got paid weekly. And when I left there I was making $74 and when I started it was $45 a week and that was a lot of money in those days, nobody was making $45 a week in an office job. So I already started high.

I finally left that place after four years. Afterwards, my father made me take the first job that came, you know that? I told the new job I wanted $74 and they said $64 or something like that. And I took it, I had to take a cut in salary because I had to take the first job. My father needed the money. He couldn’t miss out on my check ’cause I gave him a lot of money when I was earning $45. I came home with $39 after taxes and I had to give my mother and father $25 and I kept $14. That was to eat lunch, take the train to work, eat lunch, buy clothes, $14. But I figured they needed it and that’s why I didn’t complain about all that.

But of course I kept getting raises there too so I don’t even know how much I earned when I left. I went four years at the new job where I took a drop in salary, ’til I became pregnant (I married when I was at that job).  I was at the front desk and greeting people and I started showing and wearing maternity clothes, and they didn’t want that anymore. So I had to leave. That’s okay, I wanted to anyway, so I quit. But, they’re not allowed to let you go now because of that… And then I never worked again.

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Raising a Family

I worked harder raising four children and taking care of a husband. That was my life. But I had a nice life with my children, I love them so much, the four of them. They were so adorable. I was a little over-protective, but you know, I don’t know, I didn’t know how else to be. I think I was told that by my children as they grew up. I don’t remember my parents being like I was. Maybe they were, maybe they sheltered me, I don’t know.

But that’s what I’m most proud of – my children. ’Cause I raised basically good kids, you know? I know a lot of troubles other people have had with their children. I had a little trouble. But all in all it was fine. Put a lot of work into it.

I sucked at driving

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To My Grandson

I used to make a big cake when you used to come over. Remember that big round cake I used to make when you’d come over? You don’t remember, sometimes I’d make half and half, you liked chocolate and you didn’t like icing on the cake so I’d leave half the cake without icing and the other I’d put icing either chocolate or vanilla for your brother. You don’t remember?

What about Halloween? I used to have a little Halloween party for you. I baked a special kind of cake, oh it took me so long, I don’t remember what kind of cake it was. A man or something with a hat on. Oh, it was just a big job. And I think your mother took a picture of it. And I used to give you little bags of Halloween candy and a little gift inside and once you made fun of what I gave you, you said “You gave me a nail clipper.” Remember, I gave you a nail clipper?

Nieces to Pieces

I taught you so many things when your were little. Remember? Puzzles? It was putting puzzles together.  I couldn’t believe how you knew how to put that puzzle, that gigantic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs together, my gosh. I pretended I was helping you, but I couldn’t really help you. You knew exactly where every part was, oh my. Then we put in on the pool table and you started sitting on the pool table down in the basement, remember?

And playing with all the toys that we used to go and buy, after we’d eat at the diner. We’d go to the… I forgot the name of that store. Buy a toy down in the basement. We used to go down a big staircase. Don’t you remember down to the basement, and you’d walk around. I’d say, “Only one toy!” And you knew exactly what you wanted, and then you said, “Can I have two grandma?” I said, “Okay,” so you got to pick out two.

They had a bunch of books on a table down in the basement there, and they had all the toys, I said, “You’re gonna buy some books now hunny.” So I sat down on something, I don’t remember what the heck, I was sitting waiting for you, and you sat on the floor and started looking through all the books. And I said, “Well, which one do you want? And you said, ” I don’t want any of them, I read them all.”

Oh gosh, you are so funny, so funny, so determined. You want what you wanted. You knew everything. Yeah, you looked through the pictures, you called that reading, but you were only a little boy. I think you were five. Four or five. No, you must’ve been three. ‘Cause I took care of you only for three years. The first three years, and then when your mother went to work she put you in a daycare. So you must have been three years old, gosh. Only three looking through all those books. Gosh. Three years old…

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Bible Class and Confraternity

The priest had a Bible class once a week. We’d go across to the church, I don’t know where it was but it was in the church some place and he’d have Bible class. We’d all have to listen to him for an hour and then he’d let us go dance there, he had put the records on and after that we were dancing. And that was his way of getting us to listen to his preaching, you know?

The priest had a Bible class once a week. We’d go across to the church, I don’t know where it was but it was in the church some place and he’d have Bible class. We’d all have to listen to him for an hour and then he’d let us go dance there, he had put the records on and after that we were dancing. And that was his way of getting us to listen to his preaching, you know?

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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to