Grandma Carrollisms

About a month ago, Aunt Pam texted me that Grandma passed 12 years ago.  It seems like a long time, so much has happened and you both have grown up so much.  I think of her often at this time of year, especially when I see dogwood trees in bloom.  For Grandma, spring was the best time of year since she could enjoy the garden.  She was completely satisfied once it had been fertilized, tilled (by Dad, normally) and planted with sticks by every tomato plant (often 60+).  She would stand outside in bare feet watering in the morning and evening.  Once in a while there was threat of a frost, and she and Uncle George would get out every brown grocery bag in the house to cover up their young plants.

Your Grandma Carroll loved you so much, and was a full partner to Dad and me in raising you as young children.  After each of you were born, she told me how very hard she prayed while I was in labor with you.  She loved getting you clothes and toys, and of course you remember the Thomas the Tank Engine train platform at her house - which you played with for so many happy hours.  We were blessed to have her in our lives.

Here are a few things that come to mind when I think of how much she enjoyed you, along with names, words, phrases etc. that she used.

• "Bob" - Grandpa
• "Bobby" - Dad
• "Ruthie" - Aunt Pam
• "Becca" - Aunt Rebecca
• "Georgy" - Uncle George
• "Black Foot" - Grandpa's nickname for Grandma (as washing her feet was an afterthought)
• "Boughten" - store-bought
• "Mango" - a green pepper 
• "Piggies" - Pigs in a Blanket stuffed cabbage, following a Slovak recipe
•  "In a coon's age" - in a Long Time
• "Dry as punk" - very dry (sometimes her well-done roast beef served for Sunday dinner could qualify, but was saved by homemade gravy)
• "Beer garden" - A local bar
• "Dig in the dirt" - Planting the garden, her absolute favorite thing to do
• "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" - when quite annoyed 
• "Going to watch my program" - watching a favorite TV show, sometimes a soap opera or preferably a professional wrestling match
• "Had to get out every pot in the house...." - when making halushki, a Polish dish that was one of Dad's favorites
• "Framer's Omelet" - oversight when Grandma ordered a "Farmer's Omelet" from the menu at a local diner, when having breakfast with Aunt Pam
• Crestfallen - when baby Alex first tried her mashed potatoes and spit them out in disgust, after which she found out that he ate them mixed with apple sauce at day care (CDC)
• Hysterical laughter - when toddler Robby ran into the TV room and said "Grandma, there's teeth in your bathroom!" after noticing her teeth soaking in a clear drinking glass
• "No ketchup on your fruit!" - directed to Robby who wanted ketchup on almost everything as a little kid (with pancakes was especially disgusting)
• "EEEEEKKK" - while climbing on top of a chair or couch, completely horrified at the slightest inkling there was a mouse in the kitchen (God forbid there was an actual mouse - she would not come down until someone, like Grandpa or Dad, removed it)

Here's a happy picture of Grandma with Dad, in Ocean City during the summer of 2006.  

COVID-19 - Still Red

Well, it's Memorial Day weekend 2020.  I haven't felt much like writing about here-&-now for a few weeks.  We are past the worst of what is probably COVID-19 Wave 1 (we're likely to have Wave 2 next winter).  Case numbers are coming down in Luzerne & Lackawanna County.  The most illness and death has involved, sadly, lower-income people especially in Hazleton (many of whom live in larger family groups, and some of whom work in warehouse businesses and meat packing plants), residents of nursing & assisted living facilities, and health care workers.  Fortunately, all of us are healthy - so I won't complain about some recent boredom with staying home so much.  I am very amused that our Charmin Plant has gotten more publicity:

NPR: Charmin Factory Keeps Humming

TheWorldNews: Always Busy Charmin Factory

Alex, you have been fine so far, to my relief.  Gerrity's is pretty serious about protecting store workers.  Rob, you just stay home mostly all the time.  I am home a lot too - since he's not working, Steve is out more with careful stops at home stores & grocery stores.  There are limitations on how many people can be in stores, carts & other surfaces are cleaned regularly and wearing masks is a "must" (as you told me Alex, shoppers are asked to leave or sometimes get arrested if not wearing one at Gerrity's).  With help from YouTube, I am now capable of simple men's haircare....  with beard & hair clippers and a couple pair of scissors, I have managed to get Rob's beard & hair mostly under control, and trimmed Steve's hair fairly well.  Quite proud of myself :-)  Here is Rob after his initial "do" looking suspiciously like a mushroom cut, before I got the thinning shears so I could even it out the ridge along the sides/back.  What a handsome boy !!!

So what's new with you?  Rob, you took your APUSH exam about a week ago - yay!  it's over!!  The exam was modified, and involved writing out one essay in just 45 minutes.  Your topic was Slavery From 1754 - 1850.  You said you were not thrilled to have an exam that was limited to an essay, but you Absolutely have learned the APUSH material and clearly deserve to get credit for that.  You won't know the score for a while, but I cannot imagine that you didn't pass.  The AP Computer Science testing requirements are due to be wrapped up next week - without a timed exam.  So you're getting close to being done with Junior year AP work entirely, then school will be wrapped up on June 18th.

Alex, you finished the spring semester at Misericordia with, I believe, 3 finals.  You are Very Happy to be done, as online classes were very demanding.  Plus you have senioritis (you're not taking a summer class and just 1 semester to go!).  This summer it's going to be weekend shifts at Gerrity's and also an internship at Volunteers in Medicine, Wilkes-Barre (www.vimwb).  I am so glad your college experience includes this opportunity.  It's at least beginning as a remote internship, which is definitely unique.  I expect you will learn a lot, at least partly due to being involved during the midst of a pandemic.

I am working many hours for Prudential, still remotely from your old bedroom Alex (it has been super useful to have this extra space, and still nice to know you're happy at Wildflower Village).  I don't miss traveling to CT and NJ.  But things are kind of crazy as workload demands have grown steadily over several years - and now with stock market volatility and the sudden job losses & likely economic recession as a result of COVID, there is additional significant strain with volumes of customer phone calls and loans & distributions that employees are taking out of retirement plans.  The unemployment rate is now about 15% across the US (in your lifetimes, the next worst was a 10% unemployment rate during the 2009 global financial crisis).  Steve is pursuing a good job opportunity, but doesn't think it would materialize until offices begin to re-open.

When will things re-open?  Governor Wolf has announced that Luzerne County will go "Yellow" on May 29th.  More retail businesses can open and gatherings of up to 25 people will be allowed.  So Grooming Cottage can re-open and JLA will get a bath.  (Salons will have to wait at least until "Green", sadly for me.)   Rob and I took a roadtrip to Wyncote yesterday, to celebrate Grandad's 83rd birthday.  It was nice, but disconcerting to be with so many people at once - even just family.  Everyone is well, in fact Meagan and Anthony are expecting another baby is December, to join big brother Julian.  Rob, you seemed to enjoy Julian and time with Lu.  As one final interesting note, there are still some empty shelves at stores including for all-purpose flour.  Apparently many people are spending extra time baking, including us to some extent.  I made Spice Drop Cakes this morning, a Rivers family favorite - as you can see below.  (I've also included a picture of a Carroll family favorite which was originally Aunt Gloria's recipe, Cherry Pudding - this time the cherries floated to the top.)  Yum!  Alex, we're bringing yours over in about half an hour along with your bike that Steve is currently working on to inflate tires and clean up.  SYS !

Jersey Girls

It was a soft landing.  If you're going to leave your home in the Caribbean and return to the Northeast U.S., coming back to the Jersey shore was perfect.  In 1971, after three somewhat difficult years for Grandad especially, we headed back toward Pennsylvania.  Now there were 5 of us, including Aunt Diana.  I think we arrived in late spring.  We lived in Ventnor (immediately south of Atlantic City), a couple blocks from the beach in temporary housing for missionaries taking a vacation between or upon returning from work overseas.  After an internet search, I've figured that the property where we lived included for 4 houses owned by the provided by a non-profit organization, the Interdenominational Foreign Missionary Society.

My favorite memory is going to the beach that summer our buckets, shovels, towels etc. walking on the hot pavement, across the boardwalk and out to the sand.  Of course we played in the water, and discovered it was fun to play under the boardwalk where the sand was cool and we could see people walking overhead.  There were other girls around our whose families were staying in the complex -  Ruthie and Dawn.  Interesting, Steve and I have spent a couple long weekends in Atlantic City and drove around in Ventnor, eventually finding the property in 2017.  It's off Portland Ave (I had long forgotten the street name).  See the picture below - the house with the porch in the foreground.  Now the yard seems so much smaller and I realize it's attached to the house next door.  (A side note, many homes are now being permanently raised for flood protection - the 4x4 lumber stack was being used for to raise a house along the street.)

We enjoyed the yard playing with the other girls.  I remember going to a local church, where Grandad sometimes helped out with services.  My first memories of TV were from this time - Grandad liked to watch re-runs of Get Smart.  We found out there were cartoons on Saturday mornings.  I learned to ride a bike without training wheels here - after getting the basics down, Grandad told me I was all set except not to ride down by the bay.  That would have never occurred to me, so I immediately rode down to the bay, took a quick look around and came back home.  Some other memories are an outing to the fire station in Margate, visits from Nana and Grandad, and a weekend with Uncle Dick, Aunt Ginny and cousins Matt, Jess and Steve when we drove up to Atlantic City to walk the boardwalk.  I seem to remember Grammie getting almond macaroons, which are still one of her favorites.  During the next school year, I repeated second grade this time with English instruction (I assume Aunt Julie repeated kindergarten).  This was the only time of my life that I rode a school bus to and from school.  Here are two pictures of the Jersey girls from 1971.  Pictures of Aunt Julie are almost always "action" shots, since she had (and still has) SO much energy.  I'm sure Nana had knitted our beautiful sweaters.

In the spring of 1972, Grandad became the rector and Gloria Dei (Old Swedes) Church, and we moved to Philadelphia.