Sharing Books

Reading and sharing books with my grandchildren are my passion. Not just me telling them about a good book but my grandchildren sharing their favorite books with me. I enjoy reading some of the good books that they recommend.

 

I read all the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and shared those with my older granddaughters. I even read all the J.R. Tolkien books and most of the Harry Potter books. After reading the first few pages of the Twilight series, I skipped the rest. Then I read The Hunger Games, but passed on the other two books in that series.

 

I’ve re-read the classics and then passed on a few of those books to my grandchildren. While looking through one of my writing magazines, I read a review of a new book for middle school readers and then bought it on my Kindle. The book was Midnight at Moonglow’s by K. C. Sherwood.  I was totally enchanted with it and loved it and got my granddaughter to purchase it on her Kindle. In return, my granddaughter told me about a book that she just read called, Behind the Bedroom Wall, by Laura Williams. It was a story about hiding Jewish people during the Holocaust.

 

It is fun to read and share books with my grandchildren. Books are one of those special connections that we have and will continue to have. 

Movies and a Memory

A long time ago, when we first moved to Cleveland, Ohio, from Utica, New York, my family lived in a room above the old Capitol Theater on West 65^th Street in Cleveland. It took my parents a while to find a bigger place to rent. At that time, it seemed that owners didn’t much like to rent to families with small children. In the meantime, we lived above the Capitol Movie Theater.

 

Living in a small one bedroom apartment was hard, especially with two young active children under the age of 11. Since it was such a long time ago, I can’t remember all the particulars. The only thing that I still remember is that my brother and I went down to the movie theater every night and saw movies. During that time there was always a double-header of two movies at the shows. We saw the same movies over and over for a week, until the new ones began. Not a bad thing to happen to two little kids, along with the popcorn, pop and candy. It was a heavenly treat and thus began my love affair with movies.

 

Going to the movies, learning the names of the movies, the stars, and their lines, played an important part in the life of my brother and me. On our long nine hour drives to Utica, my brother and I played the movie or initial game. We would pantomime the movie and the other person would have to figure it out. Or we would throw out one of the movie stars initials, and have to guess who that person was. Or we would quote a particular line from a movie and try to guess the name of the movie and the characters. My brother and I became movie trivia buffs that way. Plus it helped to keep us occupied in the car until we fell asleep.

 

Now, television and the movies have pervaded our lives. I used to watch all the cartoon shows, MTV, and a number of television series with my kids. On weekends and during the summertime, we went to the movies. My kids are great at reciting a famous line or two from a movie and the others can tell you what movie and what character said it. They can also watch a movie and tell you what other movies the major or minor characters have been in.

 

A movie always brings me back to the old days of being with my brother. It is a connection that I have carried on with my own children and grandchildren. The only thing better than seeing one movie – is seeing two for the price of one. But that only happens in a Drive-In now, if you are lucky to find one still in operation.

Where Have All Our Heroes Gone?

Heroes are self-made or given that status by we, the people. Heroes are elevated. Heroes are destroyed. It never seems to be enough to just reach the top and do it in an honest way. We watched the rise of Tiger Woods and the toppling of him.

 
Now along came the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame. No one was elected into this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame by the voting members, the sports writers. This was only the second time that this happened where no one was voted into the Hall. Oh, there were eligible players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Both are controversial figures embroiled in steroid usage. They didn’t receive one vote. Maybe this was a year to drive home a point to the baseball sports world.

 

And of course there is the drama around Lance Armstrong, who finally confessed to his usage of drugs during his Seven Tours de France winds. Of course his admission was on national television, as if this will help. Why? I don’t know. But he spent an awful lot of time embroiled in his lies and denials, along with destroying other people along the way. Maybe he should just confess and just go away without all this drama.

 

Other so called heroes that we elevate and elect to lofty positions have let us down with their choices and actions. I assume because they love their position and that they are only human.

 

Over the weekend, my daughter got married and had the reception at Engine House #25, The Roberto Clemente Museum. This independent, non-profit museum is dedicated to preserving the memory and legacy of Roberto Clement.

 

Looking at all of the memorabilia that was in the Museum was a treat for me. I was raised up as a New York Yankees fan by my father and brother. After reading the bios and information of each player, my favorite Yankee player was Lou Gehrig. When I visited Cooperstown with my brother, he brought me a Lou Gehrig Yankee’s jersey. It is one of my favorite possessions.

 

But after coming to Pittsburgh in 1977, and learning about Roberto Clement, I have to say he was the real deal, the true hero, the one who played the game of baseball with love. He came to the Pirates in 1954 and became the greatest baseball player of his time.

 

In his 18 year career, Clemente received every possible award that Major League Baseball could offer. But it was off the field that he excelled as a husband and father of three little boys. He was known as a humanitarian. Thus on December 31, 1972, Clemente was killed in an airplane crash while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

 

Ironically both Clemente and Gehrig were elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame without having to wait the five year period.

 

When Clemente died, the world lost one of the greatest baseball players of all time. A wife and three little boys lost a husband and father. The world lost a true hero.

Another Milestone...

I sat in the pew of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, and watched my youngest daughter walk down the aisle. She was getting married to a wonderful man. I had a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head. First, it was hard to believe that the baby of the family was really getting married. I remembered the day that she was born in Erie, PA. She was the youngest of my nine children, and I knew that this would be my last hurrah being pregnant. I was excited waiting to see wheat my last child would be…a boy or a girl. I already had six boys and two girls at home. My first born son and I spent a lot of time together, before I embarked on my goal of having a dozen kids. Obviously, I opted out of that number. Seriously…nine was enough.

 

But my youngest daughter and I spent the year before she would go to school alone with one another, while everyone else was in school. We hung out together, shopped and I indulged her as if she were my only child. To say that I spoiled her would be accurate. But I was the mother and rank has its privilege. So, if I wanted to buy her a thousand Barbie dolls, lots of books, tons of candy, and a few cool clothes…I did. I also taught her how to be a smart mouth and to speak up and defend herself.  She was my clone and my shadow and my little buddy for that whole year.

 

Then she went off to school with all the rest of her siblings. She was the youngest and everybody picked on her. One brother would hide under her bed and just as she fell asleep, he would jump out and scare her. She was the little sister that her brothers tried to sell for 25 cents. In later years, when she took a trip to Israel, she was offered a camel to get married. Her price indeed increased. In school she played basketball and broke her ankle. She rode horses and landed under one after a jump, and another time went flying off into the railing, leaving a long white skid mark on her black velvet helmet. She was short but managed to find her niche in Crew, where she ended up getting rowing medals. Then it was off to college.

 

Now she was walking down the aisle and would be married, have her own house and embark on having her own children to mold. So, I sat in the pew at St. Stanislaus and wathed my lovely, beautiful baby. She was a full blown adult woman. She was a self-assured woman with her own ideas and now with her married life looming ahead. I silently smiled and wished her all the happiness in the world and for a marriage that would live up to the vows and to the old fairy tale ending…And They Lived Happily Ever After for always and ever!

Hiatus in the Kitchen

I look back to how busy my daughter Erin’s catering kitchen was from November on into December. Besides the weddings and Thanksgiving dinners, there were numerous Christmas breakfasts, luncheons, dinner s and parties.

 

The parties came one after another without any let up. Sometimes they were scattered and other times there were two to three a day. Needless to say there was a lot of preparation that went into each one. There would be appetizers, fruit trays, vegetable trays, cheese trays and antipasto trays. I would let my creative imagination run wild. I now can make a good Boursin Cheese Spread, use the pastry bag and tip and fill hollowed out cucumbers in no time.

 

But now, everything has slowed down, except for a few lunches and take out orders. December 31^st was the last day that I worked in the kitchen. I will have some time off and lan on using most of the time to relax, rest, write some and just enjoy some down time before the kitchen is back and running with events.

 

I am going to be happy for awhile, not working a 6-8 hour day, where I stand on the hard floor. I know for a fact that even my aching thumbs will be happy and well rested along with my happy feet and legs.

Goodbye to the Old...Hello to the New

The old year, 2012, is officially gone. It’s now in the past. In retrospect, it was a pretty good year. It was a year that I had an article with photos published in a magazine. I have also been a bit successful with my novel that I published on the Amazon site and the Barnes and Noble site. I did finish writing another novel, A Leap of Faith; a follow up to my first novel, The Doctors’ Wives. I hope to have that edited, a book jacket designed and published on both sites. I also finished a non-fiction book and another novel for children. More editing and designing is needed for these two books.

 

Last year, I started back helping my daughter in her catering kitchen once again. I’ve actually been able to work a 6-8 hour day in her kitchen. I feel good about that, as if I accomplished another goal.

 

Now, with the New Year, I have set a few more goals or plans for myself. I want to start to write more and get a few stories published in magazines and more books published. I also plan on seeing my kids more and helping them out whenever they need me.

 

My expectations are set, but not to high so that I can’t fulfill any of them. I already have a few things to look forward to in January. I have my youngest daughter’s wedding coming up, and I am waiting eagerly for the birth of my 18^th grandchild.  It looks like there will be a lot more going on in 2013.

The End of the Holiday Season

After all the presents and wrapping and special Christmas meals, the holiday season is over. For Christmas Eve, I had over 40 people in my house, which were mostly my family and a few friends.

 

I know the food was a success and so were the gifts. I was blown away with my presents. This year, I got a Kindle Fire and an iPad! Imagine that. Talk about being good…I think that I must have been very, very good to get those presents!

 

Sometimes I think though besides the food and gifts, and the hectic moment when my decorated Christmas tree fell over, and trying to find the right date for our annual cookie exchange to accommodate everyone – I am amazed that in the end, it all falls together.

 

My favorite time during the holidays is watching my family, especially my grandchildren open their presents. And of course the hugs and kisses that I get from them are totally priceless. My favorite presents are the pictures that my grandchildren have colored and given to me. I prompt put them up on my refrigerator. And of course there were the homemade presents that made a hit, like the wooden cross that my grandson, Tyler, made and colored, and the wooden box that my granddaughter, Bayleigh, made and decorated for me. She put her picture on it, the one with her standing in the Butterfly Area with a butterfly perched on her finger. We spent an afternoon at Phipps Conservatory together a few years ago. There was also the beautiful diamond heart bracelet that Mika gave me. I think she is still trying to make up for the black eye that she gave me a few years ago.

 

I guess those moments and the other two where I held my granddaughter, Juliette, and my newest grandson, Noah Michael, had to be one of those precious moments. It’s when everything else fades into the background and just being with family and enjoying them in the moment is all that really matters.