Families Tuesday 4

Families

Welcome to Tuesday 4 where we offer 4 questions each week and continue the tradition begun by our friend Toni Taddeo.

1.What family member do you most resemble in looks or personality and/or which one resembles you most? 

I used to look  so much like my Aunt Betty,    people thought she  was my mom. But now I am looking more and more like my mom!  It is funny, my mom  was a very straightforward and confident woman.  She called it like  she saw it.  People either loved her or  disliked her for it..  In my  shy, withdrawn days I  disliked it in her so much, I cowered  when in public  around her.  She wasn't rude,  or disrespectful,  but    she had high expectations of    things like  business people,  or   sales people. And when something happened that wasn't up to her code,  she  discussed it openly.  Of course,  she had high expectations of her family, (me), as well.  I sort lived in terror of her  for  a few years  during my  younger teens.  But  as  time has gone on, I see a bit of that in me  I  might see the  error in  society or  business, etc, but I do not  rale agaisnt it publicly,  but I do stew over it  at times.  I think it has given me  indigestion at times!  I believe that is  because I am my dad's daughter, too!  A family trait   on my mom's father's side is to have sharp, piercing eyes.  There  were times when I looked at mom and  her  eyes fairly  emitted shards  of fire.  It is  very interesting to me  that sometimes when I look in the mirror,  now as  an older woman,  (I'll be seventy  in a month)    I see flashes  of that same fire! Or maybe it is my cataract  lens reflecting in the mirror!

2.What jobs did your father and/or mother have when you were growing up?

Neither of my parents  went beyond high school.   Dad, when I was very young, worked as a delivery  man for Merita Bakery.. 

I loved it because he would bring home treats  on Fridays.  And I loved to take tours of the assembly line..  I can still  smell the wondrous  aroma of baking bread!!! 

Mom was a sales lady at a fine department store, Miller and Rhoades,  downtown.  

She worked in the little girls' department and  when new items came in  she used her discount  to purchase  pretty dresses for me.  Later, dad  fell  on the ice   and  was laid up with broken ribs and couldn't  manage his  delivery job so he  went to  a special training school  for about a year and became an insurance agent  which he  worked at  the rest of his life til retirement. About the same time, in the early 60's  Mom left her town job to  take a buyer's position at a department store in a new mall near our home.  This made life much easier for everyone, because we only had one car.

3. Did your parents make a big deal over holidays and if so, how did they do it? The Easter bunny came   and we  always had a large family dinner  Easter, many times inviting spcial friends, as well.   We, always, had a cookout  on the Fourth,  again inviting special friends and neighbors in, too.  Mom was a wonderful cook!  We often spent Thanksgiving  with  grandparents and  the whole family would gather in, each one bringing a component of the meal..  And again,  our  large family loved to get together whenever we could and  it was a special Christmas  when  our family, also,  joined in  at grandma's.  With mom's work schedule, sometimes we couldn't.  But mom always made all of her special Christmas food.  Her holiday menus  were very important to her and she seldom deviated.  

4. What do you like most about your family or in laws/ or what do you not like?In a way,  I don't mean this   to sound horrible,  but  I loved my own  large family gatherings so much  I  dreaded having to pass them up  to spend time with in-laws.  It just wasn't the same, at all!  You see, Hubs mom passed the summer before we married   and so we  really didnt  spend  actual holiday time  with his side .   I could  plan celebrations the weekend prior or do  a New Year's time with them. Many times we just took his dad and  his sister with us   to the country or  when we stayed in town,  had  my parents and  Hub's family at our house.  That continued  from the mid seventies to  the mid  eighties; once the grands were gone  the large family stopped getting together and so  Hubs and I  did our own thing  .. usually going to country to mom and dad's   taking the in-laws with us.  But in the mid 90's  my parents moved here closer to us and mom wanted all the celebrations at her house. Sad to say now I rarely  do up a big Christmas,  We either go to  Amanda's to Massachusetts,  every other  Christmas  as we  rotate  Christmas with them one  year and Thanksgiving the  next.  They haven't been to us on a holiday since   the grands came along.  I miss  not having  Christmas here for my family!😞