We worked hard. Our flower farm was little, but none-the-less a farm. If you live in the city and get your food from the Super Market, give a thought to the folks who produce it.
Thanksgiving was very special. The farm was tucked away for the winter. The artwork in school picked up, the beloved nuns having a special place in their hearts for saints, creches and the true Christmas story.
And the food! I don’t think I mentioned the family cooks. They were all great! In my childhood, going out to eat in a restaurant was a rare occasion. Eating at home at a table with your family was the norm. The family cooks: Gramma, Mom and Aunt Lottie were exceptional.
Who’s Aunt Lottie? She’s my dad’s sister. She lived on Staten Island with her husband, Uncle Walter, and my cousins, Connie and Walter. We were close. We would visit them often on the weekends, braving the Staten Island ferry from Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn to Richmond on Staten Island. I thought of this as a great adventure.
We alternated with who did Thanksgiving. It didn’t matter, the turkey and trimmings always the best. Everything was homemade and the leftovers lasted for quite a few school lunches. My school’s cafeteria only sold luke-warm milk.
One year Mom, Dad, Billy and I went to Baltimore for Thanksgiving. Mom’s family was there. A late season hurricane hit the East Coast, and we left for home and Long Island the day after. There was no Jersey Turnpike, Delaware Memorial Bridge or all the other major highways we use today. Paul Revere had an easier time on horseback between Boston and Philadelphia. Twelve harrowing hours in the black Packard, fording streams and taking ferries no one ever heard of, we made it home. After that trip, legend has it that my father knew how to get between Middle Village and Baltimore, never leaving a parking lot.
The electrical power was out. Gramma, Aunt Lottie and Uncle Walter met us in a very cold house dimly lit by candles. The power didn’t come back for about a week. I got dressed for school in front of the gas oven, the only source of heat. Good practice for super storm Sandy.
