Morning Folks June 1, 2009

Morning Folks and Rabbit Rabbit Rabbits to you, this fine June 1.

As most of you know, I have been on the Cape a couple of weeks. The weather has been less than perfect, but I have been a busy gal and have had a blast these past 2 weeks.

First, my friends Malaryn and Denys hosted a visit with my Peeps at their home on the Vineyard. It was cold, but the company was warm.

Rick
Kitty, Denny and Malaryn

Too chilly to sit on the porch, although we tried.
Denny and Frank

Kitty and Elizabeth

That was Saturday.

Then on Sunday, I drove to Sudbury and met my Uncle Lee and Aunt Kath, now living in Maine and my cousin Liz and her daughter Nicole, who both live in California. The reason for the trip was to go to houses that Uncle Lee had lived in during his childhood. Since he is my mother's brother, these were also my mother's homes.

Before the tour, the first thing we did was have lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Those of you who know me can imagine how I reacted when Uncle Lee ordered Eel and raw Octopus.

I had chicken. But the sink in the ladies' room was really cool.

We went to about 8 or 10 addresses in Waltham, Woburn, Somerville and Medford. We took pictures whenever we found the addresses and I will be able to document them all in our family tree that I have been working on. One of the houses we went to in Waltham had just been sold to a nice family who invited us in. It was quite an experience for the Kelly family who had a couple of kids, including a boy of about 12, the same age Uncle Lee was when he lived there in the 1930s.

Mrs. Kelly and Uncle Lee, Nutting St., Waltham.

They were very gracious and it was fun to see where all the members of Uncle Lee's family slept back then. The little girl's bedroom had been Uncle Lee's room. It is now a lovely lavender and she was very curious to know what color it was 70 years earlier when Uncle Lee lived there. He wasn't sure, but knew it was wallpapered.

Capen Street, Medford Hillside. Once Uncle Lee's great grandmother's house, now a fraternity house for Tufts students.

Morrison Ave., Somerville

The site of the store my great grandfather ran in Woburn.

We stayed at the most fabulous B&B in Stow, MA. Built in 1743 it was so beautifully decorated and the woman, Vickie, who ran it was such an amazing cook.

Amerscot Inn B&B. Stow, MA
Nicole, Liz, Inn Keeper Vickie, Aunt Kath, Uncle Lee
Grounds at the B&B

Uncle Lee and Aunt Kath's bathroom.

My room

We each had a lovely room with our own baths and wide screen TVs and fireplaces and WiFi. The grounds were just wonderful. We had to leave because Uncle Lee was afraid he'd gain too much weight if we stayed any longer.

Dining Room

In addition to Vickie's cooking, we visited our favorite ice cream spot, Eriksons, twice.

So, yes, we had to leave.

Poking around cemeteries is something genealogists love, so although it might sound morbid to some people, I find it fascinating and full of history.

We decorated graves in Wadsworth Cemetery for Memorial Day. We planted geraniums at my Hall family graves, my mother's Aunt Kath's family, Bradshaws and Rogers. Aunt Kath's mother's grave.

Uncle Lee took a little breather and sat with Mom while we planted the geraniums. When I took this, he told her to smile. He has a funny sense of humor.

And then in Woburn we decorated the Waters gravesite. It was a team effort decorating the graves from both sides of the family and in-laws some of us didn't know. It felt good to honor these folks.

We had trouble finding the Waters family plot at the Woodbrook cemetery in Woburn. Nicole found a website on her phone, but couldn't download the pdf file of the map of the cemetery. So, she called her husband Dan in Sacramento to access the website. He led us up and down the streets, via cell phone while looking at the site online and we were able to locate it.

Later when I looked at the cemetery website, I found a whole plot of another branch of the family that included one woman, Lorena Pelsue Hyde Grammer, who according to my mother had a wooden leg. They called her Gramma Grammer. We found Grampa Grammer when we were at the cemetery, but Gramma Grammer is buried with her first husband, Nathan Hyde. Grampa Grammer was her second husband. (I just love that name.)I wonder if they are related to Frazier?
Kelsey Grammer

We watched the Sudbury parade from Wadsworth and ran into some folks who had gone to school with Aunt Kath and my Dad. Fred and Rosalind Bonazzoli were the son and daughter of my grandmother's good friends and neighbors. That was fun to talk to them.

Al Bonazzoli, my grandparents' contemporary, was the first colonel of the Sudbury Minute Company and his grave is in Wadsworth. Each Memorial Day, the Minute Company pays tribute to him with a gun salute and a song on fife and drum. His daughter, son and daughter in law were there to watch the annual tribute.


We saw friends at the parade, among them Betsy and Hal Cutler, St. George Melinda and Lynn Connor.

I got a hug from one of the Selectmen and a big wave from the Fire Chief, who was driving some vips in the parade. It was nice that they both still remembered me.

It was nice to go to the parade that remains exactly as it has been for many years. I love it.

South Station
They took Uncle Lee to South station so he could catch the bus back to Maine since he didn't want to spend another day in a car full of women and the women folk headed down here to the Cape.

We visited Chris Waters, my cousin Danny's son, who is earning his Doctorate at Woods Hole. We went to a couple of places in Woods Hole.

Then went back to South Yarmouth, poked around at Christmas Tree Shops and just chilled and chatted. The weather wasn't very nice, but we had fun and enjoyed each other's company.

Then, Saturday, we went to a surprise shower for Bill's fiance Kim, at her mother's house in Merrimack NH. There was a Hawaiian theme because that's where they are heading for their honeymoon.

It was good to see Cindy, Angie and Steffie, too. But they had to leave early and I didn't get too much time to visit.

Kathy, Ed's sister came with me. She had made a beautiful quilt for the kids and I knew nothing about it. What a surprise. It was really gorgeous!

Kim only broke one ribbon. I hope she has more opportunities to break more before the wedding! You men probably don't know about that. That's okay. We can have secrets.

We had a great visit and a lot of laughs.

Hope you have a great June!
Love,
Suz