We were at my place and she seemed a little mopey. She didn’t want to do the things I suggested, seemed bored, and finally said she just didn’t know what to do. I suggested we draw again and she said, “Okay. First I’ll draw, then you can draw.” She picked up a box of colored …
Category Archives: Family
Dick’s store
Dick Nieman’s store was just up the alley from my home in Pottstown. It was a small place, but played a big part in everyone’s lives. It was a time when small grocers existed in every neighborhood, but were starting to feel the loss of revenue from the large markets that opened. A&P, Acme, Weis- …
hers, not mine
She handed me this beautiful landscape when I dropped her off last evening. Included was a card “to the best Granmpop ever.” She had mentioned the card and picture when she got off the bus. She didn’t give them to me then but instead handed me this picture of four snowmen. “It’s early morning…see the …
granddaughter’s pics
Too much time’s been spent on my work and not enough on the littleone’s. She continues to paint and draw. When she visited yesterday, she asked to paint, then told me not to watch. Watching is always a big part of my joy with her work, but I gave her her privacy. After a bit …
surprising glance
I can now say that facebook has made a positive contribution to my life. I belong to an fb group of generally older people who grew up in my hometown – Pottstown – and use the group to reminisce. I made a post about where I was on November 22, 1963, (John Boyd’s sixth grade …
baptistbaptist store
My earliest memories are of little me in this neighborhood. Going next door to Dot Raidey’s kitchen to help myself to cookies from the drawer under her stove. Wiping out in a snow saucer with my mom, her laughing, face covered with snow, picking up her glasses that are also covered with snow. It was …
local shirts
I’ve struggled with the term local as in buy local, shop local, eat local. When I lived in another town I used their local farmer’s market and first saw the sumptuous color poster of fruit, vegetable and a farm with the words Buy Local emblazoned across it. I asked the farmers staffing the table with …
flattening the curve
On March 11, Bellefonte schools closed – first for spring break, then the following week on the Governor’s orders. Shortly after, county workers had to work from home. So my kid has been sequestered with her kid for two months in an attempt to limit contact with the virus and thereby ease the burden facing …
latin banquet
After my mother died, my brother and I had to find time to clean out the house we grew up in- an old three story, full-basement brick almost victorian home in Pottstown. Over that spring and summer we’d each take several days off to drive back to Pottstown hoping to clear out the junk. Instead, …
canned memories
This was on a shelf in my kitchen: An off brand, several years past the best by date, with touches of corrosion on the top. It used to sit on my counter with a wine glass standing on top of it, and now, I can’t throw it out. When my daughter came to pick up …