52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week #17 Pets

We never owned our own home, so several of the places we lived we were not allowed to have pets. Some places allowed cats, so every pet I had growing up was a cat. I know we had one briefly when we lived at 1435 N. 4th St. I think it was never in the house, but we fed it. Can't even remember what it looked like now. Then when we moved north to Indiana Avenue we had a couple 'tiger' kitties that were very quickly gone by being hit by cars.

The first kitty I really remember was a female tortoise shell named Junior. Don't ask me how we came up with that name! She came down with some sort of disease and had to take pills every day. She loved them! We would just have to shake the container and she would come running! And she loved potato chips!

JUNIOR

Back in those days one didn't keep kitties inside and usually didn't "fix" the females either. So eventually along came Stripes. I loved him so much! I loved him so much that I made an elastic collar with his name and address on it just in case he got lost! He got in a lot of cat fights and would sometimes be gone for a few days, sometimes coming back without the collar!

STRIPES

After Junior and Stripes passed Dad said we weren't going to have anymore cats. When I was in high school I brought home another female tortoise shell kitty named Miss Prissy. I bought her at the Ohio State Fair for about $5.00. Dad acted like he was mad, but the very next day he was playing with her!

MISS PRISSY

Being an apartment dweller in the early years of my adulthood I again could not have pets in a lot of the places I lived. It wasn't until I started a family that pets were again introduced into our lives. Having grown up with kitties it wasn't hard to accept an offer to take my brother's kitty when he could no longer keep her. He had named her Pookie, and she was a wonderful addition to our family.

POOKIE

It wasn't long before Pookie became enamored with a neighborhood cat, and gave birth to 4 kittens. One sweet little angel passed shortly after birth, and two were given to good homes. One of her babies was kept. He looked like a little mountain gorilla so he was named Grilla.

GRILLA

By the time my daughter was born Pookie was getting up in years and did not like the attention that Jamie gave her. I thought it might be a good idea to get Jamie a kitten that would be used to having a young child man-handle it. I bought Tips at a local pet shop during my lunch hour and he was waiting for Jamie when we got home later that day. She loved him! She loved him so much that she would put him in her chest of drawers while we were away, so that she would know where to find him when we came home! I finally had to explain to her that was not a good idea.

TIPS

All of the above beloved pets are now passed. Pookie was with us for 19 years, Grilla 12 years, and Tips 10 years. They are most definitely missed!

It finally occurred to me that as a family we should have a dog. I wasn't overly fond of dogs because I had not grown up with one, but a woman advertised free puppies at my place of work. They were beagle mix. My two kids, Nick and Jamie, and I had to drive about 30 miles outside Columbus to see the puppies. I really wanted a female and was partial to the ones that looked like a beagle. At first it didn't look like there were any females that did look like a beagle, most being more black than the traditional tri-color. But finally we found her! Our beautiful, most wonderful dog in the world Sera. I have said for many years that Sera is the reason I now think dogs are so wonderful! Sera passed away this past November after giving us 14 great years of her presence. I still cry when I think about her.

SERA

After moving from Columbus to upstate New York in 1998, my husband and daughter decided that we needed another dog. I wasn't so sure about that, but they did their homework and decided that we should get a Cairn Terrier. I was still trying to sell the house in Columbus and made quite a few trips back and forth during that time period. It was when I was in Columbus that I noticed an ad in the Columbus Dispatch for Cairn Terrier puppies. The woman selling them actually lived in Dover, Ohio. That was on my way back home to New York so Jamie and I stopped to check them out. We fell in love with the puppy who couldn't stop licking our faces. We decided to let Jamie name the new puppy. She liked the name Coco. I thought he needed a more dignified name so added Bean. So Coco Bean he became. I know, I know, Coco Bean is not a dignified name, but I liked it!

COCO BEAN

In 2004 we decided for some reason that Pookie and Tips needed a brother. Actually Samson helped make that decision. My husband and I were at the local Agway that always has a kitty from the SPCA on the premises. We heard Samson meow and thought he sounded a lot like Tips. My husband and I looked at each other and decided right then that he was coming home with us. I cannot say enough good things about this cat. He is so lovable! He does have his moments - we think he has a split personality: "Daytime Sammy" and "Nighttime Sammy" as during the daytime he can really act like a cat, but at night he is Mister Cuddlebug.

SAMSON

After both Tips and Pookie passed away we of course had to get a companion for Samson. Jamie and I went to the SPCA and came home with a beautiful calico kitty. I looked for a name for her that would describe her, and since she was a very plump cat I decided that Kessie fit her perfectly. Kessie is an African name for "born fat"! Samson and Kessie get along so well - they really love each other.

KESSIE

So our home now is filled with love of our adorable Coco Bean, Samson, and Kessie. I cannot think of anything more enjoyable to have in our lives!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Sweets

COOKIES! What can I say - I LOVE them!!!  I loved them so much as a little girl that Mom called me her "cookie" girl. My love of cookies knew no bounds. When Mom was heading to the grocery store I would tell her to get my cookies. When she returned I would not let her into the house until she showed me the package of cookies!

My favorites back then were Fudge Stripes, Chips Ahoy!, Deluxe Grahams, Oreos, Pinwheels, and Lorna Doone. A couple others I loved but I don't remember their names. One had a vanilla wafer-type base, with a little raspberry (strawberry?) plopped in the middle of the base, then on top of that was mashmallow covered with coconut. Anyone remember the name of this cookie? Another exists today but the formula seems to be different than when I was young. It's Archway's Dutch Cocoa. These used to have powdered sugar on top. I would crumble these cookies up in a glass of milk - oh YUM! I'm drooling just thinking about it!

And guess what! Even today I'm a cookie girl! Love 'em! I think my favorite store-bought cookie today is the original Chips Ahoy!. It has changed little over the years, whereas the other childhood favorites just don't seem the same.

Oh darn, now I need to head to the store as I'm suddenly hungry for cookies!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Week #11 Illness & Injury

When I was six to nine months old I came down with chicken pox. I obviously do not remember this, but Mom always told me that I would sit in my play pen and scoot back and forth as the ones on my rear end itched, I had a couple scars on my face even into adulthood from the pox.

I was probably about 3 years old when I had scarlet fever. This was a time when the doctor still made housecalls, and our doctor was there every day for at least a week to examine me. I remember having a rash, and also that with each visit the doctor would use that dratted tongue suppressor to look down my throat. I also received a shot with each visit. Our home was also quarantined due to my illness. There was a sign on our front door that alerted any potential visitor that no one was to enter this house. I remember that our doctor had applied a black ribbon to the sign. Hmm, did he think I was going to die? It was complete bed rest and we had no TV. I really don't remember what I did, maybe Mom had toys brought to my bed.

When I was four years old my family went to my Aunt's house to see her new puppies, which were in her basement. My older cousin decided it would be fun to carry me down the steps piggyback. She slipped and down I went off to the side of the steps. I fell face down with my left arm tucked in front of me. I remember this like it was yesterday. We had no car so I remember waiting for a taxi cab to take us to the University Hospital's emergency room. The wait in the emergency room seemed like forever. To keep my mind off of my arm, my Dad walked me around what at the time seemed like a very big room. I remember him putting me up on a window seal and pointing out landmarks in downtown Columbus. When they finally took me in to see the doctor I was told to lie on a table. I don't remember x-rays but I'm sure that they were taken. Another wait. Finally a nurse came in and wanted to give me a shot for the pain. Mom said that the nurse was about to give the shot in my arm that had been broken, and told her that it would be better to give the shot in the other arm. After I had the shot and the nurse left the room, I turned to Mom and said "Now they've got BOTH my arms a-hurting!". The break was very high, close to the shoulder. Due to that I was put in a cast to immobilize my left arm. I still remember them wrapping the cast material around my upper body, and that I liked the person who did it. Mom said that having one arm did not slow me down. I could often be seen riding my tricycle using just my right arm to steer. I do remember how uncomfortable I would be when I had an itch underneath the cast. Mom came up with a variety of tricks to try to reach the ithcy spot. I was very excited when the day came that the cast was to be removed. Mom made a big deal out of it too, promising me that we would stop for lunch afterwards. However, once the cast was removed I became alarmed at how funny my arm now felt. I could not keep it from wanting to go to my side and just hang there. This bothered me so much that I told Mom that I didn't want to have lunch, I just wanted to go home. Again, this was a time that we had no TV. I would imagine since Mom often talked about nothing slowing me down that I just did what I normally did. 

I don't know how old I was when I came down with German measles. I know that we did have TV at that time, but I was not allowed to watch it. I think I had to wear sun glasses when I did come downstairs during the day. I still remember looking at the big red splotches - each one running into the other. I just couldn't imagine how that could be! I also had the 3-day measles.

Again I do not know how old I was but my brother Pat, being the jealous brother, decided to drop a can of vegetables on me when I was lying on the floor. It split my upper lip and I still have a slight scar exactly in the middle of my upper lip. Another trip to the doctor was due to my brother Pat. He was chasing me with the threat of locking me out of the house. I thought I could save some time by jumping on the steps to the house from the side of them. That didn't work out very well as I slipped and ripped open my knee. It was early evening and Dad had to take me to our doctor. I remember the doctor's office was actually closed, and we went into his office through the back door. No stitches, just butterfly bandages.

I had to have my tonsils removed. I remember going to the hospital, and I still remember the smell of the ether and slowing drifting to sleep. I did not stay overnight in the hospital. I was only to eat ice cream for awhile ... yummy!

I grew up with what I now call a nervous stomach. I would have stomach cramps whenever I was nervous about something. I could not tell you how many tests I had to make up because of missing school due to this problem. When I was younger I would go to my Mom's side of the bed and tell her my tummy hurt. I had this problem clear through high school, but it just disappeared after I graduated. I obviously did not receive a perfect attendance award!