When Mom was little she used to sit by the roadside with her friend and her black cat named, well lets just say the N word, back then it was slang not derogatory. They would watch the rich people go by in their cars and carriages. They would play with daisies and shoot the flower off and chant “a mother had a baby and it’s head popped off”. I like to imagine Mom like this. She also told us how Grandma would make them bread and mustard sandwiches for school because that was all they had in the house. They would tell the other kids it was peanut butter so no one would laugh. Imagine Mom starting work after 8th grade. Remember how we would ask her how to spell a word and she would say look it up in the dictionary? She was the best speller ever , but she wanted us to take advantage of our education. I just told Dad the other day she was one of the smartest people I ever met. She always wanted to be a fashion designer, that is probably why we had many homemade clothes, she loved to sew for us. The reason she had to quit school was to support the family. Uncle Sunce wanted to go to High School so Grandpap said Mom as the girl was not permitted to complete her education. Next time a story about the job she had next door to the brewery, the recently closed Penn Brewery.

Mom talked about how she went to Allegheny General Free Clinic to have Ted’s ear checked when he was a baby. She was on a program called Mother’s Assistance with provided little financial support. She, Jan and Ted were all walking back to her apartment on Lovett Street. She saw all of her furniture on the sidewalk due to non payment of rent. During her difficult times Aunt Gus and Uncle Al offered to adopt or take in Jan and Ted. Mom remained adament that they remain a family. She always said the best thing in her life was marrying Dad. She loved him not for taking her away from her sad situation but because he loved her and the children unconditionally. They knew each other because of Aunt Ann and Uncle Sunce. His family was not supportive of their friendship, but she said Grandpap was always kind to her. I still tear up when I think of Mom gazing at Dad when he did not know she was talking about him. She would say “he is such a good man”.

When Dad was 17 he was hired to work a a big car dealer on Baum Blvd. He was the prep person for cars. He would walk to work to save the trolly fare of several cents. He worked on many beautiful cars. This was one of the biggest car dealers in Pittsburgh. Another job was near the Market House on the Northside. One day as he approached the building several other workers said “Chuck, don’t go in there”, he stayed back and watched as the business was raided for illegal trafficking. The sad part was he never got paid for working that week.

Dad shared another story about the area near Lambros. There used to be a speakeasy named the Green Goose. The owners had a big Packard with bulletproof windows (Dad always adds the car description!) The driver would go to Erie during Prohibition and obtain stock from Canada. When the Feds came in to break up the the stock they poured the “hootch” in the gutters. Many people gathered downstream, near Grandma and Grandpap’s to catch a free drink. I asked Aunt Ann about the Green Goose, she lit up and started laughing about this memory.