September 2016 Scrapbook Pages

Happy 92nd birthday Dot!

This was my Aunt Dot's favorite car, her 1959 Chevy Impala.

It was a convertible and I remember it so well.  I remember when the Mass. Turnpike opened in our area, Dot, my grandmother and I went for a ride on it from West Springfield to Lee.  I was so afraid that the ticket would fly out of the car and we would be in deep trouble.  They both laughed and said I was silly and that the ticket would be safe.

I also remember many times riding to my aunt Esther's house in Salem, NJ.  We would always leave after supper, around 6 pm, and arrive at my aunt's house about midnight.  I remember the first time I went over the George Washington Bridge in Dot's convertible.  It was almost surreal - night time with all of the lights on the bridge, being up so high with the wind whipping at us.  It's something I think I will always remember.  One time my Dad came with us and the wind was so strong that he wore a kerchief on his head while we went over that bridge.

In later years Paul and I bought Dot a car model of her 1959 Chevy.  She still has it in her room at her nursing home.

Happy birthday Dot!

My Aunt Ettie

This is my Aunt Esther (I have always called her Ettie).  My grandfather had hunting dogs for many years and I am sure this must be one of them.  I wish I could remember the name.  Ettie has been having memory problems, along the same line as Dot, recently.  I wonder if she would remember her dog's name?

This picture reminds me of a funny story.  When I was a kid, one day I was rummaging around my grandmother's attic and came across a brown paper bag in one of the trunks.  I stuck my hand in the bag and nearly freaked!  I quickly took my hand out and looked in the bag.  There were two long, blond braids, intact, in there.  I found out later that they were my Aunt Ettie's.  I can't imagine what her hair looked like after just cutting off the braids, lol!

Throwback Thursday - Johnson's Bookstore

One of my favorite memories of downtown Springfield is Johnson's Bookstore.

My first memory of this store was going to visit Santa Claus downstairs in the toy department.  I remember the doll selection that they had.  I was in awe!

I remember one day while I was riding my bike on my street, I found a $10 bill.  My grandmother let me keep it as there was really no way to find out who it belonged to.  I went to Johnson's Bookstore and bought a Tiny Tears doll!

My next memory was when I was a young teenager.  My friend Cheryl Walker and I would get dropped off downtown and one of the things we would do was to go to the record department in Johnson's Bookstore.  They had a little listening booth where you could listen to a record to see if you wanted to buy it.  Sounds so strange now, don't you think?  Anyhow, we would bring records in there to listen to, not necessarily buy!  We would stay there until we got told to move along by one of the sales people.  Then we would ride on the elevator.  Johnson's had one of the only elevators in the city (that I remember anyway) that didn't have an attendant to drive it.  You could operate it yourself.  So much fun.

As we got older, we would buy stationery and check out the Secondhand Bookshop (also a part of Johnson's) which was in a separate building behind the main store in the back alley.  Paul and I used to go to that used bookstore too.

I was so sad when it closed.

At the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Quadrangle in Springfield they have exhibits of old downtown Springfield businesses.  One of the exhibits is about Johnson's Bookstore.

Good memories!

Happy 38th birthday Janelle!

This is what I wrote in my blog on December 7, 2004, almost 12 years ago. Marley was 3 years old.

"Janelle and Marley - Marley just absolutely loves Janelle. From the minute she gets here Marley just showers her with hugs, kisses, pats, and loves. Poor Uncle Mark definitely takes a second set to Janelle. Mark said it's probably because she reminds Marley of a Barbie doll. She even had a barbie doll she named Barbie Janelle. Marley loves to brush and comb Janelle's hair, and tonight she wanted to put pony tails in Janelle's hair but she said she didn't know how. Janelle said she could teach, so she tried to show her how by taking a strand of her own hair and showing her how to put the hair in the middle of the elastic band. Poor Janelle, her head got a little abused, but the feeling seems to be mutual - Janelle seems to really enjoy Marley too!"

Happy birthday Janelle! Thanks for being such a big part of our family!

Happy 42nd Birthday Mark!

Back before ultrasounds were done as a regular part of prenatal care and you were able to know the sex of your baby, it was a surprise at birth whether you had a girl or a boy.

Because I had already had a girl, I just thought I would have another girl (talk about naive!).  We had a girl's name picked out, Amy, but we could not agree on a boy's name.  Paul wanted Peter.  Now I like the name Peter, but not with the last name Radtke.  Peter Radtke?  I imagined him standing at the bus stop and being teased by the other kids, "Here comes Peter Rabbit".  No it would not be Peter!  I wanted Mark.  We never did come to an agreement because, after all, we were having another girl!

So, when the doctor said, "It's a boy", I said, "Are you sure?" (must have been the medication, lol).  Before the name discussion could even come up again Paul said, "Do you still want to name him Mark?  You get to choose, you did all the work".  I knew it was probably said in a weak moment, but I went with it, and he was named Mark Edward Radtke.

It was another story with Kristen.  She was 2 yrs and 1 week old, and expected us to bring home a sister, Amy. Someone (probably my mother-in-law) bought her a doll and we called her Amy.  Even so, she called him Amy brudder for quite awhile!

Happy birthday Mark!