A trigger that takes me back - Sesame Street Theme Song

*I read recently on one of the blogs that I follow, when something triggers a memory, write it down as part of your story.

We have had this VCR tape for awhile.  I'm not even sure when we got it; probably when Marley was little.

Today, when Miriam was here, she wanted to watch this.  The minute it started I realized that every time I hear the Sesame Street theme song, you know the one...Sunny day, sleeping the clouds away, it brings me back to a certain memory.

The year was 1974, winter.  Kristen was about 18 months old and I was newly pregnant.  And sick.  

Now you have to remember that this was back before children's television was on all the time; even before VCR tapes.  I think Sesame Street came on mid-morning; the perfect time for me to have a "quiet time" on the couch.  

The minute Kristen heard that theme song, she would come running from whatever she was doing.  It was so fast-paced that it would keep her attention, and I got a chance to rest!

January 2017 Scrapbook Pages

On the weekend of January 21-22, 2017 I went to New York City with Marley, Kristen, and Kristen's mother-in-law Barbara. It was a combination of Christmas presents for everyone except Barbara, lol.  We had THE BEST time!

That same weekend, Mason had his first wrestling tournament.

Throwback Thursday - Paul's attempt at wine making!

This is a picture of a closet in the hallway of our first apartment, Belden Ct, Apt L4, Agawam, MA.  The date on the back of the picture is September 1970.

Paul was working at Rocky's and he bought a wine making kit and used it twice.  One time he used Welch's Grape Juice, and the other time he used apple cider from Derby's Cider Mill.  He followed the directions and then put it in the closet.  After a while it started to make a noise.  From my memories, it sounded like a big burp.  It was something called a fermentation lock, which allowed the gases to escape.

When it was finally "done", we tasted it and thought that it had come out bad.  Neither of us were drinkers, technically we weren't even old enough to drink, lol.  We had no idea what it was supposed to taste like, but we didn't think it was supposed to taste like that!

Years later, after having tasted "real" wine, we decided that maybe that wine wasn't bad, but the way it was supposed to taste.

Every time I think back on that story it brings a smile to my face.  I'm sure we had people over during the fermentation process when the wine "burped".  I wonder what we told them?

Happy Birthday Nan!

Today is my grandmother's birthday.  She would have been 116!

In honor of her birthday, I thought I would post some pictures of her childhood home, Chateaugay, NY, a tiny town near the Canadian border.  

In 1986, and again in 1987 we took her back there.  In one trip we went with my Aunt Esther and, I think, my Dad.  In the other trip it was me, Paul, Nan, and my Aunt Dot.

I'm so glad we took her there before her eyesight got so bad. 

The farmhouse was still there and the owner was working near the barn.  He stopped to talk to us and then had his wife come out.   My grandmother told them that she and her family lived there when she was young.  I wish we had asked them if we could go in.  

We also went to the cemetery in Malone, at Notre Dame church, where her parents are buried and also two baby girls who died in infancy.  

We drove around the downtown area and Nan told us where one or two of her brothers worked.  I wish I had taken notes because I have forgotten a lot of the things we saw. 

We also met a member of her family who still lives in Chateaugay.  We went to her house and talked with her but I can't remember who she was.  I sure wish I was doing my blog then!

In looking through old pictures I found some pictures that Paul and I had taken in 1998.  I had totally forgotten that we took a trip to Chateaugay then.  And actually, I really don't remember much about that trip, but the pictures show more of the barn and farm area.  

Paul and I have been working on the Bessette genealogy on and off for years.  In 2003 I found a Bessette message board on Ancestry.com and this is some of the information I found (Thomas Bessette is my grandmother's grandfather).  

"Thomas Bessette married Marceline Martin and he had a brother, Francis Bessette, that married Lucie Martin. Marceline and Lucie were sisters. Frank and Thomas came to Malone in the mid 1880s and built houses just outside the Malone Fairgrounds. Those two houses are still there today."

I really want to go back there again some time soon.  I want to find those houses.  I want to see if they have a Historical Society in Chateaugay, or at least Malone (the nearest city).  I want to see if the farm house is still there.  Maybe I can go in this time!

Happy birthday Dad and Jean (mom)

Jean Higgins and David Waite, November 6, 1948

In keeping with my new idea to post a picture of a family member on their birthday (I started this with Kristen in August 2016), here is a picture of my parents, both of whom had birthdays this week.

My dad was born on January 1, 1927 and passed away on December 9, 2012.  He would have turned 90 this week!

My mother was born on January 5, 1931 and passed away on December 31, 2010.  She would have turned 86 this year.  

I have often wondered what life would have been like if they had stayed married.  Obviously, it was not the plan that God had for my life.  I feel that, growing up with my grandparents and my aunt Dot, I had a much more stable life than my half-siblings, on both sides.  My grandparents were wonderful to me and I am so grateful that they stepped in to what must have been chaos when I was 9 months old.  

As I grew older, though, in some ways, I missed having a "normal" family life.  I always said that if and when I got married, I would definitely have a normal family unit, and I did.  

Since I have had grandchildren, though, I have appreciated my grandparents and especially my grandmother (my grandfather died when I was 14).  Life is a little harder as you get older, as in aches, pains, less energy, etc.  It has made me appreciate my aunt Dot more too.  She never married and lived at home with me and my grandparents.  She did all the fun things with me that younger parents do.  

Since it was my paternal grandparents that I lived with, I saw my father quite a lot.  Not so much with my mother.  It wasn't until I was in my 30's that I reconnected with her and I'm grateful that I had such a long time to get to know her.  I never called her mom.  I had never called anyone mom.  I really didn't call her anything, just hoped she was looking at me when I talked to her, lol!  But I feel as though we got to be good friends and I found that I really liked her.  

I used to think that I was so lucky that my grandparents took me in, and I was.  But now being a grandparent myself, I would do it for any of my three grandchildren in a minute!