Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Childhood memories

I have been meme by Sen, it was to list 5 childhood memories ,

1. My summers at Pt. Burwell on lake Erie, my Grandma had a trailer there. Every weekend my Grandma would load her big brand new Chrysler New Yorker and drive as many kids as we could cram into that big boat. Seat belts were not an issue , I just dated myself, so we would even sit on each other's lap. My Grammie would turn on the radio, it had a reverbarator on it so it sounded almost like it echoed, she would crank up the tunes and we would sing at the top of our lungs(usually the Bee Gees,still love em'). We would unload at the south beach, have Sammie's french fries and a coke, swim and then all sandy we headed home in what I called the bat mobile, I still hear the radio in my head and my Grandma singing.

2. This may gross out some readers-beware, told ya so.
My father is a Paramedic, when I was 8 the paremedics used to be privatized, they were not government run. So the company my Dad worked for also had a body removal service, they would pick up deceased persons and take them to funeral homes or airports ect. My dad would pick me up from school(yes, it did gross out my friends, they thought I was whacked)in the body buggy, as I referred to it and we would pick up and deliver. My dad and I would have our best chitty chats in the buggy because , well, it wasn't like anyone could hear us or give away secrets. I remember on trip on the infamous 401, my Father hit upon an accident and we made a very sudden stop, lets just say thank goodness I was a short child and the headrests were tall. Or maybe it was the time when my dad was taking someone from a small town hospital and he had to take the deceased down an icy ramp in January, I think you can get the picture. I think what I loved most about these memories other than the talks is that I did learn life lessons, my father showed such respect for his job, there was the occasional ggigle but it was to keep the job light or it could of become a serious stressor in his life because of the sights he had to see. He also went to the deceased homes if they had to be taken out and sometimes they had been there a very long time or perhaps it might have been ruled a suicide, this was always very tough. The company also did the "clean" up, I could go if the home or the scene was appropriate.

3.Saturday mornings with my Grandpam, after a back bacon and egg breakfast (his with stinky blue cheese, do people actually eat that stuff?), we would cuddle on the front room couch where Grandpa would drink his aromatic black coffee and read the newspaper. After that we would head down the street to my Uncles grocery store and I could get penny candy, boy you could get a fist full back then for a dime.

4. My Mom used to be a hairdresser many moons ago and I can still remember all the times she would experiment different and new styles on my head, many colors, many lengths and to this day i am still in therapy from the relentless ribbing and teasing. Sitting with my Mom while she experimented was great , she would usually manage to get the scoop on new boyfriends, who of my friends was doing what , that sort of thing. It was good bonding time, my Mom is only 16 yrs older than me so sometimes it felt like I was telling my secrets to my older sister, I would have to shut it and catch myself before I got in too deep.

5.Our family time in Florida, we would go down every year for the month of February, my grandparents were already down there for the winter months(snowbirds).I fondly remember Disney World, Bush Gardens and there was one special place we would go and I can't remember the name, something like the Kaypock Inn(maybe someone in Florida can help me out here). It was beautiful old home with majestic gardens, the food was to die for.
I would love to send this on to ,
1. Rony, The Ghelerter Twins

10 comments:

Alyson and Ford said...

What great memories!
The Kapok Tree Restaraunt was in Clearwater, Fl. I was there once back in 1973. The tree and building are supposedly still there.

Alyson

Polar Bear said...

Sounds lik MANY great memories. The time spent with your dad is priceless. I had to giggle at some of that story. I can only imagine what that 'quick stop' must have been like. :)

Thanks for sharing.

crazylady said...

Crapola girl,
I had to stop at number two and have a coffee (or two). You rode shot gun to bodies, and I ate leaves from a yard. That is why you are so interesting!
Glad this meme gets the skeletons out. Thanks for joining.
Your momma must be gorgeous?

When can we see you guys this summer?

"M2" said...

OMG!!!!!!!!
So-- my grandparents had a winter place in Fl. as well--we ended up staying one year and lived there for 15 years.
The restaurant is in Ft. Lauderdale no???
I don't know if there's one in Clearwater or not
but.... as a kid....... this was my favorite place in the world.
They gave me virgin drinks in a funky glass with a cherry in it, and I got to keep the glass.

I loved... going there. I think we'd go for wedding dinners and stuff.
Kapok tree or something like that.
I'm gonna go ask my mom and get back to you.

insanemommy said...

My mom had a "bat mobile" as we girls called it. Big ole stretch Mercury Marquis. She thought she was styling too... ha ha

Hauling dead bodies... Just like in "Six feet under".

Yep, this girls loves blue cheese. Stank and all...

Florida... well I call it home as that's where my family has been the past 25 years. But as a kid I use to spend the entire summer with my grandparents as their summer home (trailer park) in Kissime Florida. I would play shuffle board (and win) with the old people. Lot of funny stories from that park. Kind of like our version of "Desperate Housewives" back then...

Love your list.

I'll get cracking on mine...

Rony

Day Dreamer said...

We went to Disney World almost every summer. I lived for about five years in Marietta, Georgia. We had so much fun, there. Esp loved Epcot and the countries....

Nikki said...

Wow Kerri,
Those were wonderful childhood memories. Sounds like you had great relationships with your family members -- very cool. And only a 16 year difference between you and your mom? that must've been VERY interesting. (reminds me of "Gilmore Girls" -- did you ever see that show? It was one of my favorites!

aimeeg said...

Sounds like wonderful memories!

We used to spend Saturday mornings at my grandmother's house as well. Lots of warm memories there.

"M2" said...

I checked, it's Kapok Tree
mom said it was sorta Hawaiian type theme... and they were famous for Mai Tai's and we got to keep the glass..

and to add: my mom was a stylist too and I know what being experimented on is like very well. We had color go bad right before prom, purple hair...
mine is 18 years older than me.

Never had to deal with dead anyone though.

kerri said...

thanks for checking on the Kapok tree for me, it has a lot of special mmories for me. I really liked the hand in hand walks after dinner with my Grandpa.
Something we have in common, our Moms, that is too cool(lucky aren't we).Thanks for the visits!!