Memories of Anna....505 Parade Street. We all have many Anna stories to share......sitting around her kitchen table.......lots of beer for the grown ups and Rola pop for the kids. Planters peanuts, swiss cheese in a dish with mold on it.........you just scraped off the mold and ate the good parts (I still do this). She introduced all of us to epicurean delights....boiled shrimp, lobster tails, good cuts of steak. I remember one time when she cooked duck....I remember not liking it. Does anyone remember when she would bake a whole roaster pan of chicken wings?
Going to Turnwald (aka Turners Farm) in the summer....Anna always brought the huge bag of Planters peanuts in the shell. When we had our reunion last year, little Pat and I tried to figure out a way we could have the peanuts in the shell......but made a grown up decision that it would be too much of a mess that we would have to clean up.
Anna was always ready and raring to go for any adventure or for a chance to visit her sisters, brothers, and nieces and nephews. She made many trips to our home in Houston.
I have in my house the bottle opener that she had at 505. Most beer bottles now are twist off, but the opener will always be here.
When I learned how to knit when I was about 10, Anna wanted me to knit her an afghan. She and I went to Trasks and bought pink and green yarn, and I proceeded to make a bunch of little squares. My mother sewed them together. While Anna was still in the house, she gave it back to me.....my daughter Robin has already called dibs on it.
On Christmas eve, after I was married and gone from Erie, I waited that night for the call from the gang at Anna's. After saying hi to everyone, I knew that the Christmas tradition was still alive and she made sure Iwas still part of it.
Remember the glass of dimes she collected and kept in her cupboard? When you reached a certain age, you were given a key to Anna's house....a rite of passage that you eagerly looked forward to......you were welcome at Anna's any time.
Anna loved her 15 nieces and nephews unconditionally.
5 comments:
I remember that in her later years Anna would often utter the phrase "ikki bikki boo".
Another thing that Anna liked to says was "Man proposes, God disposes".
...or how about "plowjockey"
Anna also got me hooked on knitting. When she decided to give up knitting she gave me all of her knitting needles, knitting books & the knitting tote that sat by her chair in the living room.
Speaking of her living room, Anna was the only person I have known that did not have a couch in her living room.
Anna was my mothers best friend. She spent every Sunday at our house. My dad picked her up after church. My mom & Anna would play cards for pennies. Of course they would argue. I found out, don't mess with the Crotty girls when they are playing cards. I seldom played with them only because I didn't like to play that often, but when my kids got older they would play poker with them. After a day of cards & eating Anna would ask my dad to take her home.
Several times I took Anna & my mom to play bingo. I'm not a bingo person but they enjoyed it.
Like Dede said, "Anna loved all of us unconditionally." I never told her that I loved her. Hope she knew that I did.
Just a note to say that Anna went to high school at St. Benedict's Academy.
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