I am finding that writing about your own parents is extremely difficult. My mother, first and foremost a Crotty. A complex person to say the least, but I think that is a trait that all the Crottys shared. The picture above is from her Senior year at East HS (1928-1929). Note in the yearbook entry her nickname was Tinny. I believe that the one on the right was taken by the family photog, Tom Barron, probably in the 1940's.
An extremely smart woman.........she was valedictorian of her HS graduating class, but froze and couldn't give her speech. She had a scholarship to Villa Maria College, but elected not to go.........she said they were snobs. She worked during WWII at the Lord Corp. The Navy took over Lord's during the war and she was a secretary for a Navy man there. (thanks for remembering this, Richie!)
My earliest memories of Mom are in the kitchen at 411 East 5th St. Don't remember what she was cooking or doing, but I remember her being there. I also remember Richie, Tommy, and I playing in the back shed on 5th Street.
When we moved to Eagle Point, my memories are also of the kitchen. (food thing again!) Each Monday she did laundry.......if it was nice, the clothes got hung outside....in inclement weather, they were hung in the basement. Tuesdays were ironing day.
The most memorable part of Mondays was that she would bake.When she baked, it was all from scratch....Mayonnaise cake, spice cake, apple pie, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, nut bread. I have most of these recipes on note paper in my mothers handwriting....priceless.
I would climb on the chair and watch her. We talked, but I don't remember about what. One distinct memory was the smell of vanilla.......I loved to smell it and thought it would taste wonderful. She gave me a taste and of course it was awful! I still love the smell of vanilla and it reminds me of my mother. She also used to let me eat chocolate chip cookie dough. When she baked a pie, she would take the leftover pieces of the crust, spread some butter and cinnamon sugar on the pieces. I would then get to roll them up, and she would slice them and then bake them. I thought I was baking and they were wonderful!! I also remember waldorf salad.............I have not had this since I was a kid. We used to have either parnips or turnips on Thanksgiving day.
On particularly sharp memory is going out to play in the snow....coming in to the house freezing!! I would stand on the register to toast my feet..I would then sit down and Mom would rub my feet. She always had dry warm socks waiting for me to put on..........she would lay them on the register until I came in the house.
As I became a teenager, I was convinced that my mother didn't know anything..........boy, was I wrong! After I married and Kevin was born, I truly realized that mothers know just about everything. When Kevin was about 3 months old, he had a bad upper respiratory infection....he wouldn't take a bottle. I called good old Mom. She told me to just feed him his formula from a spoon...she reminded me his nose was all stopped up and when you stuck a bottle in his mouth, he couldn't breathe. I tried it and it worked.
Mom has been gone over half of my life. I still think of her often.
3 comments:
I remember mama in the kitchen on 5th street with her new pressure cooker. It made delicious food, but I can remember dad sitting at the table with his fingers in his ears and his eyes scrunched tight in anticipation of the thing blowing up (which was not unheard of with pressure cookers).
She also made a meal called Friday spaghetti. It had a very delicate sauce. We had fried eggs with it.
When I was 2 or 3, mom would tell me the story of Cinderella at bedtime. Each night she would retell the story embellishing and changing small details. She would describe the gown of Cinderella as pale yellow or soft blue. The descriptions were so vivid, they actually came to life in my imagination.
Nancy
I have the Friday spaghetti recipe also!! I also remembe rthat she used to make mashed potatoes with it (I wouldn't eat the fried eggs)
My earliest memory of Virginia was when I was very young.
Nancy & Virginia were living at 509 Parade & I was spending the night for my first sleep over. Virginia read Nancy & I a story then tucked us in for the night. I remember becoming home sick & started to cry. Virginia held me & tried to convince me that every thing would be alright. Before I knew it my dad, Harry, was there and I decided to go home with him.
I remember Virginia smiling alot at the family gatherings. She was much quieter than most of the Crottys.
Like all of her married sisters she was a a devoted wife, mother, excellent cook & took pride in taking care of her family & home.
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