Thursday, September 11, 2008

Grandma Smith


My mother (Lucille) related the following anecdotes to me about her grandmother Lucy Horrigan Crotty Smith.


Once when my mother and her brother John were pretty young, their grandmother gave Johnny some money to go up to the corner store to get a half dozen of some kind of sweet treat. On the way back from the store, Johnny was so excited that he ran down the street saying "We each get two! We each get two!"


In her later years, grandma Smith's room at 509 was at the front of the house, which was originally the living room. Whenever one of her grandchildren would go by in the dining room, and she saw them, she'd tap her cane on something and exclaim "Oy-ye! Oy-ye! Come here". So, being little kids, they tried to avoid going through the dining room.


There was a Mrs. Riley who lived in the neighborhood. She was hired to come each evening and get grandma ready for bed. She'd stay with her through the night, and then help her get dressed in the morning.


P.S. The "We each get two" phrase stuck with my mother, and she often used it throughout her life. For example, if she made cookies for desert, she'd say that "We each get two".
P.S.S. Grandma Smith was a businesswoman. She owned a tavern on State Street between 4th and 5th, and then I believe the tavern just east of State Street on East 5th. She built the big house at 509 Parade as well as the five look-a-like 'cottages' on 5th and Parade, which she rented out. I also believe she owned a house near 7th and Parade.