Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

So I left for home. And early, very early Saturday morning I got a call and was informed that I had a boy. [ed: April 1949] I was in seventh heaven. I was happy. I dressed and started for the hospital and it was a beautiful morning. The sun was starting to come out the sky was a beautiful rich blue with white clouds. It was a lovely picture. I got to the hospital and went to see mother. She was ok. tired rosy cheeks.

And I went to the babies' quarters. It was down the hall and they had a number of babies there and name tags on their cradles. I hunted for mine and there he was asleep. He was handsome and I said "well at the least you could open our eyes to see what your old man looks like." Not then. I went back to mother and we chatted and also making sure that we had every thing necessary for his homecoming .

Since the baby was a boy it was a sort of tradition. My father at one time told me that the men in the family had their first born, a boy for seven generations. If so he's the 8th.

Some day I'm going to trace my family tree all the way back to its origin if I can live that long. [ed. Well, Dad, I've been tracing the genealogy for you. I've gotten back as far as the early 1800s on the paternal side of your family. While it was a nice story about the first son having a first son, you should have known that was not correct. Your grandfather's first child was your aunt, Angelina.]

The time came to take the little guy home. Doris came by taxi and brought a nice roast dinner for us. She brought a section from her roast beef and the trimmings. We were flabbergasted. She said her children could share it. She did it so that Mary would not have to get into the usual housework right away.

Mother did have a hard time and she looked all done in. Yet extra happy. We wondered between Charlie and Doris and our parents who were the grandparents.

We set up the cradle next to our bed.And like all parents who were new to a new birth quite proud of our effort.

Well before the Boy came along our life was different. We both worked. And she had her women's club. And met at different houses including ours. Mother got very friendly with Mary across the street. And our next door neighbor. A wonderful young lady they had a boy and later a girl.

It was a wonderful area. The people were very social. We always had company around. The young couple next door to us was a lovely lady younger than us. Polish with one son who was a character. She and mother hit it off and it was not unusual for her to walk out of her house and walk on the porch to our side. It was also company for mother since I was a night college in those days

The Boy was also doing good and growing. We took him with us to our parents. My father would pick him up and let him play, bite on his pocket watch which was one of the best of its day and gold. He did not do that with any of us. So the grandson fitted well with his grandfather.

When The Boy was walking, whenever we went to my parents my father would take him to the Arianesi on Lubec St. [ed: My mother's parents were from Ariano. These would be her father's friends] They called my father Maestro, but he was proud of the Boy. Too bad that he did not get to meet his other grandfather as he died before the Boy was born. He did have his grandmother. [ed: maternal grandmother]