Remembering A Trip to Niagara Falls

On the 26th it will be five years my dear husband has passed away. Lately, I have been thinking quite a bit of him and the trips we took together. One trip comes to mind. It is the trip we took to Niagara Falls about 19 years ago with Mr. and Mrs. Francisco. Mr. Francisco was a florist in Tenafly, N.J. We traveled nine hours by car.

On our way up we stopped in Newark, N.Y., to see Jackson and Perkins, home of the roses and flower gardens. It has tall blue spruces lining the background. It has acres and acres of land. Rose plants are planted in such a way that they look like sceneries. There are all kinds of roses and all colors. We even saw black roses. In the gardens are white tables and their store display is enormous. You can buy any garden tools you need. They have men working around. They show you anything you would like to see. They also explain about the different plants. You can also put your order in for rose bushes so that you can resell them. I am so happy we stopped because it is a lovely place to see. After three or four hours we traveled on to Niagara Falls.

The falls are very interesting. You can put a raincoat and hat on and get on a motorboat. The boat will take you under the falls for a small fee. We walked all around and saw many things, but we didn't go into Canada. I was thrilled to see so much water come down from such high cliffs.

At night time we went and stayed at a hotel. Mr. Francisco wanted to help me, so he took my suitcase. As he was carrying it, my suitcase flew open and everything fell on the sidewalk, my girdle, brassiere, nightgown and all. He was so embarrassed, he quickly picked everything up and closed the suitcase. I was mortified. When I went into the hotel room I got the surprise of my life. The room's ceiling and furniture were all painted the same color, brown with white spots all over the place. It made me feel dizzy. We got undressed and went straight to bed. It was late. It is a good thing we stayed there only one night.

We left early in the morning and went to have breakfast at a restaurant. We had juice, bacon and eggs, toast and coffee. We stayed at a different hotel after that. On our way back home Mr. Francisco took a different route. We went through all the towns giving us an idea of how the people lived. We stopped at Five Finger Lakes. It is a nice quiet place. We stopped and had lunch there. We walked all around. We also stopped at a high place where you could see the whole valley below. What a lovely sight.

My husband and I, and Mr. and Mrs. Francisco enjoyed our trip very much. The two men were both hard workers and it was good for them to be away for a while. The two men sat in the front seat. Mrs. Francisco sat in the back with me. We chatted away as two ladies usually do. I am so happy I have some nice memories of the different trips Tony and I took together.

Last night my son John took me to put flowers on his father's grave. He is buried in Madison, our old home town. We own eight plots. His headstone has roses engraved on each side of the stone. There is also an Alpha and Omega, the sign of the beginning of life and the end of life. We found geraniums and petunias on my husband's grave. His sister Louise lives near the cemetery. She is a florist. Her mother, my mother-in-law, is buried with my husband. We ended up having too many flowers, so we put some on my parents' grave and some on my daughter-in-law's parents grave, a few on a sister-in-law's grave and a few on a brother's grave. John really worked hard that night. My son Tony grew all these flowers in his hot houses. He gave me all the flowers free. He is good hearted, like his father was.

The whole graveyard looked clean. The grass had just been cut. It looked like a green carpet. Everyone had their graves looking their best, because on the following Sunday they were having an outside mass right in the middle of the graveyard.

I thanked John wholeheartedly for taking me down and doing all that work. I said to John, “I'm sure they will all intercede to God to watch over you for taking care of their graves.”

It is sad in a way because my husband has missed so much that has happened in the family, good and bad. Life is not a bed of roses. Roses have thorns, also. We have to climb hills and go down. The children and grandchildren all loved him and miss him very much. That is the way of life.

I had a five o'clock mass said for my husband on a Saturday. Some of the family attended. Ann and Dick couldn't make it. They had to pick up their daughter Marie and take her home from college in New York state for summer vacation.

After mass we all went to my son Tony's home for a party. It served two purposes. It gave us a place to gather after the mass, and then we were there to celebrate Tony, Jr.'s, graduation from college.

Lorraine made baked ziti. She had all kinds of cold cuts laid out. She also had hard rolls, rye bread and coleslaw that I had made. It is traditional that I make the coleslaw for the parties. I make it the Italian way with sliced cabbage, grated carrots, chopped celery, chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Then I mix it with oil and vinegar and toss it all up. Last I decorate it with hard boiled eggs, sliced tomatoes, and circles of carrots.

When I got home I found my son John cutting part of the lawn. His second son, Steven, was 20 years old today. He has an old car in my two car garage. He was working on the motor of his car. He kept asking his father all kinds of questions about motors. His father knows quite a bit about fixing cars.

At night I went to the five o'clock mass. Tonight I feel really blessed.