Final Family News

It is now 1980 and I prayed to God to bless all with a good year.

I kept my Christmas tree up a little longer than usual because I had a few friends for lunch and I wanted the Christmas spirit to be around. They enjoyed the lunch.

After New Year's I went to the Closter's senior citizen meeting. They took our blood pressure free of charge.

In the beginning of January, my grandson Tony told me that he and his brothers and sisters were going to give their mother a surprise 50 year birthday party. Lorraine found out about the surprise and she stopped her children from giving her the party. Instead the family took her to a fancy restaurant for dinner and they gave her some lovely gifts. I gave Lorraine $50, one dollar for every year.

A few days after New Year's, I had Tony's family, except one daughter who was at college, over for dinner. I made dinner for eight of us. We started with homemade chicken soup, then a salad and a main course of roast beef, browned potatoes, corn, eggplant and peppers. Dessert was all kinds of cookies and coffee.

Later in the week I had a very dear friend of mine for lunch. She was going to show me how to make a woolen hat. I was sort of tired. I had done too much since Christmas, but I was happy that I was able to do all that cooking.

I was a little blue for a few days because my granddaughters left to go back home. Judy and Gary and their dog, Sasha, went to California. Sharon went back to her husband, Paul, in South Carolina. Denise went back to Maryland. It's a good thing I have a few good friends. That helps me feel better. At 74 you always wonder what next year will bring. God has been very good to me and I have good children. I'm very thankful for that.

The winter months are hard for me. The taxes, gas and electric, water, all keep going up. I have a tenant living in my house. That helps with my expenses.

In April, my calendar was full again. I went on trips with the senior citizens. On April 11, I went to Atlantic City for lunch and gambling. The lunch was good. I had never gambled before. I lost $25, but I had fun. I won't be doing that again for a long time.

On April 15, I went to the Pascack Hospital Auxiliary meeting. We all got chances books to sell. It was a raffle for a first prize of a $2,000 trip of your choice and second prize of a certificate for $200 at Stern's. I sold five books of tickets.

On April 24, the Pascack Valley Auxiliary had a penny auction. You paid two dollars and got a strip of numbers and put them in different cups. You also received cake and coffee. They also had tickets, three for $1.00 or seven for $2.00. Well, what do you know? I won a blanket, a table cloth, a brown summer jacket, two pretty pins and a ticket for two for lunch at a nice restaurant. That was a lucky day.

The night before Mother's Day, Phyl, Dino and one of their daughters came for supper. The other three daughters were out camping with the Girls Scouts. Ann, Dick and three of their six children also came for supper. There were nine of us. I cooked a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings. My sons-in-law were teasing me. They said, “What are you doing? Trying to show your daughters that at 74 you can still cook well?” I also received many beautiful Mother's Day cards from the children and grandchildren. I was a very happy mother.

May 11 was Mother's Day. My son John came to visit me and brought me a gift. Carmela came to pick me up for the 12:00 mass, and then we went home for a turkey dinner. At night Tony, Lorraine and Linda came to visit me. They also brought me Mother's Day gifts.

On May 17, I went to Troy, N.Y., with my son Tony, his wife Lorraine and their youngest, Linda. We went to see Barbara, Tony's fourth daughter, graduate from Russel Sage College as a nurse. We went to a ceremony where the nurses get their pins, then we went in the college yard to an outdoor party. The weather was beautiful. After the party we visited Barbara's apartment. Three girls share the apartment. They had three bedrooms, a living room, a large kitchen and a bathroom. The apartment was clean; the girls kept it nice. The girls were good hostesses. They made rolls with ham, cheese, mustard, mayonnaise and olives, beer and coffee. We left at 6:00 to check in at the American Hotel. Two years ago I had paid 32 dollars, this time it was 50 dollars, quite a jump. Lorraine said, “Mom, it certainly is cheaper to sleep in our own beds.” We checked in at 6:00 p.m. and left at 9:15 a.m. We took Barbara and her roommates to supper at 8:00 p.m.

May 18 was graduation day. It was raining, good thing the graduation was indoors. The place was full of people. When Barbara's name was called we all clapped and cheered with joy. She worked and studied hard to get her diploma.

Barbara is a small built girl. We all wondered how she would handle her patients. She was coming back home to live. If she could find a good paying job she would get her own apartment.

Tony paid for all our meals for the two days we were there. Three families all went to eat together, but each family paid for their own meal. It was nice, all of us together. The girls were thrilled they had their diplomas.

Tony had his fifth child graduate from high school on June 14, 1980. He also has a girl Linda who will be 16 years old and in her junior year in high school in the fall. She is their sixth child. Tony and Lorraine work hard to keep things going.

I am now stopping my writing until I am 75 on October 9, 1980. I have enjoyed my summer.