MY COUSIN "ANNE"

 

 My cousin Anne and I were very close as children. I am the oldest,  then Monica, and then Anne.

 I remember staying at their home for the weekend and  her dad, Uncle Lou would take bread and us to the park. Uncle Lou would break up the bread and give it to us so we could feed it to the ducks. 
He was a very good carpenter and made Anne beautiful children's kitchen furniture. I loved it when we would play house together.
Uncle Lou also made me a beautiful children's table with two chairs that lasted me forever, I still had one of the chairs when I married, but now, years later I don't know what happened to it, for all I know it could be up in the attic as a treasure to be found.

 Anne was a bridesmaid in my wedding. She looked beautiful and represented the Mianzo side. I was the flower girl in her parents wedding and now years later she was one of my bridesmaids.

As the years past, our parents, uncles and aunts grew old, and in time passed away.  When my dad passed away the visits with his family were few and far between. When my mom passed away in 1995 , I was reunited with my Aunt Carm, Uncle Lou and my cousin Anne.

They came everyday to the funeral home, afternoon and evening, and coming down to my mom and brothers house. For not seeing them for years, but coming each day to the funeral made me feel so good and they were so comforting.  I felt connected in a way I can't explain.

I started to call my Aunt Carm every week, once a week and in calling her I was able to talk to Ann many times. Uncle Lou, Aunt Carm and Anne would meet us for breakfast, we would visit with them, and one time they came to our house where we took them to Glenn's custard, a very popular place and well known. They loved it and even took a quart home with them. Once we met them at my son, Brian's home in Freedom, and we went to a George Jones concert in Ohio, we all loved country music and had such a good time. 
We had a close relationship, and I loved being with Aunt Carm and Anne. Aunt Carm would tell all about my dad growing up, She told me how she wrote to her brothers weekly when they were in the service. We would go through photo albums together, and they would tell me all about different people who were relatives, but I did not retain it.

When Aunt Carm passed away, I was devastated, I felt a keen loss, I still kept in touch with Anne, but not as often as I did with Aunt Carm. It was hard to catch Anne at home, because Anne was a social butterfly. She loved going to see antiques, going out for a good dinner, running estate sales, working at the church baking, or frying fish. She was a hard worker, She was also a popular hair stylist for years downtown. 

She loved meeting up with her friends, going to house sales, and just spending time with them, and she was a avid reader when she was home.  She had a beautiful singing voice and knew all of the Italian recipe's from our family.

How she found the time to do all this is beyond me, but she did, even with all of her ailments, and she had plenty, she pushed herself to go to work, where she loved her clients and they loved her, she was very popular hair stylist.

She suffered with arthritis's, fibromialga, lupus, and many other painful ailments, but it never kept her down, she just keep moving like the energized bunny. I admired her spirit and her spunk.

I don't know when it started, but I was missing "family", not immediate family, but my cousins. After all, on my dad's side, only cousins were left. How would we ever know each other and keep tradition alive if we didn't see each or keep in touch with each other? I thought I would try to start the 1st Mianzo Cousin reunion. Once I started to plan it. I got really involved and excited. I called my cousin Anne, and Carmie.  
  
They both gave me addresses to get in touch with our other cousins who we really had not seen for quite a while, except that Anne kept in touch with Aunt Marge, and Carm kept in touch with Aunt Gerri and Wayne. Our Uncle Tony's son.

I asked Carmie to help me out and she and her family did. They looked for and rented the grove, Anne sent me information and I sent out the invitations, and got in touch with our cousin Frank from Kentucky, who found our long lost cousin Monica.
  
Frank found her while working on our family history. He has a lot of information on our family, but Anne is the one who knew everything in her head. Aunt Carm would tell her in some of their talks. She was a walking encyclopedia for the Mianzo history. I am so sorry that I never wrote down all she told me.

Our first reunion was wonderful. It was so great to see everyone, Monica along with her one daughter and family came up from North Carolina, Frank came with his wife and daughter from Kentucky. Aunt Marge was there with her family, Carmie and her family, my brother, all of my family and Anne and Te with her daughter Stephanie. It was a great time. I truly felt  the love among us. We were thirsty for family and we were able to quench it at our reunion. 

After I did  the first reunion with Carm, Anna Marie planned the 2nd and 3rd. Anne did not make it to the 3rd one though. So it has been a little over a year since I saw her last, though I talked to her on the phone many times.

Not to long ago Anne called me one day full of excitement about Stephanie, her neice. Stephanie was getting married, and Anne told me the dates to save. The date for the Bridal Shower and the Wedding.
 She was so excited for her and told me she went with them while Stephanie picked out her wedding gown. She wouldn't say what the gown looked like, only that Stephanie looked beautiful. 
Anne did not have children, so her sister's Te's children were like her own. There was nothing she would not do for them and she loved them with all her heart.

I was not able to go to the Bridal shower, but heard that Anne had a wonderful time and was so proud of her neice. The last time I talked to Anne, she was getting ready to go shopping with her good friend, Barb to get something else for the shower. She said she hoped I could make it and was looking forward to seeing me.
 
  Less than two weeks later she was in intensive care with a infection she was not able to pull out of. But she was a fighter and fought long and hard.

She is the new star I see in the sky tonight,  I will think of her when I hear a country western song, when I look at jewlery( that she loved), when I go to read a new book or when I forget and go to call her and then remember I can't.

My heart goes out to her only sister and her family. My prayers and thoughts are with them. 
 I feel bad for myself, because I have lost a dear cousin who made me laugh, talked with me for what seemed like hours on the phone, taught me to endure pain, and told me about our family, along with many other things.
  I will truly miss her, her smile and her laughter. 
 
Her spirit will be at the wedding she was so looking forward to. But she is free of pain now,  reunited with her family in God's heaven.

My cousin Anne (Ann), who loved her family with her whole being.
 

CHRISTMAS 1976, I REMEMBER

Christmas,  the time of year when everyone feels good will toward their fellow man. The time to celebrate our Lord's birth. A time for snow, mistletoe, secrets, and delicious aromas fillling the home.

As a child my Christmas was filled with all of this plus traveling to Grandma's.

For as long as I can remember we have traveled to Grandma's for the holiday. On Christmas morning my brother and I would wake up  early and run downstairs to the beautiful wrapped gifts that we could hardly believe were ours.

After opening our gifts, we would get ready for church, after church we would travel the hour's trip to Grandma's.After a few hours there we would be off to visit with our other Grandmother.

The years flew by and soon I had my own family.We lived close to our childhood homes then and our family was four, since our traveling time was short, there was no hesitation on our part to travel. More years went by, we moved farther away, and our family increased to six.

Our Christmases now seemed so hectic- getting up early, opening gifts, going to church and then traveling the hour's drive home.

Always at our destination there would be my Dad standing at the door looking for us. The smile on his face and that of my Mother always made the hustle and traveling worthwhile.

Our boys, now growing older, wanted to start spending Christmas at home, to have time to enjoy their gifts. They were tired of spending Christmas traveling.  

Last year we almost gave in and stayed home. It was very tempting to be able to have a leisurely Christmas day, but thinking of how our parents looked forward to having us spend the holiday with them, my dad putting up the train platform for his grandchildren. Making sure Santa Claus was there for the little ones, we dismissed the idea and went.

What a wonderful Christmas we had, starting with the traditional dinner and exchanging of gifts. With my Dad's rich baritone voice, my husband playing the guitar, we would close the day by singing  Christmas carols.  

This Christmas will be a lot different. No longer will my dad be waiting at the door, for he truly has traveled home.

 We will have beautiful memories this year and always, because we always traveled home for the holidays. 

Written about my dad and puplished in 1976.
Dee  

note;
my mom passed away in 1995, since then Christmas has never been the same. I always thought my parents would be around, I could never imagine a day with out them. I still miss them terribly.

My Beliefs and Philosophy of Life

My most important belief is in God. I ask God to walk beside me every day. He is my best friend. I can tell Him everything; I believe in Him and try to remember to thank Him for all He has bestowed on my family and me. Without Him, I am nothing. With Him, all things are possible. I can see His miracles all around me.  One of my favorite sayings are in a couple rooms of my home, they are, “As for Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord”. The other one I love is; “This Is the Day the Lord Has Made, Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad.”

 I learned most of my philosophy from my parents. One is the art of giving. They were always feeding neighbors, the neighbors knew what time my parents had dinner, and it was so ironic that is when they came to visit. If my mom was counting on leftovers for the next day’s meal, and someone came over, she generously fed them. That meant that she would have to make a complete new meal the next day. If a person was sick, or just got out of the hospital, there she was making a complete meal to take to them. I try to follow their example.

When my mother or both my parents baked, they would send me with a full dish of goodies to give to the different neighbors. I would not have to knock, because everyone’s door was unlocked back in the day.  In today’s world, the neighbors keep their doors locked. I am lucky if I see a neighbor, sometimes I think I live on a block where all of the houses are facades, (empty). I never see my next-door neighbors. If I would need a ride somewhere, and it was not an emergency, I can honestly say I would feel uncomfortable in calling a neighbor. Moreover, I would not even think about borrowing a cup or sugar or an egg, I would do without until I was able to go to the store. This is just how it is where I live.

 The street I live on was strange from the get-go. It had only six houses at the time, plus ours. We moved from a neighborhood where people were very friendly, and mostly always outside talking and stopping in for coffee, to a new development that was just starting to build up.

When we built our home and moved in, I heard that no one had coffee breaks together. That was depressing to hear, but in a few months. I became good friends with a woman who lived two doors away. My two younger children and hers played constantly together and my older two were able to make playmates.

My mother was very generous in gifting. If she were to buy a gift for someone, it had to be of the best quality. My Dad would give the shirt off his back if someone needed it. I do not know where they got the money, my mom stayed at home and my dad worked in the foundry, but they always seemed to be able to do what they needed to. I always admired them for that.

I learned friendliness from both my mom and dad. They had more friends than Carter had little liver pills. They had true friends, not just one or two, but many. Their home was always filled with family or friends. Family was very important to them. They kept in touch by phone or seeing them on the weekend.

That is where my love of family comes from. I would do anything for them.

 I try to live by “The Golden Rule”. Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you, and I always try to “Take Time to Smell the Flowers”.

 I know “This Is Not a Dress Rehearsal”; you only get one shot at life and “Time Waits for No One”

Those are just a few that I thought of when starting to write this.

I have learned a lot in my life so far, and every day it seems that I learn something new.

I have always been a good listener. I found that out on my own.  I noticed that when I was speaking, that some people, whether family or friends, did not listen, or else they would interrupt while I was speaking. It made me feel as if what I had to say was of no interest, or that I was not important enough for them to take the time to listen to what I was saying.

From that, I learned to listen when someone is talking to me. I give my undivided attention. I might be the only one that person might speak to that day. Maybe they live by themselves, with no one that calls to talk to them.  On the other hand, maybe like me, they could tell when no one listened.

My assignment for phase 3

Dee

I HAVE A PROBLEM



 I thought twice before picking this picture to use for my blog. Not because my two older sons are featured, but because of the "BOOKS" you can see.
If your thinking ,"she has a lot of books", your correct. Not only do I have a lot of books, but I have a lot of magazines.

In fact I have an overwhelming amount of books. Upstairs in my office/computer room, I have 4 bookshelves filled. Downstairs, as in this picture, I have one more bookcase like this, and two larger ones on each side of the fireplace.

My problem is,  I can't throw a book away. Even though bags of books went to the library, there are still more, many more, and some that no one would be interested in but me. It is hard for me to choose. Sometimes I become a child in play, going, enie, meanie, myni, mo, catch a tiger by the toe", you get the drift." which ever book my finger lands on, that is the one to go. I love all that I have, if I didn't, I would not have saved them.

Like all lovers of books, I love to browse in a bookstore. I could spend hours just looking. but, if  I see an interesting book or magazine, I buy it.  My husband says -"Why do you go into a bookstore, when you have so many?"  "Ah," I answered, "It would be like you going into a hobby shop, you just intend to look, but then find something you want to buy."

My books became a pain in the arse whenever I asked my husband to paint the living room. I looked at it as a day project.
 I didn't think it would be much of a problem at all. I was so wrong!
As always when my darling husband starts a project that should be easy, he makes it difficult. I should of remembered this, being married to him for 49 years and 4 months. (hm, I wonder if I am to type the words forty nine and four or leave them the way I have them?)
He is putting up crown moulding, plus he decided that the two large bookcases on each side of the fireplace will be replaced by the two little ones. He said "Books are overtaking our home",  you have to do something about this collection. 

All because I asked him to paint our living room - sigh. Oh, by the way, in case your wondering, he does not allowed me to paint.

We have a small home, I thought it was huge when we first built it. In fact we did not have enough furniture to fill it.  But, we have a small dining room and our living room is long and narrow, while our kitchen is a gallery kitchen. We don't have a family room downstairs, just the computer room upstairs. We have lived here since 1971 and raised our four sons here, but through the years, I have accumulated so much "stuff". 
ILast year I finally packed away my collection of McCoys, except for a few. I packed away all my lighthouses, except for a couple, and my tea pots.
Truly, I should just give them away or sell them, they are no use to me being packed away, I can't enjoy looking at them. I doubt if any of my sons would want them.

BUT! Today is the day!  I have heard the saying," if you haven't put on clothing in a year then get rid of it." I do that with no problem. But today this is what I intend to do with my books and magazines. I have been awake and at work since 6:30 this morning weeding through reading material upstairs in the office. So far I have three grocery bags full of magazines.

These are educational magazines on writing, and I kept them because of all the useful information they contain.  I haven't looked at them for over a year, so they are not very useful just taking up space in my bookcase.
The books on cancer were much more difficult to toss. I had to take my time and look through them to see if they were a keeper. I did toss some, but kept more then I tossed. I know some people who have had cancer throw away everything that reminds them of that time. I am not one that can do that, those magazines were a lifesaver at the time.

I have a long way to go, and I have to make a lot of room, so that the books I save from downstairs have a shelve home upstairs.

Now, I am taking a break. I'm downstairs with a hot cup of tea, and instead of playing games on my iPhone, I'm typing this. When I'm done, I will continue the process of elimination.  What would really be nice is for someone to come in and do it for me. In this way I would not have to pick the ones to stay or the ones to go.

Less is more, I know, and I am striving towards that today. Wish me luck.

IS YOUR STOMACH IN KNOTS?

 I play the radio a lot when I am home. I always have. I like to listen to 1320 AM. They play easy listening along with some of my type of oldies, and I put the radio on in the car to listen to music when I am driving.

Last Friday I had to be in Lower Burrell by 9am and in Fox Chapel by 10am. I was in Lower Burrell for about 25 minutes, that left me 35 minutes to get to my  meeting in Fox Chapel. It would be almost impossible to be on time.

 My stomach was in knots while I was driving, I kept hitting every single red light, or a back up of traffic, I was stopped at a red light, when on the radio came the theme song from the movie, "The High and The Mighty." No singing, just beautiful orchestrated music.

Without any thought, I felt myself relaxing, I could actually feel myself unwind and I let the music wash over me.
It's amazing what music, any type, can do to a person's frame of mind. This song was just what I needed. It calmed me down and I slowed down my speed, knowing it would be hard to get there on time. But, I actually reached Fox Chapel and the meeting on time. They didn't even start!

Back in the day, when my sons were growing up I use to listen to Jack Boget when he was the disc jockey on KDKA radio. I loved listening to his stories and his music. He now works for 1320 Am. I still find his voice soothing and his stories interesting.
 
Around Thanksgiving I kept an ear out  for him to play "There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays, by Perry Como. It was a song for Thanksgiving, and also Christmas. When I heard this play I would get all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that our family's would be together.

The Thanksgiving holiday focused on Thanksgiving. Sure, we would have candles in our windows, but we would have decorations for Thanksgiving up, not Christmas decorations like most people do today.

The exciting things most people did that day was to watch the Thanksgiving parade on television. We would make sure the boys would see Santa arrive in the parade before we would leave for home, or we would leave for home early enough for them to watch it on TV there. The other excitement was the football games played on TV. The guys would be all gathered around the tube watching the game, yelling if something went good or hollering if something didn't go the way they wanted.

The kids would play flag football outside if the weather was nice, or with their cars and trucks inside if it was to cold. 
The women? Guess where they were? Yes, your right. In the kitchen with all the dirty dishes and clean up. It was fun though, because the women all pitched in and talked about different things while cleaning up. With everyone talking it went fast.

My parents and my husband's lived an hour traveling time from Springdale, but they only lived 15 minutes away from each other.  We would pack up all four boys, diaper bags, toys and drive to my parents home first. They always had dinner around 1 o'clock. My grandmother, aunts and uncles would be there to share in the feast.

All to soon it would be time to go, but, oops, we were late for dinner at my in-laws. We were to be there at 5. Even though we started to get ready at 4:30, by time we had everyone dressed, and packed up toys, etc., it was almost 5. Thank goodness my husband's parents understood, because they always waited for us before they started to eat. We had to force ourselves to eat, because we were still full from the first meal.

In previous years Thanksgiving was celebrated by itself, not thrown in during Halloween or squeezed in with Christmas.

In my opinion, it is a sad state of affairs to see Thanksgiving being pushed by the way side. Really a turn off when you go into stores, and along side the Halloween decorations they have Christmas decorations. Then the Thanksgiving decorations are squeezed in beside the overpowering Christmas decorations.

Not only that, but the stores are open! Oh yes, they entice the people to the stores with large advertising on TV, and in the newspapers about their sales. People end up fighting and falling over each other so they get the so called "big buys".

What will the future hold for celebrating Thanksgiving?  Will our children treat it as just another Sunday meal, if they still have Sunday meals?
Will they be flying to the moon to celebrate? Or ,by some chance will they realize what a wonderful holiday Thanksgiving is and celebrate it like it should be?

What do you think?

this home is where I grew up from 5yrs til the day I married at the age of 20 in 1963.

A Cup of Soup and Love

When I was ill as a child, my mom would make special dishes to ease my stomach and entice me to eat.

 Of course the one thing she would always make was home made Chicken Noodle Soup.  The chicken breasts would go into a large pot of water and left to boil. Mom would skim off the fat when it would rise to the top of the pot.
 
Once the chicken was done, she would use a large slotted spoon to take the chicken out to cool and then pulled all of the meat off. 
While the chicken cooled, the carrots, celery, onion, plus seasonings would be added to the broth, then the chicken. 
It would simmer on the stove and pastina would be added at the end.
The  flavorful smell filled the house, making your taste buds water. Even if you were not sick, you still wanted to have a bowl of that scrumptious soup.

One of the most unusual soft meals made for me was a 3 minute egg and 2 slices of dry toast. The toast was broken up into small pieces and the egg and toast mixed together. It tasted delicious.
My mom also made jello with bananas. I would drink water, tea and gingerale. Depending on what was wrong with me determined if I would get ice cream or not.

Back in the 50tys, home made eggnogs were a popular drink. My mom didn't think twice about using eggs to make it. The way my mom made them was so delicious. Here is the recipe:
 She used milk, two raw eggs beaten until foamy, along with vanilla and sugar. This would make about 2 glasses. I always wanted to have one, and my mom would let me make my own. I can still remember standing by the kitchen table and using the egg beater.
I use to make them for my sons when they were younger.Today I don't make them, because I don't trust the eggs. I do miss drinking them though.

When my sons were sick, I would get a sheet and cover the couch with it, a fresh pillow case on the pillow and a nice snugly blanket. They would lie there till bed time. This way  I could keep an eye on them. They could watch television if they wanted or just sleep. In those days, we had one television. Not like today, where there is one in every room. I gave them a little bell to ring if they needed me.
I would make them the toast and eggs when they were ill, and yes, of course Chicken Soup. I made jello with bananas for them also. I bought them Juicy Juice to drink and gingerale. Back in the day, Juicy Juice didn't exist.

 I know now my mom made all of this with love. The cool washcloth she would lay on my forhead when I ran a fever. The spunge bath she would give me, serving me the food on a tray.

I know I took it for granted,  I should of gave an extra hug or kiss, said thank you for making the good dishes so I would feel better. For making my bed on the couch, and for covering me up with a special blanket. I remember feeling safe and secure, like nothing would happen to me because my mom was taking such good care of me.  

What do you remember about your mom doing when you were ill as a child?

A RUSH OF EMOTION

Have you ever felt a rush of emotion engulf you?  It happens to me quite often.
 Like this morning, I was listening to the radio while driving, and the song, "Puff the Magic Dragon" came on. I immediately felt this rush of love for my brother in law and his son, Suren. At first I could not put my finger on it, but then I realized I was feeling happiness for both of them having each other. All because of hearing a song.

One time, not to long ago, the song  "The Marvelous Little Toy" was playing on the radio, and hearing it, this melancholy feeling of love for my husband and sons came over me, as  I remembered back to Christmas's of long ago, when my husband would sing this song to our 4 sons.

Some music inspire me to pray, I pray fervently all because of a beautiful melody."Why Me Lord" - Sunday Morning Coming Down" are just a few.

When I hear polka's,  I have to admit to feeling sad, because of all the wonderful times spent with my family on Sundays past.I remember the good times we had at our Italian weddings, and  I can see in my mind everyone at my parents home, sitting at the round Formica table, extra chairs put around so everyone could fit. Talking and laughing about one thing or another. Sometimes my dad and uncles would start singing to the polkas, or just start singing. Remember " Tic ,TicTic, Tock Goes the Clock on the Wall?"
Or how about, "I Don't Want Her You Can Have Her, She's to Fat for Me?"?

 "Always" was my mom and dad's song from the forties. the words are beautiful. I had songs for my sons. songs like, " I Can't Smile Without You," " You Light Up My Life"--,"You Belong To Me",  :One Moment in Time", -  "Desiree " was, and still is our song, and as the years past, we added "Through The Years".   For my first grandchild I always sang to her ,"You Are My Sunshine" and "I love You a Bushel and a Peck" , so then it became the songs I sang for all 7 of them.

Songs do strange things to me, usually good things. I always feel better when I am playing music. Music inspires me. I clean better, I bake better, I do everything better.  I don't mean all types of music. I am into Country, Easy Listening, Oldies, George Strait and Neil Diamond. When these sounds fill my home, I am happy. 

Music has always been a huge part of my life. My parents played music on the radio daily when I was growing up. My dad was a great singer, and I married a guy who plays musical instruments and to me has a great voice. Dancing was right up there with the music, they go hand in hand, and we love to dance. We never won a dance contest together, but we each won separately with other partners.

My husband wrote the song and music for our first born son, "On September 5th". Sometimes we still start singing it.
 He also wrote a polka for me called "The Dolores Polka".  

The boys got involved early on  in their lives with music, playing instruments, listening to music, and dancing. 
A Dad and His Lads music group was formed when the boys were young. They played for the high school, churches, at Christmas events, and today still play together, they are now known as "The Family Tradition Band". They play for fund raisers, parties, birthdays and for themselves.

If your wondering what my part is in all of this, I can tell you that I am one proud wife and mom. I am not a singer, nor do I remember how to play the piano, except for one song. Heart and Soul, that is the extent of it. I sit back and enjoy my family when they are performing.
How does music affect your life?