independence days past

There is so much I want to say, but every time I’ve tried, I start crying.  For what happened yesterday in Washington DC and what it will mean for our country and for me.  I still cannot wrap my head around how a massively dishonest, unbelievably ignorant, and reprehensible thing got elected a second time, let alone how his popularity seems to be unstoppable.  Along with his evil agenda.  

But, like I said, I am too emotional to write unemotionally about that.

So, instead, I’ll write about Fourth of July’s past.  Back when there were no major worries, life was beautiful, and I was young.  

When I was an adolescent girl, after my mother had remarried, I found myself with four ready-made cousins. (And two to come.)  Two boys and two girls:  Kenny, Kathy, Karen, Kerry. Last name Korous.  Could be where my love of alliteration started. 

On July 4th, all the families would gather at Grandma Tillie’s home in Berwyn.  A beautiful brick bungalow.  The families were:  my mom, Joan, step-father, Don, two half-brothers, Donnie and Mike, my maternal grandmother, Myrle, and her mother, Emma, and yours truly; my step-father’s younger brother, Jim, and his wife, Lillian, their son, Jamie, and daughter, Jill, and Lillian’s parents, Martha and Walter; and the older brother, Arthur and his wife, Bubbles, and their four children, the four K’s, and Bubble’s mother, Honey.  

Quite a gathering!  And so much fun.  And good food!  Hot dogs and hamburgers on the charcoal grill and rotisserie chickens on a second charcoal grill.  Grandma Tillie made her oh-so-special potato salad with real bacon layered in and sliced hard-boiled eggs on top. Honey made her delicious cheesecake in a sided cookie sheet... thin and dense with a graham cracker crust.  Mom  contributed the three-bean salad, Myrle and Emma brought potato chips and relish trays with extra olives, and the buns.  Jim and Lillian brought other desserts and the sodas.  Walter and Martha brought gifts of quarters and chocolates for the kids.  The three brothers contributed their grilling skills and the beer.  Usually Hamm's, "from the land of sky blue waters".  Although Tillie preferred a good Pilsner as she was Bohemian (Czech).

The chickens were proclaimed ready to eat when the meat fell off the bone.

I liked my hot dogs with stripes on them.  The charcoal grill left stripes in case you are only familiar with Portillo’s hot dogs.  I always ate one hot dog, one hamburger, and a bit of chicken.  Along with lots of potato salad and cheesecake.  And a ginger ale.  

Ah… those were the days when you could eat and eat and then run and play and you never ever gained an ounce!  

We played softball and Frisbee across the street in the parking lot for St. Odilio’s Catholic church and school, we played toss in the alley, and we played “statue maker” in the huge side yard that was part of Tillie's property. If the weather turned, we'd play hide and seek in the scary basement.

At about 8:30 or so, we’d pile in the cars and go to Morton East (West?) high school for the fireworks. 

When I was older, my aunt Liliian would teach me archery as she had been in the archery club in college. We used that same side yard with hay bales at the one end that had a target pinned to them and sometimes, balloons.  I loved those times.

Such grand times.  Memories that last a lifetime and perhaps, beyond.

My grandma Tillie's home in Berwyn.  2312 W Clarence Ave.

I took this photo in 1985 on a drive through the old neighbourhood.

35mm

@Trish Korous