Going to the Dance and Beyond: Stephen (Raising our Family)

Stephen and Nina July 3,2021

Bully and Taylor( Raising our Family)

PJ  and I went to the pound looking for a large dog for a pet. We found these 2 'sisters' instead.

Petey. Patrick had a lot of nicknames (some of them he gave to himself). (Raising our Family)

He was called P.J. as a child but once when a coworker of mine asked him if the P( in P.J.) was for Peter he answered,'yes."

Stephen's First Ride (Raising our Family)

When Stephen proudly brough his new (used) car home to show his brothers Patrick tried to open the front passenger door and the handle came off.

 

Hope for our Children

Sneaky Pete!

Or given to Fr Baker!

PJ: Lost and found in California (Raising our Family)

Patrick now lives in California. He loves it.

Canada: We miss the old days of the magic carpet, comet and yellow roller. (Childhood Memories)

Denny and PJ at Crystal Beach cottage. Patty in the background.Our cottage was quite  a find!

 

My Uncle Jack, an engineer, was correct in noting that ...it might need some work.

The plumbing seemed to be constantly 'on the fritz' . It kept Billy busy and Patrick was his willing assistant until he found something more interesting.

Patrick had the best time exploring, finding relatives and bringing them back to see me,  escaping from his babysitters, and sneaking into his Aunt Patty's pool.

The crawl space was mysterious until Jimmy, our neighbor, fell though in an attempt to retrieve Maddie's sandal.

We were told by neighbors that there was a built in pool in the backyard so for awhile we made it our mission to dig it out. Fail.

Peggy brought a blow up boat and the kids had the most fun with that.

Mary rented a cottage across the street resulting in even more fun! Skip brought fireworks on his way so we lit up the night to all our neighbors delight.

My Three Sons (Raising our Family)

The Boys: Stephen, Brian, and PJ

They were not a big fan of getting their pictures taken.

Hand Me Downs (Childhood Memories)

In a large family one gets used to hand me down clothing from older brothers and sisters but one time my sister Peggy received some clothing (neatly packed) from a 'rich' girl. I thought she was the luckiest person and couldn't wait to get my mitts on the loot!

Of course everything in the box fit Peggy perfectly and looked nice on her so I had to wait my turn. Some of the clothes were only worn by Peggy (because only she could wear them well) but some items were passed down to me and I enjoyed them.

Next in line however was Moey who had relished in the idea of inheriting these beauties for some time. Unfortunately as happens styles had changed. Moey wouldn't let anything like that stop her.

My brother (Neil) would regularly hide her 'new' shoes and one classmate would make rather snide remarks about Moey's (now yellowed) white go go boots but she was determined to take her place in the now somewhat dulled limelight.

Moey is now a grade school teacher and one day one of her student's could no longer contain himself. "Mrs. Nagel, you are going to have to stop wearing your grandmother's dresses!"

So in this world of constant changes it's comforting to know that Moey's attire remains consistently out of fashion. JK!!

Twins? (Childhood Memories)

"Are there any twins in your family?"

It was a question I was asked often and enjoyed imagining the possibilities. I don't doubt it was a recurring prayer of thanks of the other members of my family that I was an only but this escaped my understanding.

Neil was closest in age but he had pouted when he had to pretend to be the same age as me when we took a trip on the NFTA (to get the kid fare) and he was for the most part a disagreeable cohort (when the idea wasn't his).

I figured Moey would have to fill in. I'm not sure Moey was a willing participant as even today she maintains she had multiple bad experiences with my 'creative' ideas.

When "The Parent Trap' came out with Haley Mills I decided she would be my model. I found to my sheer joy the perfect outfits for us: terry cloth white short sleeve t shirts and jeans.. exactly like the ones worn by my new heroine Haley!

I'd like to share some of the great experiences we in our twin roles but nothing comes to mind. I bet Moey will remember some of these swell times!

Crystal Beach in the old Days (Childhood Memories)

It was one of the places we thought about when we couldn't go to sleep at night.

We liked the beach alright during the summer but the trip we looked forward to most was when both our parents came with a picnic and ride tickets.(A grocery store awarded us ride tickets for our report card grades).

One of my favorite rides was the 'Magic Carpet'. It was a fun house with mirrors that distorted your body shape and a bench that shot air up when you sat down on it. Of course the best part was at the end when you got to go down the magic carpet.

I've often thought how wonderful it would be if I could duplicate these attractions in my own house. I may need to ask my handy brothers to assist me in this endeavor.