IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 39

I am back in full swing with my health being back to normal. My DIL has her hands full with the sickness of her sister and family. Her sister works in her office and not being there really puts an extra load in the office because she keeps her office running well. But thank God all is back to normal.

I want to tell you something about my 2nd daughter and her family. She has four children two of the children are twins one boy and one girl. These are the grand children that are all tall and I have to keep looking up to talk to them. This information is now and I want to tell you something about then, back to her beginning.

My daughter sent me a card for mothers day that had a little chubby face holding a spoon in her mouth and when she called to ask me how I liked the card I laughed because she had no way of knowing this looked like her at the same age. She was my third child and in the last month of my pregnancy they kept me in the hospital for the whole month because they were trying to hold down her weight because I was diagnosed diabetic. They said she would be larger than the first two children which were 7lbs 1&3/4 oz and the 6 lbs 3 oz and sure enough she was 9 lb 4 oz.
When born she was like holding a doll because it took months for the other two to get to her birth weight. I had to wait until she was 8 months before I could travel to Guam with my three children so I stayed with my father in the house I grew up in. My 2 sisters were married and one wasn’t she still worked for dad in the restaurant. My brothers were married and didn’t live home so there was plenty of room for the kids who loved the steps and the banister in dads house.

She grew up to be a fine young lady and married a young man that wanted to be a priest.


The next picture is the rehearsal for her wedding. Here she is with Carl walking down the aisle and the next is with her sister helping her dress. This is in Virginia.

They came back to N.J. and my sister and husband had them stay on the boardwalk in Atlantic City where they wined and dined them for the weekend.

We visited in Ambridge Pa. where he was attending seminary and when he graduated from seminary we attended the service when he was admitted as a postulant. Carl read the scripture in the service. Then took a job in Alabama as an intern. Alabama was a beautiful place and there they learned how to prepare for st
orms coming off the ocean to the mainland. They stayed there several years and the Episcopal Church was going through a storm of its own with women priest and ordaining homosexuals. Carl and I left the Episcopal Church because that was more than we could stand. We joined a bible believing Assembly of God that did not believe in women anything in the priesthood.

Then they moved up to Tennessee and we went to see them dog and all supporting their decisions. We always traveled with our dog that loved to travel and most times she just stayed in her cage in the car.

As you can see the children are growing by leaps and bounds. We enjoyed our travels going to see them. I told you about one son in law in the Army and now one in the priesthood in the Anglican Communion.

My son attended the Baptist Church and I thought he was truly ensconced in that demonation. They were bible believers and he had a home group meeting at his house. We couldn’t be happier than to have all our children connected with believers. But sin crept in and broke our family bliss.

My girls home schooled their children and did exceptionally well with their schooling. I will tell more about that at another time. I have so much I want to say and trying to keep it in order is a bit perplexing. So until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter.

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 38

I believe I am back to normal and can go on with my story about my life. Carl and I spent most of our time in Arkansas at different times in our life. I talked about the first time move here to raised our children to go thru High School. They graduated and each went on to higher education. Only one completed the higher education getting a Masters Degree from TCU in Texas. She was our third child.

Carl was going to school also and when the kids started their higher education Carl felt he had to take a job and give it up his schooling for the second time. The 2nd child went to Monterey, Calif. For languages and instead of a degree she met her husband who was in the military. Now child number one went to school in Fayetteville, Ark. And he was so busy chasing girls, that he had to go to summer school and still never completed any part of school past high school and one year of college courses.

He always was a dreamer and jumped from idea to idea. He was the first to marry and she was the best thing he ever did for himself and he did settle down for a bit. She was supportive and she completed and continued her education to the finish. Shegraduated and went on to law school. He still is unstable because he committed adultery and has no feelings of regret. He told me I couldn’t have anything to do with his wife and I said oh really since when was he in charge of what I did. I told him he brought her into my family and because he wanted to drop out he couldn’t tell me what I could do. Consequently he chose to drop himself out of my life. I am convinced he is sick both physically and mentally and I encourage C to rid herself of him completely.



Getting back to my mate Carl, I attended many destroyer sailor’ reunions with him and Carl was asked at different times to lead them in the prayer service while tossing a wreath in the water in memory of those who died. I have pictures of the last reunion of the U.S.S. Howorth, DD 592 that was held aboard the U.S.S NORTH CAROLINA, OCT. 18, 1994. There were not many living at that time of the original crew. Here is a picture of the five originals including Carl. Carl was on the Howorth when the torpedo hit.
They always had tours on ship for the visitors that day the only thing wrong with that the young men had never served aboard ship and couldn’t answer the questions of the visitors on the tour. This was right up Carl’ alley. He enjoyed talking about the ship to whom ever would listen. As this was this last reunion so I remember it well.

Here are pictures of Carl giving information of the ship to the guide and others of the inside if the ship. Carl loved answering questions. I think what impressed me the most was the semi fore flags and Carl knew each one and could read and give messages so fast. He said that is something you never forget. The next time you see a ship with flags on show them are saying something.

Short but sweet about my sweetheart. Until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 37

It has been over a week since you’ve heard from me. I am still under the weather and have gone to the doctor to see if they can tell me why my ankles stay double in size and why I can’t get rid of the cough I have. I do not have a fever I am just uncomfortable and sort of ache and just wish I felt better. The sun is shining today but not too warm as yet. I want to thank all my blogging friends for wanting me well.

Well this has been too long even with going to the doctor. My DIL drove me because I did not trust driving myself with my blood sugar being so erratic going on swings I couldn’t handle. I know having lived with this disease 56 years not to put myself in a car driving. When I get out of wack it takes a long time coming back.

The doctor gave me an antibiotic that lasts five days. Boy whatever it is doing I am getting rid of quite a bit of phlegm that is relieving the vise grip from around my chest.

They took blood for other tests that I will have to wait until next week to hear. Later a call came through that I did not recognize the number so I didn’t answer it and when it wouldn’t quit I finally picked up the phone but they hung up before I could say hello. After what seemed like a couple of minutes the same number called and I answered to find out it was the doctor's nurse wanting to tell me my blood sugar was 47 while I was there. Now you have to realize that I went to the doctor because my blood sugars were erratic, I had a cough with tightness in my chest, no fever, but felt lousy and she calls to tell me my blood sugar was low at 1:30 in the afternoon when they did the test. I really felt like hanging up on her but I listened as controlled as I could by telling her yes I knew because I had my machine with me and knew it was low. We went looking for a fast food after leaving their office this was about 3 in the afternoon.

I have to tell you I never get colds or headaches and hardly ever welcomed a day in bed so to speak, so when I tell you I felt lousy you can just look at me and tell. I get my flu shot every year and I am fairly healthy, except for being an insulin dependent diabetic for 56 years. So when a nurse calls to tell me my sugar was low six hours earlier it was hard not to be sarcastic to say oh REALLY. You can tell by my writing I am feeling much better and I know for sure I am on the mend because I can think and type. Now you know more about me than you probably care to.

I will pick up telling you more about Carl and my life together that lasted 58 years.

It doesn’t look like at this point I will be going back to N.J. for my birthday in June because my third sister wants to come here to see me. My DIL is too busy to take time off at that time anyway and E (my sister) and I have birthdays five days apart in June. We had to work together in the restaurant and are on the same wavelength and it will be good to have her here. I have to tellyou I attribute her long life (87) to having herself a Manhattan every day at four p.m. She and her husband never missed a day and many times we shared our birthdays together, husbands included, in New York City seeing some stage show and eating out in a nice restaurant.

One such restaurant was a small place run by all retired, out of work, opera singers. And as they worked they would be singing and when it came to their time to sing they would stop serving and sing it was wonderful. The place was called Asti’ in N.Y.C. Carl and I had many such surprises given to us by my sister and her husband. I am so thankful the Lord has given me many such memories of his love for me.

Getting back to my sisters’ visit it will be good for me in other ways when she comes we can play pinochle and talk at the same time. Two-hand is not as much fun as three or four hand playing but it is better than none. I like to play cards.

Carl taught me how to play cribbage a game they played aboard ship with a deck of straight deck cards and a long board with holes in it that goes all around the board twice that is called a pegging board that is used to keep score. It is a lot of funbecause it makes you having to count the cards from your hand that count up to fifteen and laying them down for two points for score. Its complicated but fun. Carl was easy on me so that I could learn. I never won in the beginning but after I learned I was able to challenge him and won my share of games and then he wouldn’t want to play any more.

I really never read novels much but when they started to made movies out of some of the stories by James Michener. Carl peaked my interest with a part not mentioned in the movie and wouldn’t tell me the rest of the story, but directed me to read it for myself. I then got hooked in reading. I only read what I had to in school because I had sports to keep me busy. Carl learned early in life to read everything in sight and was knowledgeable about many things. He taught me many things about reading to form my own opinion and not just rely on what others say about something. I can tell you for sure our children received their smarts from their father. He knew how to spell words without looking them up. I use to tell him he was my walking dictionary and so thankful the Lord gave him to me.

Carl was a shy introvert and I was just the opposite. When he worked for pharmaceuticals companies and had to attend conferences that had parties we had to attend he use to say he hated to go because he never had anything to say. I alwaysencouraged him to start the conversations by asking people what hobby interested them or something about themselves then he could just sit back and listen because people love to talk about themselves. Sure enough he told me that really worked because he didn’t need that crutch anymore. In his later years boy did he like to talk and it was hard to drag him away.

I see I carried on a bit much about CM but for me that is easy, so I had better end it here until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter.

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 36

I talked about our living in Arkansas. We lived in Arkansas more than any other place in our married life while our kids were growing up. We moved from New Jersey when our kids were still in school. We our moved South because of the problems New Jersey was having in the school system, with kids sniffing glue and smoking pot. New Jersey was considered going to the shore when the people came down to their summer cottages on the weekends from Philadelphia and New York City.

My brother was working for IBM Service Bureau in Little Rock and told us Arkansas was at least 2 years behind the New Jersey Schools. He was having a hard time filling his employee rooster with capable people. In the East everything moved at a fast pace and in the South everything moved at a slower pace. I myself had to learn to slow down. I was always the last person to get my food and the first person to finish eating. My family use to kid me about eating too fast. They had a name for me gobble guts. But when you had to wait on customers while trying to eat you learned to eat fast to eat it while it was warm.

I was one that could look at something to be done and do it no matter what the job within reason. I could do it, always wanting to be kept busy. The job that sales people hated to do was putting the merchandise back in stock but I sort of liked it because it kept me busy. I was not a person that would stand around just participating in small talk. When I worked in the Chicago area for Motorola at coffee breaks and lunch most of the time I walked instead of sit and talk. They use to love to talk about their husbands and one day one of the ladies remarked that I never said anything about my husband. I told them I didn’t have the problems like those women at the table did, my husband loved me and I loved him and our private life was just that… private. They revealed too much of their private lives and rarely said anything good.

1982 this was our second move to Arkansas, our children were grown and the picture above was taken on our porch that was attached to our Mobile home. We uprooted our life to come down to Arkansas from Chicago because our son asked his dad Carl to come and help him in the produce business manning the office keeping things in order. But my son was not really meaning that and his dad was most unhappy because every time he questioned a transaction our son would comment; “you just don’t know the business”. So it was easy for Carl to say goodbye.

Carl loved to ride the lawn mower and he enjoyed tinkering with it to keep it running. He put in vegetable garden and a smallorchard of fruit trees. I had to learn how to can once again and I have to admit that is not my thing and I like the canned fruit in the store better only because I grew up with it. He had more than enough to keep him busy and we watching our grandson grow up. Here is a picture of our grandson as a little farmer.


I am taking a pause here because I am having a bit of difficulty thinking and writing it down. I have a terrible cough it a good thing you can’t hear my voice it is very raspy and sort of hoarse and I think every bone in my body hurts.

This is the next day and its not much better. I am not one who can lay in bed. I hate it sometimes but that is the way it is. My DIL calla me every morning to let me know she is leaving and to make sure I am awake, most times I am. I will end this here so she can post for me. I know the Lord won’t give me more than I can handle but I do feel, enough now. Until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter.

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 35

There was one time when we were living in Arkansas out in the country and C decided to raise chicken so we could have fresh eggs and if we had too many we would sell some to friends. We did not have close neighbors.

Now C did not do anything hap hazard. He did research and read up on chickens and layers and knew exactly what he was going to buy and how to house them. First we built the chicken coop for the chickens and then we purchased a group of 50 chicks and had put them in a large cardboard box and kept them under a large light to keep them warm.


We had to wait until they got a little larger to find out what the sex was. This batch that he purchased had 2 roosters in it and we had to eliminate one and before we knew it we didn’t have to worry about which one. You cannot have more than one rooster in the roost. One rooster rules in the chicken coop. One morning Carl came out to feed the chickens and the hens made their own choice and eliminated one rooster by pecking him to death. I now can understand what they mean when they say, “ he’s hen pecked."

When Carl with my help built the coop he had to make it rodent proof, so he dug a trench three feet deep and two feet wide putting in the trench cement blocks against the chicken wire then coming up high enough to built the wooden structure above ground on the cinderblock base. To me it was like a fortress. It had large plexus glass windows that opened from the bottom by attaching the window to a chain hanging from the top in a way it couldn’t rain in and the screen on the inside kept everything out but air. We were never bother by rodents in our chicken coop. These windows were on three sides to give the inside light. There was no outside run for the chickens they just stayed in the coop that was a long rectangle.



Inside he built roosts where the hens laid their eggs. They were white and some brown. We ate fresh eggs every morning andthey really do taste different than the store bought. Our grandson loved to go in the coop to help collect the eggs.

On the inside of the coop the floor was a dirt base that was covered with straw that was very deep for the chickens to scratch and peck keeping their place clean. Believe me there was no odor at all and we never had to do any cleaning out of the coop. If I didn’t actually see it I would have had my doubts like I am sure some of you reading this are having. Like I said Carl always read up and planned before every undertaking.

Oh yes there was one hen that did not want me collecting her eggs and she actually chased me several times. She definitely liked Carl and when he got in the pen she strutted around like a peacock. It was one of the funniest things to see. People who know chickens I am sure have their own stories that are similar about the personality of chickens and how funny they can be.

We also had several dogs and cats because people use to drop off their unwanted pets in the country thinking they can fend for themselves. I can tell them that liters from domesticated pets cannot make it. One person dropped off a litter of newborn kittens and before we ever found them they we in bad shape that we had to have the vet dispose them. It is a shame what some people will do to animals. When I say we lived in the country it was really a place just out of the town’ business section on five acres near the access road. So the veterinary doctors were close bye and the people had the same access to them as we did. Those that just dropped off animals were I guess too cheap to donate to the Humane Society. You will have to excuse me I really get riled up about what some people do to discard their pet they no longer want. To us pets are members of the family.


We went to the Pennsylvania Amish to purchase a dog that was advertised it was just a mutt but C liked the dog because it reminded him of the dog he had in one of the foster homes he lived he called sport. So we gave fifty dollars for this dog he named Sport. It was suppose to be Australian shepherd and part mutt but Sport grew up and looked like a beautiful Collie with the sweetest and laziest disposition. It sure didn’t look like an Australian shepherd and C loved this dog.
At that time we had a smooth hair fox terrier that was one of the bossiest dogs ever. She led poor sport along like he was on a chain. He would wait to see what Perky would do then he did the same except get on the furniture. Love would be mighty dull with animals as part of the family.

I see I am getting lengthy so until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 34

This is a continuation of our time Germany with M & K. Did you ever read something and didn’t grasp what it said. Some times that happens when my mind is working quicker than my what comes out of my mouth. I had a response to my last post that was offering me a way to send flowers to Germany. I am still pondering if they really understood that I am talking of the past and not the present. Really that is the only thing I am qualified to talk about is what C and I did together. The future only holds expectations of what the Lord has in store for me. The one thing I do know it is going to be better than I can ever imagine.

I wanted to mention that in Garmisch-Parkenkirchen was the home of the grandson of Johann Strauss. This is a picture of the family house that was large and stately. When we walked to town we always passed their lovely house.



KL had her first child we were there with M and K staying with them and C is putting sign on the door of the house in Germany saying it it’s a boy. Next picture is proud dad holding his son. Grandson J.M. was a delightful handful and it was great to be there to give my daughter the kind of help mothers do. This picture shows C and I at the table taking turns holding the baby.

I did forget how quickly babies grow up from the rock-a-bye-baby stage to the carriage stage and then to the stroller. C & I were definitely in our place at the right time. We thoroughly enjoyed being Opa and Oma walking pushing the carriage down to the square. This picture shows mother pushing the stroller.

The people would stop us to see the baby and say; “Opa, das good and of course C would enjoy the comments. C always pushed because he was the proud Opa. We never did get a chance to do this with our first grand child because they we live in a Mobil Home in the country that had dirt roads and grass plus it was dusty most of the time. We did have a nice large screened porch that we enjoyed with grandson number one.

If we happened to be down at the square at that time we would always planned to stop with the baby to have our tea and cake. It was a good and joyful time for us. We were truly living a life of many blessings with being able to be with our grandchildren growing up. We were not there in Germany for their 2nd child a little girl and just to enjoy seeing the pictures.

Here is a picture of their other grandmother enjoying their children. I am not sure if this was in Germany or the states.

When they received a transfer back to the states to the War College in Pennsylvania and had to wait some time before the family could settle in Pennsylvania. We came to help Kl with the children while waiting for their household goods to arrive. We stayed at the RED CABOOSE INN that was actually a caboose. We had quite a time with the kids and the train. I did find some pictures of that stay.

Our second daughter has 4 children that, includes twins one boy and one girl, and the other two boys. Now that’s a handful to say the least and to add to that they are all very tall. When standing next to them I am definitely short. I will tell more about them later.


I have a birthday coming up in June and my daughters are trying to plan a celebration from afar with the help of DIL from this end. They are trying to plan a trip to N.J. where my two older sisters live. One just turned 88 and the other will be 87 the same week I will be 80. All I can say at this point is we are from strong genes. As I said before I don’t know what the Lord has planned for me but I keep telling him I am eager and ready. C and I always talked of our passing so it wasn’t a shock when it actually happened to him being first to die. I know he is in a better place and I am waiting to join him.

Trying to stay busy is a new experience for me because I was always kept busy. I stop and look around in my home and say to myself junk and more junk as it accumulates. I am not a saver I throw out easily. Nothing, as far as I am concerned, is worth saving or holding on to for future use. If I am not using it maybe someone else can.

Some years back when we put everything we owned in a commercial storage warehouse the warehouse burned down to the ground and we got paid 5 cents on the pound for a grand total of $5,000 dollars. The furniture that was destroyed was valued much more than that but that is all the warehouse would pay us. On that note I will say what did survive the Lord multiplied many times over. So on that note until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter.

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 33

Our son-in-law was stationed in Garmisch-Parkenkirchen, Germany in the Bavarian Alps that was beautiful here is a picture of it. Our stay in Germany was both good and not so good. We enjoyed being there for the birth of our grandson and seeing places of beauty we would not have ever been exposed to. This is a picture of Garmisch taken from our path to town we walked quite a bit and you can see the Zugspitz Mountain when it was clear, it’s a breath-taking site. He had several tours there and we were blessed to visit them on their first tour. Both of their children were born in Garmisch-Parkenkirchen.

The people love flowers and dressed up their houses like this one, up down the streets we never sa like this in our journey in Germany but Bavaria. Their houses were built on like postage stamps lots
compared to ours in the states and they used up every inch with a vegetable garden in the back and flowers in
the front. They enjoyed the color when they could because winter is long and cold with lots of snow. Not much color but white and dirty white from the traffic of street cleaning equipment.

We loved riding the trains in Germany and one day when we where going to a Volks March (like our 5-K walk) in a nearby town we rode the train there and the train stopped before our destination and the conductor came through and shouted off off. Before we new it we were stranded in a town we never heard of and C spoke very little German, just enough to get by and the people around us spoke no English. There were people in the train station that we asked for directions to no avail and then I yelled, “does anyone speak English and one man said he did. We explained our situation about the train dumping us because it didn’t go any further and we were trying to get to the Volks March in the area. Lots of Germans walk in these and he knew where we were going and helped us get the right train.
The people had cows and sheep that man would walk them out of town leading them up to the mountain to graze in the morning and then at the end of the day he would bring them back down and the lead animal always had a bell that all the cows and sheep would follow the leader. At that time traffic took a halt and as they approached the different houses the animals would peel off and go to where they belonged. It was fascinating to see.

We did a lot of train traveling to take part in the marches. C had a German hat that he would put the pins on that you were given when you completed the march. It usually took 2 or 3 hours for each march over hill and dale in the beautiful countryside. I still have his hat and will try to find a picture of him in it and us wearing our knee socks and knickers.

One of the customs we did enjoy was their 4 pm tea and pastries time in the bakari (bakery) shops. Some times at the marches at a halfway point they would have a place to stop so one can use the water closet (toilet) and buy a beer if you wanted one. You needed a Pfennig’s to use the water closet. The coin was little smaller than a penny in looks and we always made sure to have one for such stops when we were out.

They do not scrimp when serving beer. The first time C ordered a beer they brought a glass that I’m sure was a liter. With both of us sipping it we never could finish one. The one thing I thoroughly enjoyed was their large soft pretzel they would serve warm. I still like pretzels better than chips.
The Germans eat a lot of bratwurst and cabbage and their potato soup is delicious. They also use a lot of apples, veal and pork and I must say there wasn’t anything we didn’t like of all the food we tasted.

We also liked how the Germans treated their dogs that were welcomed in the restaurants with their masters. All the animals were well behaved and usually were large and alert. In one place we ate lunch the table next to us had a large black dog sitting under the table at his masters feet. We didn’t even know he was there until his master gave him some food off his plate. This dog ignored us and we were so close to his tail that was in the aisle next to us we could have stepped on it. When we were through eating we asked to pet the dog and the man gave a command to his dog and the animal moved closer to us and allowed us to touch him. We were certainly were impressed because the dog just scooted over without standing up. Also you never saw dog messes in the streets and walks. People picked up after their dogs.

Now the part of the visit that was not so good; one morning my daughter and I heard a loud thump from upstairs. We were in the kitchen just talking having our tea. I ran upstairs to see C flaked out on the floor sort of coming to his senses. He said he passed out and hit his head on the dresser. I helped him get dressed and took him to the military infirmary and he determined C had a mild heart attack. He suggested we go to the German hospital for a particular series of tests the military didn’t have the equipment to do. While in the German hospital C made himself known with the other retired military that were patients at the same time. C was about to be let out of the hospital when the doctor and an orderly came in on routine rounds. The
orderly had a beverage in his hand, and when the doctor asked C if there was anything he wanted and he said yah and pointing to the beverage. The doctor put in his request and before he left he had a beer he was enjoying a nice cold beer.

Well after a few months C felt fine and decided to come back to the states and check himself in at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. I stayed with my, the parents of 2nd daughter’ husband who lived in he area. They were very nice to me taking me back and forth to the hospital while C was a patient.

They couldn’t find anything that indicated he had a heart attack. When a doctor indicated they wanted to do invasive surgery C called a halt to that and said no. The head of that department came into his room to talked to him and said he didn’t blame him for saying no because if it were him he also would say no. He was cutting his career short because being a doctor in the military wasn’t what he wanted to do anymore.

We found out then they just wanted to make up their surgery quota. We enjoyed our stay in Germany and would do it again if the kids needed us. This is a good place to say to be continued, and until then I am Immigrant Daughter.