Three Friday's ago (still trying to get caught up) mom tagged along and we all decided to go to a family owned, neighborhood restaurant called "Mother Mary's". It is a local hit with great food and family style service. The owner and his family are charming and engaging so it is always a good time...not to mention it feels really good to support a locally owned business. I am such a strong supporter of local business. I will spend a few extra dollars just to support the mom and pop shops here in town, and that goes for any town I visit.
Because Mother Mary's is fairly new we do not have a "favorite" item that we order regularly yet...we are still in the tasting phase :) that is a fun phase I have to say. After looking over the menu and discussing what sounds "good to try" dad settled on an italian sandwich and some minestrone
While we waited for our food I said to dad "We've spent alot of time talking about Nanna, Gaffer and Poppy Phil's side of the family the last few weeks. How 'bout we talk about Grandma Tiny's side of the family today?" I have been careful not to treat our lunches like an interview, nor have I tried to guide them, however, today's lunch was a bit different than the others. We had a big game to get to right after lunch. By "big" I mean...one of Buchanan soccer's biggest rivals! We had a playoff game to get to against Bullard High School and we were not going to miss this one. Buchanan lost to Bullard in the Valley Championships last year...a title Buchanan has held for the last 5 years. It was a "big" deal and my parents are as invested as anyone else in my girls soccer if you haven't arleady gotten that picture :)
I cut to the chase and just interviewed dad today. I would say "I am ashamed to say..." however, our talk flowed well and didn't really feel like an interview afterall. I suppose that once we dove into the past and got lost in dad's memories we forgot about the blog and enjoyed remembering.
Dad easily jumped into the topic of his mother. Grandma Tiny was what we called her. A nickname that she acquired when she became a grandmother, but one that was given to her long before she ever had grandchildren, or my dad for that matter. Grandma Tiny was Berta Teressa Cecilia Ford. Nicknamed "Tiny" because she was 4'11' tall and had an 18" waist as a young adult. She was in fact TINY! The middle child of 6 children she was as ornery as they come! She told me many stories about growing up and being teased and picked on by her siblings, but as the story would unfold, her own orneriness was evident :) This trait has sprinkled itself among the current generation (I won't mention any names) ;) and it is fun to see how genetic traits run deep through family bloodlines. Grandma Tiny loved the finer things in life and introduced me to all of them including fine food, shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco, and the theatre. She was an opera singer and made some records of her own when she was young. Her musical talent and experience in the world of recording had an impact on my dad. He was drawn to singing and instruments. Dad played the piano, guitar and harmonica. All self taught and quite good at all of them I might add.
Mama Jesse and Pop were Tiny's parents. Pop was from St. Lous, Missouri and Ma Jesse from Memphis, Tennessee. I'm not sure exactly when they moved to California, perhaps it was after they were married. I know they had my grandmother in Oklahoma, so I am sure it was around the 1920's. Dad said that when Pop was a kid he ran contraband across rebel lines to the soldiers during the Civil War. I can't describe what it feels like to have a personal connection to the daily activities of the Civil War. We all have them, I know, it's a part of our history, but to talk with my dad about a relative, his grandfather nonetheless, that was actively involved in the war was nothing short of humbling. I never met him, but my dad said he was "quite the fellow" Intelligent, charismatic and respected, he was a horse trainer as a young man and later became the water commissioner of Bayshore and knew all of the pipelines underground. Dad said the city officials would have to ask Pop about the routing of water. No one understood it like him and as my father so eloquently put it "He had the city by the balls!" I'm not sure what dad meant by this other than the fact that Pop was the only one who knew how the city was laid out and anyone who wanted to build had to go through him first.
Pop lost his leg when he was 19 years old jumping from box car to box car on the railroad. Grandma Tiny used to tell me stories about the wooden leg that Pop had and how her brothers would scare her with it...they thought it was hilarious...however, she thought it was cruel and let them know it any chance she got! Dad didn't remember that part, but I sure did. We talked about his mother for a bit and how funny she was. How she used to tell stories about her childhood that had me in hysterics. This playful side of dad's family stood out for me as we shared our memories. Dad said some of his fondest memories were "Poker Nights" These were usually on a Friday night and friends and family would gather at the hub...Ma Jesse and Pop's house. They would sing and play instruments, play poker and eat good food. Dad said they didn't have TV and rarely listened to radio so cards and music was their source of entertainment. Everyone loved to be at Mama Jesse's and my dad was no exception.
We finished up our meal and quickly headed over to the game of the season (aside from Valley Championships) where Buchanan proceded to beat their opponents 4-0. It was a sweet victory and a wonderful end to a fabulous lunch with dad!
