Going to a Wedding

Correction, we went to a wedding last weekend in RI. This family event was to celebrate the marriage of my husband Grenville/Patrick's daughter, Shannon and her fiancé, Harlan.

This is a photo-heavy collage post which highlighs some of the day's events and participants.. (Due to privacy concerns of some, names have been omitted; however, many long-time blog readers may recognize many in our family, especially grands.)

We got all gussied up in our finery because for the father of the bride, nothing less than a tux would do for this event. We used the iPhone portrait feature to create these selfies.

The bride was escorted by her father and son, our grandson, who looked quite dapper in his tuxedo.

The groom awaits his bride. The attendants above were the bride’s sister, daughter and niece had just preceded her down the aisle.

The minister shared some final words with the groom as the two witnesses and the groom's son looked on.

After the exchange of vows and rings, the new Mr and Mrs took their celebratory walk.

Outdoor photos were taken on a small dock in the rear of the restaurant where the ceremony took place. It was a very sunny day evidenced by the granddaughters' squinting. The bride's immediate family (father, sister, daughter, son, niece) are posed in the top photo. Some of the groom's family (mother, sister, cousin) are shown in the bottom photo.

Pictured above are Patrick and his now two son-in-laws, also the groom and his sister and ourselves.

The newlyweds first dance is always a traditional photo at every wedding. Then, the mother of the groom and the father of the bride joined them for a dance.

There were a number of family photo group shots. The top one is the bride's immediate family (sans myself who was taking the photo). The bottom photo has members of the groom's extended family, so many names to remember. His mother and other family travelled to RI from his native Columbia; other family came from Spain and Australia. In the last photo above, the bride and groom posed with their teenage children, aged 14 to 18, including our shoeless oldest granddaughter.

The cake and all of the desserts were handmade by the groom's cousin, who came from Columbia for the wedding. 

The top photo was a remembrance table with photos of family members who have passed. The bottom photo showcases all the delicious handmade desserts 😋.

Just a few more random photos of the happy couple and grandchildren Lots of folks, including ourselves, had fun at the photo booth; yes, we took multiple selfies here.

And, now it's time to dance out of this post with a couple of photos from the ever popular and always fun conga line dance. Have you ever been part of one?

If you reached the end, thanks for sharing in this happy event. As a new month starts this week, we're finished with major family events for this year. Now, we will be concentrating on our fall travels, one of which starts next week. It's not a road trip, but is quite far and will be a new adventure in many ways, details early next week.

A 94th in NJ

We took our first extended road 🚗 trip last week. We've been on road trips the past several months, but all of these have been within New England. This trip was to our native NJ for a long overdue (18 months) visit with family and friends.

But, the main purpose besides visits, was to celebrate a very special  94th birthday of our friend, Margaret. She and her late husband, Edward, were the nicest neighbors who lived across the street from my parent's and my childhood home. Margaret still lives there, alone now since Edward passed. She's quite self-sufficient and even still driving locally. A niece living nearby often takes her out as well. We so admire and love this remarkable lady, and were thankful and happy to have been able to spend time with and celebrate with her.

Our NJ friend, Margaret, was 94 years young last week

The last time we visited NJ and visited with her was December 2019, and despite the months passing, we've kept in contact through weekly phone chats and snail-mail. Now, that we've all been vaccinated, it was wonderful to give hugs. We went to dinner with my brother (Tony) and sister-in-law (Anita). We pre-celebrated Anita's July birthday as we won't be back in NJ then.

This extended trip took 5 days including the 6-hour travel time from NH to NJ and vice versa. We were happy to see family and friends. It entailed a bit of drive time as none of them live near one another, and we visited with several couples as time allowed. And, there were other celebrations as well. My oldest childhood friend and husband (Phyllis and Jack) told us their 51st wedding anniversary was the day we went out for breakfast together 🥂.

Great niece Autumn Rose at 20 months

Yes, the youngest family members are growing up, as shown in these photos of our great niece, Autumn Rose, who is nearly 20 months old. She and her parents were at my brother's home  when we visited over the weekend.

Autumn Rose with mom Julie and "Pop-Pop" Tony

It was game time with mom Julie and my brother, Tony, also known as "pop-pop." 

Great niece Savannah Marie, 20 months & great nephew Nicholas James, 1 month

This is her cousin, our other great niece, Savannah Marie with baby brother and great nephew Nicholas James. These youngsters live in FL and the updated photos were sent by their mom (niece Jamie) during our visit. 

Grenville at White Castle, a favorite NJ fast food eatery

For Grenville, no NJ trip would be complete without a stop at White Castle, his favorite fast food eatery. Unfortunately, there are none in New England, so he had a fix at one near our South Plainfield, NJ hotel. Maybe that's why we always stays at that Hampton Inn 😋

White Castle celebrates its 100 birthday this year. The family-owned business (no franchises) was founded in 1921 by Walt Anderson and Billy Ingram in Wichita, KS. White Castle still sells its steamed beef patty with onions and a pickle, cheeseburgers also available. These small, square hamburgers are so easy to eat, that they were dubbed Sliders and sold by the sack. In 1921, White Castle was the first fast food hamburger establishment. By 1927, co-founder Ingram came up with the idea of carry-out and inaugurated the now familiar ad of Selling ‘em by the sack, which is how they are still sold today. Throughout the company's existence, the Ingram family's decision not to franchise or take on debt has kept this chain relatively small compared to similar restaurants.

The Polar Cub, Whitehouse, NJ, no road trip is complete without ice cream

Of course, for us no road trip would be complete without one of our favorites🍦and not just at any roadside stand. Its official beginnings are unknown, however, the Polar Cub in Whitehouse, NJ, has been a very popular highway creamery since the 1950s. While, the pandemic shuttered the stand last year, it reopened for the 2021 season in mid-May, luckily just before our visit. 

Yes, we were happy to be in the area after a late breakfast with friends. This was a lunch stop. Doesn't everyone believe in dessert first or last?

Thanks for your comments on last week's post about The Dumb Guy Museum in Portsmouth, NH. We agree it was the most unique museum we've visited on our travels to date. While, it might be hard to beat this find on future road trips, we'll definitely keep looking 👀.

Father's Day 2020

Internet source

Today, June 21, is celebrated as Father's Day in the U.S. In May, moms had a national day of celebration. This holiday belongs to dads. After reading about its start, I'm sharing some of the holiday's history here.

Many assume Father’s Day (and Mother’s Day as well) are holidays designed by greeting card makers for profit motives (not a bad assumption at that). But it's not the real backstory on how it became a national holiday. That was largely the efforts of two women plus a decades-long fight to get fathers their overdue day of recognition.

Father’s Day This ’n That

Father's Day was inaugurated in the U.S. in the early 20th century to complement Mother's Day and to celebrate fathering, and fatherhood. It took years to attain holiday status.

The campaign to establish a national holiday for fathers surprisingly was spearheaded by two women, (Grace Clayton and Sonora Dodd) two years apart and in two different U.S. states to honor their late fathers on their birthdays. (Why didn't it surprise me that women were involved?)

The celebration wasn't immediately accepted after being proposed (several times). It didn’t become a national U.S. holiday until 1972, compared to Mother’s Day which was officially over 50 years before in 1914. 

Men were said to have scoffed at what they saw as sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with gift-giving. The proposed celebration was viewed as a commercial ploy to sell more products paid for by the head of the house, dad.

This lack of enthusiasm, led a florist to reportedly comment that fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal of mothers. This wasn't a popular sentiment in the least.

The woman credited as the holiday's founder, Sonora Smart Dodd, spelled it Fathers' Day on her original petition for the holiday. However, the spelling "Father's Day" was already used in 1913 when a bill was introduced in Congress at the first attempt to establish the holiday.

At the onset of WWII, advertisers widely suggested that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, Father’s Day wasn’t yet a federal holiday, but it had become a national institution.

Where It Began — The Women Behind Father’s Day

Internet source

In July 1908, Grace Golden Clayton, the daughter of a Methodist minister, proposed a Father’s Day service in Fairmont, West Virginia to honor fathers, not only her late father, but men who had died in the worst mining accident in U.S. history. In December 1907, the Monongah Mining Disaster in West Virginia had killed over 300 men, many were fathers.

Clayton, who asked her pastor to honor these fathers, chose the Sunday nearest to her late father's July birthday. But, the Fairmont observance didn't become an annual event outside of the town. It wasn't promoted by the local church or City Council because of other local events. Instead, local headlines focused on a July 4 celebration that drew 12,000 attendants and the death of a young girl. Additionally, Clayton never promoted or discussed the event, the original sermon wasn't reproduced and was lost. The event wasn't celebrated again locally for years.

Across the country in Spokane, Washington, another woman, Sonora Smart Dodd, was similarly inspired to honor fathers, especially her own.

Internet source

In June 1910, Dodd convinced the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA to set aside a Sunday in June to celebrate fathers. She also suggested the date as her late father’s birthday, June 5. Instead, the ministers selected the third Sunday in June.
They wanted more time after Mother’s Day (the second Sunday in May) to prepare their sermons. On June 19, 1910, Dodd delivered presents to handicapped fathers at the YMCA and city ministers devoted their sermons on fatherhood.

Arkansas native Dodd wanted to honor her father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran and single parent who had raised six children after his wife's death. After attending a Mother’s Day service in 1909, Dodd was thought to have been inspired by another woman’s crusade to establish a Mother's Day celebration. (Two months before, Anna Jarvis held a celebration for her late mother in Grafton, West Virginia. Jarvis is now widely considered the founder of the Mother's Day holiday.)

As the earlier Fairmont West Virginia event, this one also didn’t meet with much success. Dodd was studying in Chicago, stopped promoting it, and it faded into obscurity.  But, unlike Clayton, who gave up on the idea, Dodd returned to Spokane a decade later and actively promoted the celebration, helped by trade groups that would benefit most from a celebration. These included manufacturers of ties, tobacco, pipes, and any (at that time) traditional present for fathers.

Most Americans perceived it as a merchandising attempt to replicate the commercial success of Mother's Day. But trade groups persisted by promoting it. By the mid-1980s, Father’s Day was recognized as a second Christmas for men's gift-oriented industries.

What Happened Later

A bill to give the holiday national recognition was introduced in Congress in 1913. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson spoke at a Father's Day celebration in Spokane. He wanted to make it an official holiday. Congress resisted fearing that the holiday would become commercialized as was already happening with the Mother's Day holiday. (If only they knew, how right that thinking was years ago.) 

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged states to observe Father’s Day nationwide, but didn't issue a national proclamation. Two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had met with Congressional defeat once again.

Internet source

When the efforts reached one of its Congressional stalemates, U.S. Senator, Margaret Chase Smith (a vocal New Englander) issued a sharp rebuke, declaring: Either we honor both our parents, mother and father, or let us desist from honoring either one. But to single out just one of our two parents and omit the other is the most grievous insult imaginable. Smith, a Maine native, ranked as the longest-serving (1949-1973) Republican woman in the senate and was serving when it became a national holiday.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers and designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. But it wasn't an official holiday until 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed a Congressional resolution making it a national holiday. (This was eight years after Clayton's death and six years before Dodd’s death at the age of 96.)

Today as always, we remember ❤️ our late fathers, Anthony (left) and Robert (right) shown with their sons. The toddler is my younger brother, Tony; the young boy is my husband, Patrick (Grenville here).

Mother's Day 2020

Today, May 10, is celebrated as Mother's Day holiday in the U.S. It's been a number years since I visited the history of this holiday; this is a rehash and update and I wanted to share with everyone. (I'm nice that way.)

Sadly, both our mothers are deceased; Grenville's for over 45 years and mine for more than 5 years. If you're fortunate to have your mother, celebrate her everyday. 

(Of course, in some cases, sadly there have been mothers who may not be as fondly remembered.)

Mother's Day This 'n That

Mother’s Day has become one of the biggest holidays for consumer spending. More people buy flowers and plants than for any other holiday, except Christmas and Hanukkah.

Anna Jarvis, the woman credited founding Mother’s Day was never married and was also childless. She established the holiday to honor her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis.

The correct placement of the apostrophe is Mother’s Day. Jarvis, was very specific — “mother’s day” is a singular possessive referring to a single mother (yours), not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers.

The U.S. Congress rejected a 1908 Mother’s Day proposal from Jarvis for a national holiday. Jarvis garnered public support and, by 1912, every state observed Mother’s Day.

President Woodrow Wilson has been called the father of Mother’s Day.

Jarvis urged people to stop buying gifts and flowers for Mother’s Day, upset that it had become over-commercialized within 6 years of the 1914 holiday proclamation. 

Mother’s Day marks the highest U.S. phone traffic of the year. More phone calls are made this day than any other day of the year; phone traffic often spikes nearly 40 percent.

Hallmark Card sales show that most people do not make homemade greetings as its founder had proposed.

Jarvis died in 1948 and is buried next to her mother in a Bala-Cynwyd, PA cemetery.

Way Back Where It Began

The origin of Mother’s Day pre-dates the Civil War (1861-1865). In 1868, Ann Reeves Jarvis (called Mother Jarvis) started mothers’ day clubs in West Virginia teaching women how to care for their children. Jarvis had 13 children, only 4 survived to adulthood. Epidemics were common; up to 30% of infants died before their first birthday.

These clubs became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. Throughout the war, Mother Jarvis, a peace activist, had organized many women’s brigades, asking women to do all they could without regard for which side their men had chosen.

Anna Jarvis, Mother's Day Founder

After her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis considered that a Mother’s Day holiday could honor sacrifices mothers made for their children. Jarvis wanted to set aside a day to honor not only her mother, but all mothers.

The first Mother's Day was celebrated May 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia at the Methodist church where Anna Jarvis taught Sunday School. While not there, Anna sent 500 white carnations, her mother’s favorite flower, to be to represent the purity of a mother’s love and be worn by sons and daughters to honor their mothers.

Jarvis had financial backing from retailer John Wanamaker. That day, thousands attended a similar event at Wanamaker’s department store auditorium in Philadelphia, PA.

Following the success of these events, Jarvis resolved to see the holiday added to the national calendar. She started a letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood.

In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday joking they would also have to proclaim a “Mother-in-law's Day.” 

In 1912, she trademarked the phrase, Second Sunday in May, Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis, Founder, and created the Mother's Day International Association to promote her cause. She appealed for public support with letter writing, country-wide promos (this was way before TV, radio and internet). Financial assistance came from backers such as retail magnate John Wanamaker and entrepreneur H.J. Heinz. 

Jarvis devoted herself full-time to the promotion of Mother’s Day and argued that U.S. holidays were slanted to male achievements. She urged the adoption of a special day to honor motherhood and recalled her mother's words, in a 1978 Sunday school lesson on Biblical, There are many days for men, none for mothers.

It worked. By 1912, states, towns and churches observed it as a local holiday. The first in 1910 was West Virginia, her home state. President Wilson signed a proclamation in 1914

President Woodrow Wilson

making Mother's Day a national holiday honoring mothers on the second Sunday in May.

What Happened Later

Commercialization, as always, flourished after Mother’s Day became a national holiday as florists and others capitalized on its popularity. By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards, the oldest and largest U.S. manufacturer of greeting cards was marketing Mother's Day cards. There was a huge profit margin in this new holiday. 

Jarvis, at first, worked with the floral industry. Her version of the day was to wear a white carnation as a badge and visit one’s mother or attend church services. She argued that appreciation of mothers should be through handwritten letters of love and gratitude, not store-bought gifts and cards.

In retaliation, she organized Mother’s Day boycotts and threaten to issue lawsuits against companies, spending most of her personal wealth in legal fees. She railed non-stop against Mother’s Day profiteers, speaking out against confectioners, florists and even charities.

In 1923, Jarvis protested at a candy makers' convention in Philadelphia and in 1925 at a meeting of American War Mothers. Carnations, her mother’s favorite flower, had become associated with Mother's Day. Selling carnations to raise money angered Jarvis, who was arrested for disturbing the peace.

She launched countless lawsuits against groups that were using the name “Mother’s Day.” By the time of her 1948 death, she had disowned the holiday, and lobbied the to see it removed from the U.S. holiday calendar.

Today, Mother’s Day is way more popular than Jarvis imagined. Just check out any greeting card rack to find cards to honor any mom-like figure in your life.

Our Mothers before they were moms — Clara Rose & Mary Elizabeth 💐

Who's the Cutest?

SPOILER ALERT: It's been awhile since I've posted photos of the youngest family members on both sides of our family. This post resolves that issue, so proceed at your own risk.

Great nieces, Autumn Rose and Savannah Marie, were born 2 weeks apart last October and these cousins are nearing 6 months of age this month. Their moms are my brother's two daughters, Julie and Jamie. The cutie below is Autumn Rose, the older GN.

GN Savannah is shown below with her maternal grandfather. She and her parents recently relocated to FL, unfortunately no one is getting any beach time now.

We received new photos of both great nieces over the Easter holiday weekend. Savannah and mom Jamie are on the left; Autumn and mom Julie are on the right.

That's all for the baby cuteness overload for now folks (till next time).

Easter/Passover Wishes

There's no doubt that this will be a very different Passover and Easter holiday for so many people worldwide.

Individuals and families will self-celebrate observe religious traditions in their own homes. 

They won't be able to attend houses of worship. Nearly all synagogues and churches are remain closed. However, many are streaming services online.

And like many other fellow bloggers, we will observe Easter in the privacy of our apt away from family. As much as they'll be missed, we take comfort in knowing that they are safe as we are too.

Sure, we'll miss the traditions of egg hunts and egg coloring shared with grandchildren in years past. Instead, we'll rely on memories of these fun times.

Since we won't be seeing the grandkids to distribute Easter treats, we sent them some, not in the traditional basket, but in a box. Thankfully, the USPS remains operational and postal employees continue doing a wonderful job under stressful conditions. We appreciate them.

We remember when our Easter holiday was celebrated with new clothes and treats. Here's a trip down memory lane with vintage holiday pics from our family albums. Dorothy/Beatrice is shown with her mom and younger brother, Anthony on the left and in the center. That's Patrick/Grenville with his parents and a very large bunny on the right.

While we didn't color eggs with the grandkids this weekend, we had fun doing it at home and shared a video chat with them. 

We hope that you and those you love are safe and happy, and that you get some special treats too. Through a video chat session today, we were able to see and talk to family members in several states to share Easter greetings. Did you do the same?

Chag Sameach and Happy Easter to Everyone

Happy Birthday Bro

Today is my little brother's birthday, only he's not so little anymore. Still, he will always be my younger brother and (unfortunately) I am will always be his older sister. He's my only sibling and 3 years younger than myself and we're both in the seniors age group now. 

We're Adults! How Did That Happen? When Can We Make it Stop?

Tony (he prefers this now to Anthony) lives in our native NJ and is a husband, father and grandfather. This year, there will be no family gathered to sing Happy Birthday, except by calls or online videos. But, I recall years ago when the entire family came together to celebrate these important milestones and everyone lived fairly close to one another. 

Since his birthday is close to Easter, he sometimes had to co-celebrate with the Easter 

holiday. This year, he lucked out and got his very own day as Easter is next weekend.

Happy Birthday, Tony. You will always be my younger and much-loved little brother.

Look Who's 4 Months !

Spoiler Alert — there are cute 👶🏼 baby photos in this post.

Admittedly, we are a bit very prejudged in saying that our 2 great nieces, born two weeks apart in October 2019, are real charmers. Both are 4 months old this month.

Autumn Rose, who was born in early October 2019, is clearly not camera-sky and is already working the camera.

Her mom is our oldest niece, Julie, who took these photos at the pre-school where she works and where Autumn attends "infant school" several days a week. She and her parents, Julie and Michael, live in NJ and we first met Autumn during the holiday season.

Autumn Rose

We also met Autumn's younger by 2 weeks cousin, Savannah Marie, last Christmas (doesn't seem so long ago). She and her parents, Jamie and Mike, have relocated to FL where recent graduate Jamie has accepted a nursing position

Our recent FL travels weren't near where they are living now. We hope to see them on a future trip to NJ again, where her maternal grandparents live.
Another event these cousins share, besides their birthday month, is their christening month. In January, Autumn and Savannah were both baptized in the same NJ church and by the same parish priest. Here they are below with their parents.

We enjoy getting (and sharing) updated photos of these two cousins, our great nieces, courtesy of their parents.

The Bear & Baby

Near the end of 2019, a blog post shared the happy news that welcoming a New Year would also see welcoming in a new family member for a cousin and his husband.

That earlier post shared photos of a baby shower for families of the two dads. This one introduces their son who was born two weeks ago.

He already has a constant companion, the Vermont Teddy Bear gift we gave his dads at the baby shower. Coincidentally, his middle name is Bear in memory of his late grandfather's nickname.

His grandmother Anita and other family members were there to welcome the newest family member. 

Welcome to the family 🧸.