The year was perhaps 1945/1946. The war had just ended and my uncles were all home from the service, but nothing had really changed as far as our family was concerned. All the families would spend the week days together but always kept in touch with one in other. A day would not go by without a telephone call between all the sisters and grandma. Grandma didn't speak much English but there was just something about her that you knew what she was saying. Saturdays, were the beginning of the weekend and most families spent that day shopping and doing family things together...........Saturday night was considered the night on the town, dad would end up playing penny anty poker with some of my uncles and it was mom's or the hostess of the house job to keep the sandwiches, beer and snacks coming. Sunday was typically the day when after church, we would stop at Wall's bakery and get fresh rolls, head home for a great breakfast of bacon,eggs and rolls with butter. Afternoons were a different story altogether. Springtime Sundays was garden building days at Grandma and Grandpa's. All, without exception, families were summoned with tools in hand to Grandma and Grandpa's house to build the family victory garden on a portion of their yard, which to me was tremendous even though it was right in the middle of a neighborhood. Seems like Grandpa, being in real estate struck a good deal with someone and bought several adjoining building lots. The main house and garage was on one, peach, apple, grape vines and fig trees on another and a giant victory garden on the third. The site of all these men arriving always reminded me of the seven dwarfs with their hoes,shovels,rakes etc over their shoulders. The plan was set out and to work, to work they went. The garden had to be completed in that one day and to celebrate Grandma and the ladies would cook the dinner. The idea of the garden was that everyone would work on it , everyone would reap its wealth.
Now , this was a special dinner from all the other Sundays, which was always pasta and wine. This dinner was Italian chicken, Italian sausage, Italian ham, Italian home grown potatoes, Italian beans and just about anything else you wanted, just as long as it was Italian.................plus plenty of Grandpa's home made Italian wine from the basement. Meanwhile it was a day of fun and exploring for the cousins. My cousin, Roberto, and I discovered a b b gun down in the basement that belonged to my uncle. Also, I'm not quite sure of where he got some great balloons but not like regular balloons, they seems to have a larger opening where you would blow them up , but we just filled them up with water which stretched them out to about a foot long, nailed them to a beam and shot b.b.s at them until we either got caught or ran out of b.bs.
There was cousin Roberto, his sister we'll call "R" and myself that hung out the most at family gatherings, I think it was because of the closeness of our age. Roberto and I were constantly getting into little trouble deals, nothing vicious, just being pain the the butt. One Uncle had a little vespa type motor bike, that we would love to ride. Neither of us were old enough or really able to control the speed or direction. We would just like to get on this thing and ride it in and out of Grandpa's mini peach tree orchard, digging up whatever grass was still there by doing our wheelies. Many a tree was bumped into, which aggravated grandpa to no end. He would get a switch branch off the lilac bush strip off its leaves and come chasing after us swinging the branch over his head. OH, if he had ever caught us. We would just drop the scooter and tear out of there, teasing him to come and get us. After giving him a half hour or so to relax and calm down, we would both approach him and sit on his lap and give him the sad look and "I'm sorry grandpa" and all was soon forgotten, ................until next time................
At grandma and grandpa's house for each Sundays dinner, due to the size of the family, all the adults were seated together at one table, all the children at another. It seemed to me that everyone had their special seat starting from grandpa who had the head of the table from there and to his right was oldest son, his wife, oldest daughter,her husband etc. Grandma, the last person seated was at the opposite end of the table. Kids table, totally unorganized and always a fight who was sitting next to who. The mothers would feed us on smaller plates before sitting at the big people table and only the things she knew we would finish eating. Grandma did not like left overs. If it wasn't enough for us we would find ways to get food off the other cousins plate or perhaps trade......2 green beans for a small sausage.......... If it did happen and I say "IF" that there was food left over, there was always a dog that would help you finish. I had an uncle that was in charge of exercising the dog. He would put the dog in the basement and find a stray cat to keep the dog company for a while. Now, before I hear any comments about animal abuse, save it!!!!! the dog never caught the cat, it was only meant to keep his heart pumping.
What fun days and never a dull moment. It seemed like we were never bored, always something to do.
