Written by Mary Jones
I deeply admired and hoped to emulate Aunt Helen's qualities as a mother. But I never hoped to emulate the quantity of her offspring.

Written by Karen
I remember going out to visit Grandma when we were little. As soon as we said our hellos, I would bolt straight for Aunt Justine's room. In the bottom drawer were all the toys. My favorite was the gingerbread man.

Inglenook and Grandma's was such a special place to play. . Where else could you make a mess, cause such great havoc and barely get in trouble? I remember swinging on the glider on the screened porch until we were banging the dining room wall.

What I think is great is taking my children to see Great-Grandma. They make a beeline for her front closet. In that closet is a bag of stuffed animals. Oh, the things my little ones think up! And as usual, they hardly ever get in trouble at Great-Grandma's.

I guess the toys have changed and the group of parents has changed, but I suspect we can probably still get away with a lot when Grandma's around. For all the things that change some stay the very same. I am so blessed to be able to have these memories and pass some on to my children as they embark on their journey of memories.

Written by Anna
Our first Easter together as husband and wife, Joe was sick. I was so disappointed. I had dreams of walking so proudly to Church together. But as soon as he was better, he went to Otterstadt's and got me the most beautiful Easter Basket I had ever seen. (Never mind that it was half price.) I still remember it fondly.

Written by Brian
I remember the old house on Cedar Street, especially the basement where we kept the hamsters. Who can forget the time Aunt Justine came over just as some baby hamsters were born - only to have to try and revive one with CPR -- using her index finger!

I also remember one time when Aunt Justine caught a bat inside the house at Inglenook, and all the Sunday mornings we would come over after church and talk to Grandma and Grandpa. I can still smell the pie crust cookies!

Written by John Sr.
My first recollection ever is sitting on the living room couch on East 31st street, Brooklyn. I think it was 2 or 3 in the morning and Granny Fatthauer was rocking a baby carriage containing my baby brother Jerry.

My next recollection is one summer night, again in the early morning hours; at that time I was sleeping in the room off the dining room and we were in the midst of a violent thunderstorm. I marveled at the tremendous lightning that seemed to be striking between the house and our garage.

Pop would bring the funnies when he got home from the store on Saturday nights. Every Sunday morning, either Joseph or I would sneak into Mom and Pop' s room to grab them.

Shortly after our first son had been born, I think it was probably the summer of '49, Pop said to Margie and me, "Pack up-you're going to Inglenook." And we did. Joseph and Anne were told the same thing, and they did too. When we all arrived at Inglenook, Pop told Mom he had a surprise. Boy, did he!

She had no idea we were coming, but all she said was "Isn't this nice!" Next thing we knew we were all safely snuggled in our beds. I think Mom thought it was nice because Pop didn't only bring us, he brought the Sunday papers, butter, eggs, fruit and bread. One of Dad's customers gave him the butter and eggs. The fruit was from Smilen Bros., on the corner of Church and Nostrand.

It might have been that very same weekend that Pop purchased a can of milk (the big can the dairies used to transport milk) and by the end of the weekend the milk, the fruit and almost everything else in the house was gone! You understand we had to eat everything - there was no refrigerator! All we had was an ice box with a big wash pan underneath that had to be emptied periodically or the thawed ice would overflow and you would have cold water all over the kitchen floor!

When we were kids at Inglenook, every Saturday Joseph and I, and I guess some of the younger kids too, would have to take all the furniture out of the living and dining rooms and place it on the front porch. We would then have to mop the entire floor, wait for it to dry, and replace all the furniture. Granny insisted on, and got, a clean house.

When we were young at Inglenook, we didn't wear shoes for most of the summer, except for going to church on Sunday. All week we would go up and down to and from the beach barefoot. At that time, Hollow Road was merely tar and bluestone. Naturally, the soles of our feet were coated with black tar. When we went to bed we must have made some mess of the sheets, but if Mom complained, I have no recollection of it.

We used to dig for worms to sell to fishermen on the weekends. One time we had dug several hundred sandworms and Stewie Cadell and I packed them in seaweed and kelp and stored them in the basement. The next morning Stewie Cadell came and pulled a string hanging out the bedroom window attached to my big toe to wake me. We went into the cellar and there was a terrible stench! During the night there had been a violent lighting storm and it had killed all the worms.

I also remember John Jr. and Joseph picking berries and making jelly with Granny. There was also the time they were to camp out in the "field" overnight. I don't think they made it past 9:00 PM!

How about Grandpa taking John and Joseph out to Inglenook to rake leaves. He would burn them along Hollow Road, sometimes having a conflagration worthy of the towering inferno. Or the time Grandpa was painting and had the paint on a trailer in the backyard of Inglenook. Somehow or another he tipped over the trailer and was covered head to toe with paint! How Mom got the paint off him and his clothes I'll never know.

We all went to St. Jerome's school which was only a few blocks from the house. Every day we would walk home during the lunch break. When we arrived home our lunch would be ready and waiting. We weren't rich in monetary things, but we were rich in love and family. That is the strongest of ties.

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