Travel Tips

When I was a little girl, we lived in Salem, Illinois. My mother's parents lived next door to us, and my great grandparents lived about one mile away.
I called my great grandparents (on my Mother's side) Big Mammo and Babby. Mammo was a large, happy woman who did lots of cooking. Whenever I would walk there with my sister and grandmother (that's back when people in the USA walked), I would always look forward to the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen. Of course, everything she cooked was fattening! Great Grandpa Babby was a silent man who was kind of in the background. I don't have too many memories of him except that I respected him and knew he had an American Indian bloodline.
Looking back now, I realize what a simple life they lead. Probably, by today's standards, they would be considered "poor"; however, if contentment counts, they were "wealthy".

My Mother was an only child, and we lived in a home next door to her parents, Holland W. Zeitler and Bessie Frances Zeitler, known as Babby and Mamo. They were like second parents to my sister Ronda, brother Douglas, and myself because we were at their house all the time. I have fond, fond memories of both of them.
My grandmother(Mamo) was a woman ahead of her time. She always worked. She would walk the mile to the pants factory in Salem, Illinois, where she was on a sewing machine assembly line. When she would walk home in the evening and stop at the local grocery store, she would bring home "treats" for us and all our friends. She was a wonderful grandmother who was a disciplinarian in a fair way.
My grandfather, Holland W. Zeitler (Babby) was a short man but wiry (lean,strong, and tough). He was a "jack of all trades". He served in WWI in France, worked on the railroad, was a carpenter, and a wonderful, sweet grandfather.
When I was nine years old, we moved 100 miles away from Salem, Illinois to Robinson, Illinois. My grandparents would drive up to our town about once a month. But it was not the same. My grandmother died in her 60's, and my grandfather was in his 80's. He was never as strong after her death.

I was a lucky kid. I had Ross O Wood and Wanda Jean Wood as parents...wonderful parents. My parents were always the youngest among my friends, and everyone liked them. They would let us roll up the rug and dance to Rock and Roll! They were strict but not ridiculous in their bringing up tactics. My Mom was the "boss" to the eyes of the outside world because she was the talker, the doer, the outgoing one. My Dad was very quiet, soft spoken, and accommodating. However, if you really knew them, like I did, Dad held his own. They were always fun to be with.
My Dad retired early, and they moved to Kentucky and bought a home on Kentucky Lake. My sister and brothers and I all loved that place. I personally would go down at least once a year by myself to be with my folks. I would love to go out and fish with my Dad, play cards with my Mom, and shop with both of them. My Mom was a great cook. No one can make homemade noodles or fresh green beans the way she did (My sister comes close).
Sadly, both my parents died in 1999...my Dad in February, and my Mother in December. They were married for 60 years. I miss them so much.

I love my sister and brother-in-law.
They are a great couple. My sister, Ronda Jo, is a year and a half older than I am, and she is truly one of the easiest people to get along with. She is as quiet and reserved as I am vocal and outgoing. But, we make a nice sister act. Her husband, Larry Gullett, is a real sweetheart. He has the biggest, kindest heart. All kids love him because he is so patient. He's a really thin guy...I think he weighs the same as he did in high school. He has worked at the same place since he was 16 years old...talk about loyalty! My sister is hard working, kind, quiet (you have to prod and pry to get her to tell you anything), but you could not ask for a more giving person. She and Larry have four children: Holly Beth Matthew, Erik, and Dea. They are lucky kids to have these two as their parents.

Jill and Eric live in Chicago (about an hour away) in the Lincoln Square neighborhood with their cat, Cleo,tottler daughter, Sabrina Dee, and newborn son, Brandon Allan.
They have been married since June of 2004. What a great couple they make. Both are easy going and funny. Both love the city and plan to stay there. Both have parents who are or were teachers.
They laugh a good deal; love to go out to eat; he is a sports enthusiast; she is a reluctant sport's fan...but she's getting better at it.
It's nice to truly like your child's partner. I think they'll be together for a long, long time.

Allan's sister Jayne and her husband Ron are the best couple...they are our Vacation Buddies. We've gone to Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Wisconsin together on vacation. We play golf, play cards, shop, sightsee, and "hang out" together. We have gone to the races at Arlington Park together, gone out to eat on numerous occasions, and spent many a Christmas Day together. The four of us do a great deal of laughing when we are togehter...Ron is a jokester, and Jayne is am "imp". She and Allan, being sister and brother, still do the sibling "thing". The three of them grew up in the same neighborhood in Indiana Harbor so they have many a good story to tell me...There's always a new story to hear, and I'm a captive audience.
I'm so glad that my sister-in-law and brother-in-law are also my friends.

Marilyn and Bruce Hart...What a couple! It's one of those stories that you only hear about: Best friends in childhood, good buddies in the teen years, and then they go their separate ways. Years later, both are divorced, and now they are together again after 40 years!
And are they together. They were married three + years ago on New Years Eve.
I've know Marilyn for over thirty years, and I've only known Bruce for a few years, but it seems as though I've known him forever. We have spent Christmas together one year and Thanksgiving together another year...yes, they are like family.

Marilyn and I are the kind of friends who can finish each other's sentences. We have shared heartaches and laughter; disappointments and joy; successes and failures; beginnings and endings. We've experienced it all and survived together. What a friendship...strong and enduring.

They make such a great couple because their marriage is based on that long ago friendship. They never run out of things to talk about; their pasts are intertwined.

Although they live in Charlotte, Michigan (near Lansing), we remain the best of buddies, and we always will.