The Terrible Catsafterme » 1970′s – Early

The Holidays Before the Boy

Brad — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:38:01 +0000

No matter how difficult it is to see just how, my parents did in fact have a short life together before I was born. In fact, they spent two Christmases together before I was even conceived: one as a newly dating couple who had only been together for a couple of months, and one as a married couple who had yet to set the wheels in motion of creating me and forming our family. There is a home movie that exists along with a small batch of photos showing my parents during this holiday.

The Super 8 film starts off showing my Mom gathering the gifts from under the aluminum tree to take to the Christmas Eve gathring at Arline and Carl’s house. Then it moves on to their family room where the Christmas Eve gatherings would continue to take place for my Dad’s side of the family up until 1976, when it moved to our house on Echo Hill. Present at this 1970 Christmas affair was Grandma Range, Joe & Hazel, Harold, Arline & Carl, Bill & Dottie and Laura and Robby, and Dad & Mom. Arline and Carl’s son John may have been present but cannot be seen in the film. One of the gifts that Dad opened that night was a Super 8 film projector and an Argus Super 8 camera. So when the camera started to roll that evening, it would be the first of quite a few home movies that Dad would take of the early 1970′s.

After the gathering at Arline & Carl’s house, my Mom and Dad did what they would do again during my first Christmas on earth: go back to their home on John Glenn and exchange gifts with each other. Instead of taking an movies of each other opening their gifts, they each took one snapshot of the other, as well as of the tree – both before (seen at the top of the posting) and after the opening of the gifts.

Mom gets ready to see what’s in the magic shoebox

Skinny Dad with a goatee rips into his gifts

The gifts – including the Super 8 camera and projector

As a bonus, there are also a few photos of Mom and Dad at the New Years Eve gathering at ‘The Club’ – in actuality the CYPC, or Catholic Young People’s Club – as they trasitioned from 1970 to 1971. Judging by the number of bottles of various types on the tables, it really actually looked like it was a lot of fun.

With this number of bottles, how could anyone not have had fun here?

Mom across from my parents’ friends Frank and Mary

I’m wishing that my Dad had vowed to wear this hat for every New Years Eve party

Mom signals 1971 – the year that she would be giving birth to me

1971 will continue…

A Couple of Birthday Bashes in December ’74

Brad — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:28:17 +0000

Both before and after Christmas, my Dad’s family kept busy with not one, but two birthday celebrations in the month of December. My cousin Lora’s birthday is on December 9, so she was celebrating her 9th special day. My guess would be that the little party took place after church on the 8th at her parents’ – Bill and Dottie’s – house. I only have one photo from this gathering and as you can see below, I once again was at the ready with my assistance in blowing out the birthday candles.

It’s taking everything I have not to blow out those crayon candles

My Grandma Range’s 62nd birthday was on December 29. As was typical of her character, she did not like to have her special day detract from the Christmas holiday season, so when we did have any kind of celebration for her, we did it in the earlier part of December or in January. However, for this her 62nd birthday, we decided to have a little surprise party on her actual birthday.

For the most part, it was all of the members of our family that attended (as seen below), in addition to a friend of my Grandma named Mary Bradshaw. She lived near Grandma on Union Road and they went to church together. She would often stay overnight at her house when Grandma would work on Saturdays in Trotwood. Dad took a couple of various nice, professional-looking photos of the group – bpth of which are seen below. Unfortunately, since he was taking them, he wasn’t in them.

Back row: Pat, John, Mary Bradshaw, Grandma Range, Joe, Dottie, Hazel, Arline, and Carl. On the floor: Robby, Bill, Lora, Mom, and me

Second variation of the pose – with even less people actually looking at the camera

Obviously I have no memory of this event, but it looked like a comforting, fun outing – in which I would take my three-year old self around, annoying each person at will. Bill or Dottie captured a few snapshots, including the one of Grandma with her cake at the top of the posting.

Hazel, Arline, Carl, and me toting around God-only-knows

Pay, John, Mary, and Joe – with those very familiar tinted photos of Lora and Rob as babies hanging on the wall

Lora and Grandma eating the cake – with the remnants of Christmas still in place

Christmas 1974 will round out the year, and in fact the early 1970′s…

Fall 1974 and My Third Birthday

Brad — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:17:50 +0000

All through the Summer of 1974, my parents had been working on a couple of projects in our back yard. The first was a barn to store our lawnmowers, garden tools, and other items that wouldn’t fit in our (then) single-car garage. He enlisted the aid of his cousin Irene’s husband Virgil Davidson to assist in the construction, with my Uncle Ed helping to put in the flooring. Dad an Virgil worked on this during the day before heading off to work at Brown and Kroger in the evening. No telling how much assistance I lent to the project. When it was done, we had a nice looking white barn that still sits on the property today.

The finished barn

The other project that my parents began was a rather expansive garden in the back yard. The Summer of 1974 was the first one that attempted, but they continued the practice for the next two or three years. We grew quite an array of vegetables that we gave away and ate. Among them pumpkins, tomatoes, corn, green beans, onions, radishes, lettuce, and cucumbers. The only good that photos I could find of it from any of the years were from 1974. Proud of their accomplishment, Dad took some nice slides of it.

The garden

From the other angle

Rear of the house

Completely unrelated, but from the same time period. A visit to Fantasy Farm and the world’s worst Mickey Mouse

Life didn’t change much as we moved into Fall that year. The barrage of holidays kicked off with my third birthday on October 2. As the photos indicate, we had a party and cake at our house. The pictures do not show who attended but I suspect it was just family rather than friends. My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, so I would guess that the party came the following weekend.

Obviously excited about my cake

Digging into the gifts

My cousin Rob’s birthday came 13 days later, as he turned six years old. The good thing about having a birthday close to his was that I got to share in his party usually with somewhat of a second party. This one was likely held on Sunday, October 13. Sundays were generally the days that we would visit with Bill & Dottie and Lora and Robby. I received a Mr. Potato Head.

Very tempted to ‘assist’ with the candles

Robby blows out his candles

I could go for some of that cake

Opening up some View Master slides

Lora is in her own world as I tackle my gifts

Heading off to tell everyone about my new Mr. Potato Head

Playing with our new toys

A fabulous picture of Rob

Halloween fell on Thursday the 31st in 1974 and I went trick or treating for the second time – this time dressed up as an Indian, or as they would say nowadays (but certainly wouldn’t have said in 1974), a Native American. Looks like Darlene joined us with one of her friends.

Think I’ll be an Indian Brave…

Darlene and a friend, as well as our neighbor and my babsitter Megan Long, join me for Trick or Treat. Perhaps Darlene can help identify…

A maniac with the candy

There doesn’t appear to be any photos of Thanksgiving, so I can only speculate that it took place at Arline and Carl’s on my Dad’s side, and probably at Grandma and Grandpa’s new house on Kruss on my Mom’s side. Below are some parting shots that were taken during the Fall of 1974 of Mom and me, individually and relaxing with our cat Laddy.

Blurry and apparently bitter Mom

One jovial tot

Mom and I relax with Laddy as we head toward the holiday season

1974 will continue…

Laddy

Brad — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:08:37 +0000

As far as my memory is concerned, Laddy was my first cat. Although we had a fleeting association with another feline, who remained nameless, at our home on John Glenn Road, I have no memory of any cat before Laddy. We’re not quite sure who named Laddy, but I suspect it was my Dad. He was a stray cat that initially hung out across the street at the Ferrenberg’s house, but one he started roaming over to our neck of the woods, we offered him some food, and Brenda Ferrenberg offered him to us.

My best guess is that he first came around during the Fall of 1974. He would have been my first real introduction to cats and he obviously had a very docile personality as my love of cats began here and goes on until the present day. You can see actual footage of me with Laddy in the home movie Brad’s Magic as seen here.

Laddy – with odd eye. Not sure if this was part of the accident that Laddy had, but this was only temporary

Laddy tolerates the kid

The fate of Laddy is unknown. My parents professed that he ‘ran away’ so this was what I always thought happened to Laddy. It was only in more recent years that my Mom told me how Laddy had either been hit by a car or was kicked by someone so badly at one point that the veterinarian said that his ‘insides were all rearragned’. My parents spent an ungodly amount of money to have him healed. Mom thinks it was in the neighborhood of $800, which I find hard to believe, considering the 1974 dollar.

Laddy hangs out in our driveway with Mom

Just two pals hanging out on a sunny Spring day in 1975

But sometime between 1975 and 1976, Laddy ‘ran away’. Or obviously died in some fashion. Laddy will always hold a very significant role in my history and my heart as my first kitty.

1974 will continue…

Woodland Altars Weekend 1974

Brad — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:05:40 +0000

It is interesting for me to look at the dozen slides that my Dad took during our Summer weekend retreat at Woodland Altars in 1974. I’m not exactly sure what the retreat was for or when it took place, but my guess is that it was around the Fourth of July holiday. Also I am not sure if this was a retreat of the Bear Creek or the Beavercreek Church of the Brethren. When we moved to Beavercreek the year before, we had switched from Bear Creek to Beavercreek, obviously due to the closer proximity.

Our Pastor in Beavercreek was Byron Flory, who was the twin brother of our former Bear Creek Pastor Dan Flory. Byron (who I can recognize because he is with his wife Betty Lou) was here on the retreat. But then again so were Bill and Dottie and their kids, who attended Bear Creek. So the jury is out.

Either way, the pictures are most fascinating to me because it shows the campgrounds many years before I first ever attended camp in 1981 and really got to know these surroundings. I have visited the camp as recently as 2007 and the bulk of the locations seen in the pictures are still virtually unchanged.

Paparazzi shot of the arriving Florys

The road, the woods, and the cars

Mom and me, hand in hand on the prairie

Vespers on the prairie

The log cabin…still there. See a photo of Christi and me inside of it in 2007 here.

Robby and Lora and an unidentified kid

The shelter area where we often hung out at camp. We performed our talent show here in 1989.

Mom and I break bread with the other retreaters

The small diving board is still there. The big one remained through my camp years but has been removed.

Dottie (in pink), Mom, and I cool off in the Woodland Altars pool.

Strolling poolside

I’m sure I had fun on this trip, but it wasn’t until our 1977 visit that any specific memories would stick with me.

1974 will continue…