Next Level Down - Second Generation

The next level down for me would of course be my grandparents, John DeVries and Winnie Morren. John can be identified as being in the first row of the blog picture, farthest to the right. He can also be identified by the cigar that he is holding, probably a San Felice or a White Owl. My grandmother can be identified with a bit more difficulty. In the second row directly behind my great grandmother Roelfien is a person with a hat. Behind this womans left shoulder is what I believe to be my grandmother, Winnie. I believe my grandfather was the youngest of this clan to emigrate with the family. There were others to be born into the family once they arrived in the United States.

I have many good memories of my grandparents. When I visited with my parents while living in California, I remember staying at the Woodward house, a big two story house with a wonderful attic where there were lots of treasures to be found. Among some of the treasures was a toaster that had two doors on either side that were slanted. Open the door, slide in a slice of bread and open the door periodically to check if the slice were done or not.

In the basement was the large coal furnace. In the back was a smaller room where my grandfather kept the kindling. I remember that the kindling was made of hardwood clothing hangers that obviously were discarded as seconds.

In the back yard there were many other attractions. One was the ballfield where I once saw a donkey softball game. Another time I watched the king and his court ... the pitcher striked out the batter from center field. There were also the raspberry rows that provided lots of delicious raspberries in season. Of course Rags, the neighbors dog was a lot of fun. He could do tricks and was very well trained.

There were lots of cousins in the neighborhood. Gail and Donna lived across the street. Curt Brinks lived kitty corner. Ron Sportel lived at the end of the block. He's the one who made frog stabbers for our ventures out into the swampy areas behind the ball fields.

Then of course there was Lee & Cady. My grandfather would take me to work and let me horse around. It was a good thing when Dave Calligan (cousin?) was around. And then my grandfather would let me snitch a candy bar from the cases if I inserted a nickel inside. At noon we would lock up the store and go home for lunch. My grandmother would often have potatoes and fried eggs for lunch. These were served with mustard and strips of toast that she called "strippies".