Email from Frank (received March 29, 2009)

Dear Marti:

Can I tell all the mean things, that my big sister, a year and half older than I, and her friends played on me, an innocent young boy?

Great to hear from you.

Frank

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Dear Frank:

ABSOLUTELY!

Great to hear from you.

Marti

Childhood Memories

Roberta and Frank scheming together up at the Gregg Ranch.
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This post resulted from a conversation between Marti and Roberta on a leisurely Saturday morning when Grandma was sitting in the Johnson living room, after breakfast.

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What memory would you say was the time of your life?

I remember when Aunt Peggy and Uncle Bud got married. The Evans kids and the Gregg family had a friendly rivalry going on in my mother’s yard. I can remember the dress I wore. It was pink with a jacket--a short-sleeved jacket. They were married in March, I believe. I was maybe thirteen—six years younger than Peggy, who was 19 or 20. We were just throwing--not heavy dirt but small rocks, and chasing each other around, acting smart. Bud had a couple of younger brothers and, of course, Frank and I were Peggy’s younger almost-siblings. Probably, my brother Ralph was too old to participate, since he was just a year or two younger than Aunt Peggy.

Marti: Who all participated in the rivalry?

There was Frank and I, and probably Shirley and Lee. And then, the Evans kids were Bud’s brothers. They were Bill and Jim Evans and there probably were some cousins. I don’t know. That was a really fun day.

The day after Aunt Peggy's wedding, my mother commented to somebody else, "I don't understand how Roberta got her dress so dirty!"

On Aunt Peggy

We were very fond of Aunt Peggy. She lived with us because her mother had died. She was sixteen when Grandma Minnie died. And then she lived with us there in Cambria to finish high school. I was about ten when she moved in with us. Oh, we were always close--because we were close in age; more like sisters than aunt and niece. And then, I think Grandma Minnie had been ailing for a while anyhow. Peggy probably spent more time with us while going to school, especially since the ranch was so far away. That is why Grandpa Gregg bought the house in Cambria, so we could live there and go to school and all.

On Gregg Ranch


When we first moved to Cambria, we lived at the ranch, because I think for a year or two when I was seven or eight or nine, Frank and I went to that Home School which was along the road on San Simeon Creek Road. But I can’t really remember much about that except that I know we went there, Frank and I. And I am not sure whether Ralph did or not. He was four and a half years older than I am. I don’t know if Frank remembers that or not. There is a lady in Cambria now that is trying to write a book about one-room schoolhouses in the county and she called me up but I can’t remember much about it. She took Frank’s number and I think Frank said that she called him.

Earliest memories
I can remember living at the ranch. We lived in Canoga Park when my folks were divorced and I don’t remember much about that, although I remember my dad’s grandmother. We always stayed in close touch with her, too, and of course, we stayed in touch with my dad. He always came to see us. He sent my mother money for many, many years.

I even remember after I was married and Frank was in the Marines, my dad still was sending my mother money and she sent it back and said that she was working then. But he would have gone on forever, I guess. But she didn’t need it.

And I always remember--of course in those days divorce wasn’t very common--and I can remember, when I was eight to ten, I can remember explaining that my parents were divorced but my mother had custody.

Marti: Was that painful for you?

It wasn’t especially painful. The local people were always amazed because my dad came and stayed with us—you know—stayed at the house. He went to our graduations and the events of our lives and he even brought his mother, my grandmother, Sue. The local people were amazed because we were all so friendly. I don’t remember anything about the divorce or what happened.

On Roberta’s father, Ralph Goodall (and the "in-betweener")
My dad married several more times—at least two or three more times—before he ended up with Grandma Ruby. He had a couple of in-betweeners. I remember one of his wives was named “Hazel” and she spelled it Hazelle, which impressed me at that point in time. Of course, Frank and I always wanted to call her Haze-Ellie, but we didn’t. My dad wouldn’t let us.

One summer, my dad and Hazelle came and picked up Frank and I with a little motor home and we went on a little trip. But I don’t think that lasted too long. That is the only time I remember—going on that little motor home trip with them. And I had an acute attack of hay fever, so it wasn’t a very happy memory. I can’t remember if Ralph went with us or not. Probably not. Ralph worked at Lyon’s store from the time he was thirteen or fourteen. He always tried to be the head of the family.

I always remember with my stepmother, "Haze-Ellie", I had terrible hayfever, and she said, "Go wash your face and hands." And my dad said, "Go wash your hands. You don’t have to wash your face." And I was always glad I didn't have to wash my face. I wonder why? Probably because my nose was running...

On Roberta’s Mother, Helen Gregg, and the Gregg siblings

Of course, my mother always worked. She worked at the Cambria Pines laundry. She worked for the Vreelands.  Many years later, after I was married and we moved to Paso Robles, Grandpa Ernest Galbraith and Cleo Vreeland were partners in the dairy. That was when we first moved over here. And my mother had worked for Cleo and her late husband.

Then my mother got into the cafeteria—the Grammar School cafeteria. And I think she worked there for 23 years. And she was much beloved. In fact, when Frank and I went to the Coast Union reunion just last year, both of us were asked questions about my mother—received comments that they remembered my mother at the cafeteria.

She never recovered emotionally from the divorce. I am sure the divorce was that my father was more outgoing—belonged to American legion. I am sure he went on to greener pastures and I don’t think my mother ever completely recovered from the shock of that divorce.

My Grandfather Gregg was such a strong personality that he always dominated, in a sense—although in a good way… I don’t mean… He was just that way. He always took care of his family so that is why we moved to Cambria after their divorce. We lived in two or three houses there in Cambria before he bought the one where my mother lived until she died.

I think with her family, she was always close with her sisters, too. I think she was not UN-happy. She enjoyed the work at the grammar school. She loved working around the young people. And as I say, a lot of the kids thought a lot of her, too.

She devoted her life to us (her kids). As I say, Aunt Peggy was part of the family, too. Especially, Aunt Peggy was. Even Aunt Pat, who was probably married by then. They were always close to us. Aunt Pat and Aunt Peggy were closer than Aunt Hazel—Shirley and Lee’s mother. But I was always very fond of Aunt Hazel and Uncle Henry, too.

She (Helen Gregg Goodall) was amiable and we could pretty much do as we pleased, although we never had a lot of money. But my grandfather, after he married again to Aunt Katie, she used to take us and spend money on us. My mother used to—when I was in high school—she would drive me and my friends into San Luis to go to a show or have a Chinese dinner. She was always willing to go the extra mile for us.

Of course, she was always a good cook. I think most ladies of her generation were, because Grandma Helen Galbraith was an excellent cook, too. But there were lots of good cooks at that age, I think; although I don’t remember that about my Aunt Minnie—I was only 8 or 9 when she died. But all the aunts were good cooks—Pat, Peggy, Hazel.

I never knew my uncle Lloyd. He never lived in the area. I don’t even keep in touch with his kids at all; whereas, as you know, I certainly keep in touch with Peggy and Pat’s kids and Shirley and Lee were always good friends, too.

More on Gregg Ranch


We used to spend lots of summers at the ranch. Lee and Shirley would be there, too. Of course, I was the oldest—again, not including brother Ralph. And I would read up at the Gregg Ranch. There was a room out to the southwest corner of the house that we called the sunroom. It was three sides of windows and it had a separate door. It was a room by itself. We used to spend lots of time in there playing and reading.  

We just loved that sunroom!These pictures show the sunroom (to the left in the photo below).

Although we spent lots of time outdoors, too, because Grandpa Gregg bought three ponies just for us kids: King and Dixie and Fairy. King was the old guy. Dixie was the youngest, I think. Fairy was the smaller female pony. And she was all dark-feathered--no... not dark-featherd... dark-what? Not dark-skinned.  Dark-haired? And King and Dixie both had white and colored. They were all Shetland ponies.

This picture shows Fairy, Dixie and King from left to right. Cousin Lee is on Fairy. Brother Frank is on Dixie. Grandma Roberta and her cousin Shirley are on King.



What did your mother look like?

She looked like me. She was about my height. I don’t think her hair was as naturally wavy as mine, because she always had permanents. She had glasses, and she was very similar to my build. The same colored hair and eyes. Of course, I have some young pictures of her. She was probably prettier than me. But she had the same features.



Interrupted:

Susan walks through the front door into the living room and teases Grandma, taunting, “Ha-Ha! I checked the mail and I got mine first!” (waves a letter from Kelly through the air gloatingly, with pictures of Addison and the new baby, Emma, in clear view).

Grandma says, “What? Oh! [delighted] The pictures! Ohh, I have to go get my mail!”

She hits my leg with the back of her hand two times and gets up to head for the door.

***Note to readers who are new to blogs:

Keep an eye on the "comments" link at the end of each post.  It will tell you how many comments have been posted on a blog entry.  In the comments section, friends and family members can post their own memories and responses.

Introduction to "1926 Memory Lane"

Hi everyone,

For years, I've been asking Grandma to write down her life memories in a little book the grandkids got her years ago for that very purpose. Grandma always replies rather glumly, "Yeah, I really should..." using the same tone of voice people generally employ when acknowledging they should eat more vegetables or go to the gym more often.

So, this week, I suggested to Grandma that she and I try to get together once a week and while she orally takes a stroll down memory lane (probably with some prompting), I'll type as fast as I can.  She agreed.  Then, this morning, I decided that since her grandchildren have already sent her skyrocketing into the computer age through her email account, Facebook profile and various other encounters with the world wide web, I might as well publish her memories in a blog since they are going to be typed up anyway rather than written in her own hand.  

After putting together our first post this morning (see next post above), Grandma said, "Marti, you're making this fun!"

Success!  That's the idea!

I hope to publish something here at least once a week--perhaps more often at times. Mostly, I hope it will be an enjoyable and creative way for Grandma and me to hang out together; but I thought it might also be a fun way for everybody to learn a little bit more about our own family culture, ancestry and heritage.

If any of you are unfamiliar with blogs, notice that you can click on the word "Comments" at the end of any given post. This feature allows anybody to contribute their own stories, thoughts or responses directly to the blog.  Or, if you have a question or a request for a particular story, say so in a comment and I'll make a point of following up in my next visit with Grandma.

How to comment on the blog:

1. Click on the "comments" link at the bottom of a post.  There will be a number before the word "comments" that indicates how many comments have already been made on that post.
2. Type your comment into the text box.
3. Under the text box, you will see "Comment as:" with a drop-down menu next to it.   Click on the drop-down menu and choose "Name/URL."  
4. A small screen will pop up where you can fill in your name. You can leave the URL box blank, unless you have a website, of course. 
   
5. Click on "Post Comment".

I hope you all enjoy this blog.

 
Love to everybody!

Marti

That's me (on the left) and Grandma (on the right) as little girls. Aren't we peas in a pod?! :)