Bertha being a diabetic was reliant upon diet and injections to maintain her insulin levels. As anyone who know anything about the disease this is something that is crucial to survival for a diabetic..
I remember around the age of 10/12 my grandmother being ill. Not diseased sick but having a bout of the flu or a bug of some sorts. I was home on my summer vacation at the time and all through my life I was delegated as being close by for whatever my grandmother might need.
Not feeling well and especially not being able to hold down food became a concern to my mom. Back then my mother worked the day shift and my grandmother watched me during the day so it worked out for the both of them. On this given day my mother had decided that it was best to call the doctor and let him know "Bertha" wasn't able to hold food down
Mom got a call back from the doctor and he decided the best route was to call in a prescription at the pharmacy down the road. She then called my Uncle George asked him to swing by and pick it up for my grandmother and drop it off.
When my Uncle showed up at the house he wanted to make sure to get "Bertha" started on the medication right away. I vividly remember looking over at him as he held the package up to the light in an effort to read the directions without his reading glasses. He then disappeared from the room only to reappear with a big glass of water...
The conversation went something like...
George~ Ma it says you take one of these twice a day (hands her the water and the meds)
"Bertha"~ Wow, That looks like a god dammed elephant pill.. She tossed in in her mouth and proceeded to drink down the glass of water..
My Uncle then left for work satisfied his mother had been taken care of ... Or had she?
When my mom got home that night my grandmother had remarked at how large the pills were and that she was surprised anyone could take them. Mom grabbed the package and began to read but as it had become clear what had been done she didn't know whether to panic or laugh ..
Mom~ Mom, you took one of these?
"Bertha"` Yes at noon
Mom~ These are suppositories
"Bertha" Well no wonder they went down so damn easily, they are like vasoline!
For anyone who isn't aware, a suspository is medication that is taken rectally. In my grandmothers case of not being able to hold food down it was thought best if they try going the other way with the medication for fear she would toss it back up..
I'll never forgot that day, My mother couldn't imagine what the pharmacist was thinking on the other end of the phone when she called to explain what she had done and if she would be ok.. I'm sure he came close to dropping the phone ...
My Uncle NEVER got to live that story down and to this day when things get dull and new people are around it's one of my favorite stories to tell .....
Kev
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Alma Sunderland~ Feb 26 1906- Nov 4, 1984
Alma better known to my immediate family as Bertha....
Alma Sunderland (Caron) was my mom's mother and I fondly always referred to her as Nana which bascially what the french canadians refer to their grandmother's. This is a writing that I should save for a big finish as some of my funniest stories refer to my grandmother. The reason I choose to open with it is simply because she is some of my favorite and fondest memories.
My grandmother and grandfather owned the house we lived in when I was a child in Lawrence. This was a 2 family home where they lived on the first floor and we lived on the second floor. My grandparents had 3 children Herbert, George and Joan.
A lot of the reason I look back a Bertha so fondly is because she had a lot to do with my childhood and really helped raise me as a young child. In 1974 my Grandfather died of a massive heart attack and my mother and I moved into the first floor to be with my grandmother. This filled 2 needs within the family 1) My grandmother would not be alone and 2) My mother had a 2nd adult to raise a child as she was a single parent.
My grandmother while a small woman at about 4"11 (She would always say 4"11 1/2 as if that 1/2 put her into the Avg person club) was a powerful lilttle woman in presence. She suffered from Arthritus, Nerves and Diabetes.
I had heard stories from my mom and uncles at family gatherings how "bertha" had quite the temper and how you needed to watch out for her 8 rings you would get smacked with. The humerous part of this was simply because Nana was getting her chain tugged just enough to irritate her and get her going. (there were no 8 rings)
This is not to say that she didn't have her french temper by any means.
The School my Uncle George attended as a youth wasn't far from my home. Anyone who has heard stories of old days gone by might remember being told of bein smacked by rulers for using the wrong hand to write etc. My Uncle George had a bit of a speech impedement that affected him till the day that he died. To give an example of this he could never say potatoe chips it was potata chos .....
Apparently a nun had made it a point of trying to correct my Uncles poor speach by smacking him with a ruler. While I could never (Or wanted to) believe it I had been told that my Grandmother promptly went down to the school and proceeded to physically threaten the nun about touching her child...
Maybe today she could have taken on the priests!!
More to come ...
Alma Sunderland (Caron) was my mom's mother and I fondly always referred to her as Nana which bascially what the french canadians refer to their grandmother's. This is a writing that I should save for a big finish as some of my funniest stories refer to my grandmother. The reason I choose to open with it is simply because she is some of my favorite and fondest memories.
My grandmother and grandfather owned the house we lived in when I was a child in Lawrence. This was a 2 family home where they lived on the first floor and we lived on the second floor. My grandparents had 3 children Herbert, George and Joan.
A lot of the reason I look back a Bertha so fondly is because she had a lot to do with my childhood and really helped raise me as a young child. In 1974 my Grandfather died of a massive heart attack and my mother and I moved into the first floor to be with my grandmother. This filled 2 needs within the family 1) My grandmother would not be alone and 2) My mother had a 2nd adult to raise a child as she was a single parent.
My grandmother while a small woman at about 4"11 (She would always say 4"11 1/2 as if that 1/2 put her into the Avg person club) was a powerful lilttle woman in presence. She suffered from Arthritus, Nerves and Diabetes.
I had heard stories from my mom and uncles at family gatherings how "bertha" had quite the temper and how you needed to watch out for her 8 rings you would get smacked with. The humerous part of this was simply because Nana was getting her chain tugged just enough to irritate her and get her going. (there were no 8 rings)
This is not to say that she didn't have her french temper by any means.
The School my Uncle George attended as a youth wasn't far from my home. Anyone who has heard stories of old days gone by might remember being told of bein smacked by rulers for using the wrong hand to write etc. My Uncle George had a bit of a speech impedement that affected him till the day that he died. To give an example of this he could never say potatoe chips it was potata chos .....
Apparently a nun had made it a point of trying to correct my Uncles poor speach by smacking him with a ruler. While I could never (Or wanted to) believe it I had been told that my Grandmother promptly went down to the school and proceeded to physically threaten the nun about touching her child...
Maybe today she could have taken on the priests!!
More to come ...
Life
So I was sitting around thinking about all these blogs we read everyday and mine in particular. I realized that the majority of the time we use it as a tool to talk about current events or vent a bit. So my idea is to maybe talk a little bit about me and maybe some comical parts of my family..
To start it off I'll just give a bit of background ..
I was born December 24th 1965.. That's code for you get screwed at christmas for those of you who are born from Feb to November. I was born and raised about 30 or so miles outside of Boston in a City known as Lawrence. I'm not always proud to admit that as Lawrence has been known as the car theft capitol of the world among other things. When I lived there is was a city of approx 70,000 people .. it has grown even from that by leaps and bounds.
I grew up in a middle class neighborhood of 2 and 3 decker homes so there was always an abundance of kids to hang with and maybe even get in trouble. Growing up through the late sixties into the early seventies wasn't a bad time to grow but gawd the things we lived through. I watch things like that 70's show now and find it funny that there is so much I can relate too.
My mom was born from parents of diverse origin. My grandfathers (The Sunderlands)family was british and my grandmothers (The Carons) were canadian. I guess that mixture in itelf could certianly make for a sitcom of some sort but it's all the collections of family stories that truly make me laugh and those are some things I'll get into as we go along ... This family ( The Sunderlands) has been in this country for approx 150 years..
My Dad was born into an odd situtation from a father(The Maynards) on the run and a mother (The Carters) who grew up in a local orphanage. We never totally found out why My grand father (Maynard)was on the run but there was differing speculation that he was a bigamist among other things.. funny enough if you do a geaneology search of the maynards you find these things tend to be normal with the Surname (Go figure!!)
His father origin is that of British/Irish and his mom was somewhere between Irish and Canadian. There are other things that infiltrate the lineage but these are the main lines. My Maynards line to my best current estimate have been in the USA since a minimum of 1630.
My mom and dad split up when I was about 2 years old and my dad left for California to hide. We lived at that time on the 2nd floor of my grandparents (The Sunderlands) house. While you can never know the whole story without being there,years later it would come out exactly how they split up.
My dads parents were visiting and we spent a day at a local beach (Salisbury beach) where a fight ensued between mom and dad. Apparently in a moment of being a dick (it would come out later he had many of these momnets) He told my mother what does it really matter anyway we were never really married. This in the mid 60s was a big no no ...
The story was told that in a fit of rage my mom packed up the car, inlaws,child and left my dad at the beach... Approx 20 miles from to fend for himself. When mom got home dad walked through the door not long after my mom claiming he had walked home (My dad lied quite a bit) He packed his bags and left... I wouldn't see him or hear from him again for another 15 years..
In my dads fit of running he walked out on mom and I and never really looked back. My mom had been his 2nd marriage and he sired 4 children from his first. Roy,Laurie,Wendy and Tammy Maynard. To this day our relatonships with each other remains rocky at best as we are all very different people.
At this point I'll let this sit as I've started to lay out the list of characters in my comical journey through life. Looking back on things it amazes me how my family was ever able to procreate ...you'll soon see what I mean ....
Kev
To start it off I'll just give a bit of background ..
I was born December 24th 1965.. That's code for you get screwed at christmas for those of you who are born from Feb to November. I was born and raised about 30 or so miles outside of Boston in a City known as Lawrence. I'm not always proud to admit that as Lawrence has been known as the car theft capitol of the world among other things. When I lived there is was a city of approx 70,000 people .. it has grown even from that by leaps and bounds.
I grew up in a middle class neighborhood of 2 and 3 decker homes so there was always an abundance of kids to hang with and maybe even get in trouble. Growing up through the late sixties into the early seventies wasn't a bad time to grow but gawd the things we lived through. I watch things like that 70's show now and find it funny that there is so much I can relate too.
My mom was born from parents of diverse origin. My grandfathers (The Sunderlands)family was british and my grandmothers (The Carons) were canadian. I guess that mixture in itelf could certianly make for a sitcom of some sort but it's all the collections of family stories that truly make me laugh and those are some things I'll get into as we go along ... This family ( The Sunderlands) has been in this country for approx 150 years..
My Dad was born into an odd situtation from a father(The Maynards) on the run and a mother (The Carters) who grew up in a local orphanage. We never totally found out why My grand father (Maynard)was on the run but there was differing speculation that he was a bigamist among other things.. funny enough if you do a geaneology search of the maynards you find these things tend to be normal with the Surname (Go figure!!)
His father origin is that of British/Irish and his mom was somewhere between Irish and Canadian. There are other things that infiltrate the lineage but these are the main lines. My Maynards line to my best current estimate have been in the USA since a minimum of 1630.
My mom and dad split up when I was about 2 years old and my dad left for California to hide. We lived at that time on the 2nd floor of my grandparents (The Sunderlands) house. While you can never know the whole story without being there,years later it would come out exactly how they split up.
My dads parents were visiting and we spent a day at a local beach (Salisbury beach) where a fight ensued between mom and dad. Apparently in a moment of being a dick (it would come out later he had many of these momnets) He told my mother what does it really matter anyway we were never really married. This in the mid 60s was a big no no ...
The story was told that in a fit of rage my mom packed up the car, inlaws,child and left my dad at the beach... Approx 20 miles from to fend for himself. When mom got home dad walked through the door not long after my mom claiming he had walked home (My dad lied quite a bit) He packed his bags and left... I wouldn't see him or hear from him again for another 15 years..
In my dads fit of running he walked out on mom and I and never really looked back. My mom had been his 2nd marriage and he sired 4 children from his first. Roy,Laurie,Wendy and Tammy Maynard. To this day our relatonships with each other remains rocky at best as we are all very different people.
At this point I'll let this sit as I've started to lay out the list of characters in my comical journey through life. Looking back on things it amazes me how my family was ever able to procreate ...you'll soon see what I mean ....
Kev
Monday, February 27, 2006
Mustang saga
So we all know from a few weeks ago the fate of the new car ..well I'll detail whats gone down ..
The girl that hit it asked of we could keep it off of the insurance and I've busted to get it fixed right as cheap as humanly possible to help her out. Well I got it fixed for $140 total with Ford parts which is awesome.
The problem came over the fact that she wasn't returning any of our phonecalls and I was begining to feel like I'd been taken again. The car got fixed on Thursday to which a phonecall wa splaced withthe final bill and request for a return phonecall...... It never came.. Again on Friday and again nothing.. Sunday a phonecall yielded a cell number that was no longer in service..
I was begining to get that WTF attitude again!! Why me, this always happens to me as I try and put trust in people and it goes wayside. Trust is a funny issue for me because I have a hard time trusting people for various reasons (Maybe I'll talk about it one of these days)
Today Diane drove to her home and had a conversation with her mom which left the promise of payment tomorrow... so we shall see what happens .. I certainly have my fingers crossed and am hoping to put this to rest once and for all ...
The girl that hit it asked of we could keep it off of the insurance and I've busted to get it fixed right as cheap as humanly possible to help her out. Well I got it fixed for $140 total with Ford parts which is awesome.
The problem came over the fact that she wasn't returning any of our phonecalls and I was begining to feel like I'd been taken again. The car got fixed on Thursday to which a phonecall wa splaced withthe final bill and request for a return phonecall...... It never came.. Again on Friday and again nothing.. Sunday a phonecall yielded a cell number that was no longer in service..
I was begining to get that WTF attitude again!! Why me, this always happens to me as I try and put trust in people and it goes wayside. Trust is a funny issue for me because I have a hard time trusting people for various reasons (Maybe I'll talk about it one of these days)
Today Diane drove to her home and had a conversation with her mom which left the promise of payment tomorrow... so we shall see what happens .. I certainly have my fingers crossed and am hoping to put this to rest once and for all ...
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Week in review..
It's a beatiful day in the neighborhood a beautiful day for a neighbor would you be mine, could you be .....oh shit someone stole my sneakers!
Part of my morning ritual is always stopping off at other blogs and seeing how other people are doing.. and Em is right in my usual sites ..
Poor Em has the neighbors from hell and I can certainly sympathize with her plight. Em recently found out her neighbors were spying on her (Bad Times!) I think someone deserves an ass kicking... invasion of privacy sucks !!
Ever have that friend who always has a story you can relate too or they relate to yours. Yep Em I too have a neighbor I would love to pound at times. When they moved in they were sold the house by a dear elderly lady who we had as a neighbor for 10 years. She had 2 people interested in buying and told me she close the one she felt would be a better neighbor.
The very first year this guy lived here he didn't mow his lawn all summer. I have no problem with that (Hell I've been lazy at times) So you may ask what my beef could be? When he finally decided to mow it it was after 9 pm at night!!! Ever try watching TV at 9:30 on a late summer eve with the windows open and a mower snapping at all the branches and rocks its operator couldn't find?
While this was a major annoyance it was the next thing that caught me by surprise.. I was amazed when he actually started raking up his clipping, I wasn't prepared for them to be swept out into the road!! Sometimes ya just gotta say wtf!
The next stop is Miss Annah's blog and she has had a busy week. Her show re-aired on the Discovery Health channel, She lost out on a job and even got a bit political!! Ever have that person in life that seems so centered in what they have done with their lives? That seems to be Annah, She took the tough road lived her life true and seems to be fulfilled because of it ...
Let's take a walk around the block to ole Sullyville... WTF????? His blog isn't there!! Wonder wat be up wit dat!
Well in review I can say we had spoken on the phone a few times this week and he like I was having his own week in hell. Times are getting close on his new home and things are getting stressful.
Jon,
As stressed out these issue hit you ... remember this. Where you started several years ago when you made the jump from Chicago to Texas is far behind you now and your life has fallen into place. As stressful as it might be be proud of where you came from dude and embrace where you are going because that in itself is part of the American Dream ....
Anyone wanna go fishin?
Catfish got himself out of debt and reduced his stress levels. Money is funny isn't it..something we are so bound too that it can affect our health and well being. God knows I've had my times of wondering if I could pay all the bills and I'm sure we all either deal with it at one time or are dealing with it currently. I'm glad to hear that he was able to do it successfully.
The Hippie ..
Tim started a home studio and it looks like it will be an awseome project, If I lived local I'd have to book studio time!!. I'm still waiting for Tim to get his carvin and give us a review as I was considering buying a California archtop ....
Chewbacca's Smoking Monkey ..
What can I say .. no updates!!
Me??? You wanna know bout me ...aww shucks
It's been the F'in week from hell but here in Sat the one thing I can stand on is the fact that I'm still alive. The car got fixed this weel and only cost $140 (GOODTIMES!!) but ow I'm chasing the girl who asked to avoid the Ins co. (Badtimes!!) My brother in Cali finally bought a pc and got online! Work sucked and life was dull this week.. the one thing that I always enjoy in the bad times is having my internet friends to read about and talk too ... (Em needs instant messenger!!)
We have snow on the way ..4-7" starting this afternoon.. I have a coupon for a mexican place 2 for 1 special on snowy days ..maybe we'll go tonight! ..HEH Mexican food in NH is kinda like New England Chowdah in Texas isn't it... just doesn't seem to fit ....
LATAH!
Part of my morning ritual is always stopping off at other blogs and seeing how other people are doing.. and Em is right in my usual sites ..
Poor Em has the neighbors from hell and I can certainly sympathize with her plight. Em recently found out her neighbors were spying on her (Bad Times!) I think someone deserves an ass kicking... invasion of privacy sucks !!
Ever have that friend who always has a story you can relate too or they relate to yours. Yep Em I too have a neighbor I would love to pound at times. When they moved in they were sold the house by a dear elderly lady who we had as a neighbor for 10 years. She had 2 people interested in buying and told me she close the one she felt would be a better neighbor.
The very first year this guy lived here he didn't mow his lawn all summer. I have no problem with that (Hell I've been lazy at times) So you may ask what my beef could be? When he finally decided to mow it it was after 9 pm at night!!! Ever try watching TV at 9:30 on a late summer eve with the windows open and a mower snapping at all the branches and rocks its operator couldn't find?
While this was a major annoyance it was the next thing that caught me by surprise.. I was amazed when he actually started raking up his clipping, I wasn't prepared for them to be swept out into the road!! Sometimes ya just gotta say wtf!
The next stop is Miss Annah's blog and she has had a busy week. Her show re-aired on the Discovery Health channel, She lost out on a job and even got a bit political!! Ever have that person in life that seems so centered in what they have done with their lives? That seems to be Annah, She took the tough road lived her life true and seems to be fulfilled because of it ...
Let's take a walk around the block to ole Sullyville... WTF????? His blog isn't there!! Wonder wat be up wit dat!
Well in review I can say we had spoken on the phone a few times this week and he like I was having his own week in hell. Times are getting close on his new home and things are getting stressful.
Jon,
As stressed out these issue hit you ... remember this. Where you started several years ago when you made the jump from Chicago to Texas is far behind you now and your life has fallen into place. As stressful as it might be be proud of where you came from dude and embrace where you are going because that in itself is part of the American Dream ....
Anyone wanna go fishin?
Catfish got himself out of debt and reduced his stress levels. Money is funny isn't it..something we are so bound too that it can affect our health and well being. God knows I've had my times of wondering if I could pay all the bills and I'm sure we all either deal with it at one time or are dealing with it currently. I'm glad to hear that he was able to do it successfully.
The Hippie ..
Tim started a home studio and it looks like it will be an awseome project, If I lived local I'd have to book studio time!!. I'm still waiting for Tim to get his carvin and give us a review as I was considering buying a California archtop ....
Chewbacca's Smoking Monkey ..
What can I say .. no updates!!
Me??? You wanna know bout me ...aww shucks
It's been the F'in week from hell but here in Sat the one thing I can stand on is the fact that I'm still alive. The car got fixed this weel and only cost $140 (GOODTIMES!!) but ow I'm chasing the girl who asked to avoid the Ins co. (Badtimes!!) My brother in Cali finally bought a pc and got online! Work sucked and life was dull this week.. the one thing that I always enjoy in the bad times is having my internet friends to read about and talk too ... (Em needs instant messenger!!)
We have snow on the way ..4-7" starting this afternoon.. I have a coupon for a mexican place 2 for 1 special on snowy days ..maybe we'll go tonight! ..HEH Mexican food in NH is kinda like New England Chowdah in Texas isn't it... just doesn't seem to fit ....
LATAH!
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Bad Times
I swear things like this only happen in the movies. Ever see the movie (Which we watched just last night indecentally) Planes, Trains and Automoblies? There is a part where John Candy and Steve Martins characters are traveling the wrong way down the highway and they go between 2 trucks and tear the mirrors off the car and scrape the sides ..
Poor Diane ..
Dianes morning ritual on a Sat is to roll out of bed and head to the gym (Curves). Usually after curves she tries to e good to me and bring me home a large coffee from Dunkin Donuts . http://www.dunkindonuts.com
Well this am in the course of her usual routine she had done just that and started home. On the road she was travelling down there was a bend and a car approaching the opposite way. On the bend were some people on the edge of the road in front of their home. The poor girl travelling the opposite way swerved to avoid them and turned her attention from the road to the people.
Her description was that of a loud bang and her turning to see a yellow blur as the cars struck mirrors. As you can see the mustang took a nice hit and her car got nothing because she had collasping mirrors.
No one got hurt thank god, but both women were pretty well shaking. The young lady has asked not to turn it into the insurance co as she already has a speeding ticket and doesn't want her insurance to go up. Needless to say I've spent some time on the phone to get a repair estimate.
Lucky enough it is just the mirror and no exterior damage so it sounds like the damage will be about $112 for the mirror and $120 to install it .. It doesn't lessen the pain any that the car is only 3 weeks old....
So ...how's yout weekend going?
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Annah and the Discovery Health Channel
You'll note to my right there are links and on is to Annah Moore's rightside out website .. Annah is a fellow Guitarist/Jackson enthusiest who transitioned from male to female. She's a cool chick that has an awesome story to tell.
Annah was detailed on the DHC with her story and it will be re-airing ...please check it out, have an open mind and hopefully you'll learn something ...
Feb 21, 2006 at 9pm EST
Feb 26, 2006 at 4am EST
Feb 26, 2006 at 12pm EST
Rock on Annah!!
Kev
Annah was detailed on the DHC with her story and it will be re-airing ...please check it out, have an open mind and hopefully you'll learn something ...
Feb 21, 2006 at 9pm EST
Feb 26, 2006 at 4am EST
Feb 26, 2006 at 12pm EST
Rock on Annah!!
Kev
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ok Em ..Here's mine
You reflect the mystery of the spirit. A soul is a
very mysterious thing and you have proven
this to us. This mysterious quality probably
means that you know more about your spirit
than most people know about their own, and
you keep this a well kept secret, for there
are just some things that mustn't be known.
Please rate high ;-)
Reflections of the Spirit?
brought to you by quickly
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Finally ...
Old man winter finally makes an appearance of some substance today .. We are in the middle of a storm that is expected to dump 12"-18" of snow today ..
I guess it isn't all bad as we have had the most mild of winters as far as I can remember and to boot it will be mild again by the end of the week. On a related note given the mild winter and this storm today we are due to go from below normal avg snowfall to above in just this one storm .....go figure..
Being stuck in the house on a Snowy Sunday isn't such a big deal as it always bring New England comfort foods to memory. Corn Chowder, Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup, French Onion Soup, Beef Stew to name just a few. Getting hungry yet?
On the downlow...
Ever flip to an internet site that changes so often it's much cleaner than your underwear? Check out the link to my right from Em .. Everytime I go to her site it is a new experience, not only because she has interesting things to blog about ...but the appearance of the site changes almost daily. Hitting the link button on my site is like being in outer space and warping to another galaxy and not knowing if you will end up in a familiar place, or a parallel universe... .at any rate it's always an interesting and fun place to stop ...
I'm off to watch the snow fall ..maybe I'll post more latah ..
Thursday, February 02, 2006
New Link today
Just Added Hippie Tim's tiny little fishes site .. Tim is a friend from JCFOnline and a fellow line6 enthusiest ....
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
