The Four Families get together for a holiday shindig:
Leave a CommentCategory: Family
I highly recommend my friend Jeff Vrabel’s account of his son Jake’s nocturnal adventures:
Read The Adventure Of The Wandering Pajama-Clad Toddler.
When you’ve finished that, dig back into the archives for my own story, The Great Escape.
Leave a CommentThe fine folks at Thacher State Park in Voorheesville, NY, had a Native Thanksgiving celebration this weekend. Here are a few photos from our time there:
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Our Election Day slideshow
Here’s a slideshow of photos from this past weekend, when family from across NY and PA came to celebrate Bernie’s 6th birthday. (His actual birthday is today.)
Leave a CommentPhotos from Halloween 2008:
Leave a CommentEarlier this year, we camped at Five Rivers nature center near Albany. In late September, we went back there for a hike:
One CommentHere are two slideshows from the past couple weeks.
Late Summer In Albany, Part 1:
Late Summer In Albany, Part 2:
My grandmother, Dorothy Flanders, died yesterday morning at the age of 92. I’ll write more soon, but here is her obituary:
Dorothy Flanders
Dorothy Flanders Beloved wife, mother, grandmother CANANDAIGUA – Dorothy M. Flanders, age 92, died Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, at M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center in Canandaigua. She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Bernard J. Flanders of Canandaigua; two daughters, Linda Jacquot of Dresden and Sally (David) Gustavson of Canandaigua; five grandchildren, Tamara Jacquot of Dresden, N.Y., Todd Jacquot of Arizona, Jason (Jennifer) Crane of Albany, N.Y., Gretchen Gustavson of Chili and Dana Cordice of Canandaigua; three great-grandchildren, Sarah Jacquot and Bernard and John Crane; and nieces, Denise (John) Breen of Kentucky and Jill Sohl of Maryland. Mrs. Flanders and her husband moved to Canandaigua from Arizona in 2000. There will be no calling hours. Services are private. Interment will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Pittsfield, Mass. Memorial contributions may be made for M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center to F.F. Thompson Foundation, 350 Parrish St., Canandaigua, NY 14424. Arrangements are by Johnson-Kennedy Funeral Home Inc., Canandaigua.
I miss you, Grandma.
The Family, 2002
Front, left to right: Bernie Crane, Sally Gustavson, Tamara Jacquot
Middle: Jason Crane, Bernie Flanders, Dorothy Flanders
Rear: Gretchen Gustavson, Linda Jacquot, Jennifer Crane, Dave Gustavson
Dorothy and Bernie Flanders, married for 68 years
I’m very sorry to report the passing of our cat, Domino. She’s been living with me in Albany for the past several weeks, and I came home tonight to find her in the den, no longer living.
Jen and I got her from the Hermitage Cat Shelter in Tucson, AZ, in 1995. She was 6 months old when we got her, and she’d been left in a box in the desert with her sister; left there to die. Luckily, she and her sister were rescued and adopted.
Since then, Domino has traveled with us to Pennsylvania, Japan, South Carolina, New York City, New Hampshire, Rochester and Albany. She had a very happy seven years or so, particularly in Japan, where the fish were fresh and plentiful. Those years of relative bliss were followed by The Child Years, of which she was less than fond. In recent months, she’d been sick, losing a lot of weight and lot of hair. She’d made a nearly full recovery, however, since moving to Albany with me.
She was a strange pet. Aloof, not too fond of humans. Many of our friends went years without knowing we even had a cat. She was always attached to Jen and me, though, and was our practice child before the real things came along.
So raise a glass to Domino. A good cat who led a happy life and who will be fondly remembered.
Leave a CommentSo, as part of my new strategy to get less involved in Albany than I was in Rochester, I … uh … signed up for the Parents Panel of the Albany Times-Union newspaper. Well, there goes that plan.
Here’s my first appearance in the paper and my first and second posts on the blog.
Enjoy!
Leave a CommentAs I may have mentioned, I work for UNITE HERE, the hotel workers union. I’ve worked for the union for several years, a fact which is not unknown to my extended family.
Today, I was visiting my grandmother in her nursing home. My mom was there, too. My grandmother had an old photo on the bed with her, and I asked her what it was. Turned out to be a photo of my grandmother with the staff of the — wait for it — hotel at which she worked.
That’s right. My own grandmother worked at the Wendell Hotel in Pittsfield, Mass. She was a switchboard operator for about five years in the late 40s and early 50s. And no one ever mentioned it to me. Oy!
Here’s a picture of my grandmother with the Wendell gang. She’s in the front row, fifth from the right. This photo was taken at a company picnic somewhere in the Berkshires. (Click for a larger version.)
And here’s the Wendell in about 1912:
I did some preliminary research on the hotel, and came up with these:
- A collection of images of the Wendell Hotel throughout the years
- An essay about Park Square in Pittsfield, on which the hotel was located (scroll down for photos of the hotel)
I also discovered this paper (PDF) by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which has the following note:
March 1926: Pittsfield on the air for the first time in its history when AIEE [American Institute of Electrical Engineers] broadcasts the very first words, “We are broadcasting tonight From the Wendell Hotel, in Pittsfield Mass. at the AIEE’s annual banquet”.
The following is from the book Pathfinder to Greylock Mountain, the Berkshire Hills and Historic Bennington by William Hamilton Phillips, published in 1910:
Crossing the line into Pittsfield on the Berkshire trolley road the first objects of interest are Arrowhead, the house of Herman Mellville, the author, and once the site of an Indian village; the former summer residence of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose ancestor, Jonathan Wendell, was an early settler of the town and from whom the Wendell Hotel in Pittsfield was named.
The Wendell is mentioned again in The Practical Hotel Steward by John Tellman, published in 1913.
If you’re interested in learning more about my union, you can visit UNITE HERE’s Web site.
One CommentJen and the boys and I are in Saratoga Springs after a week in Lake Placid. While we were on vacation, I scribbled this poem about being a dad.
Fatherhood
Guardian of sleep
Protector of winter dreams
Chronicler of snow stories
Teller of bedtime tales
Snuggler on winter nights
Hugger with gentle arms
Gazer of wistful looks
Namer of newborn boys
Holder of tiny hands
Crosser of busy streets
Dreamer of far-off scenes
Kisser of sleeping limbs
Singer of simple songs
Soother of nighttime cries
Carrier of tired limbs
Father of children.
29 Dec 2007
One CommentLast year, I decided that I would stay in my pajamas on Christmas Day, no matter what. I went to my folks’ house in pajamas, ate dinner, etc.
This year, I stayed in my pajamas again, including during visits to my parents’ house and to the nursing home where my grandparents live. Here’s the evidence:
Jen and I at my parents’ house. I’m wearing the Superman jammies Jen got me, and a crown she got for the boys. I’m a boy, right?
Me, Bernie, Jen and John at the nursing home
Our neighbors across the street gave us their old Hungry Hungry Hippos game a couple weeks ago. Yesterday, John ate one of the small balls that come with the game. It was about the size of a small marble.
Today, it was returned to us.
I don’t know about the hippos, but I’m sure not that hungry anymore.
