THE HOME PLACE

Keeping the memories alive

May 23, 2008

 

DOORWAYS AND WINDOWS TO THE PAST

 

Camille felt a bit like Alice in Wonderland, returning to this house after the death of her Nana nineteen years ago.  Amazingly, the front door still looked the same, as did the view out the bathroom window.

 

This is one of the beds Camille and her brothers slept in when they spent weekends in this house forty to fifty years ago and here is the view of the vegetable garden and the woods that lead up to the Sand Pits from that bedroom.  Camille spent many a weekend in this house as a child and to this day, the sound of mourning doves, jays and crows brings her right back to this room in her mind.

 

Mark's bedroom was where Nana slept and it also still looks the same as it did - simple and bright.  Nana ate an apple every night before she went to sleep (An apple a day keeps the doctor away!) and in the mornings there would be an apple core on a plate beside her bed.

The kitchen is where Nana spent much of her time, baking light, fluffy chocolate chip cookies (not on a rainy day because that makes them heavy) poppy seed cake and other sweets.  The cutting board saw a lot of chopping and grating action.  On summer Sunday's the whole family came here to join the cousins, grandpa, aunts and uncles on the lawn for a meal of fried chicken, potato salad and iced tea.  In the winter we all ate around the big dining room table and played pick up sticks while Nana did the dishes.

Sometimes Camille dreams she is cooking alongside her grandmother in this kitchen.  When she was in her twenties, she lived her with Nana and they cooked together nearly every night while the dogs pattered about on the tile floor.  These dreams are so vividly real, that Camille sometimes turns to her grandmother and says, "I knew you weren't dead, Nana."

 

MARK'S TRIBUTE

 

Mark moved his mother's piano into his home and adorned it with photos of the family.  Here are photos of Grandpa Frank, Nana Helen and Kathleen, Mark's mother aka Aunt Kathy.  Click the photo or here for a closer look.

 

Mark kept all of the books and knick knacks we remember from our childhoods.  There are the donkeys, symbolizing Nana's work with the Democratic Party, Grandpa's tobacco humidor, one of Uncle Frank's model airplanes and a beautiful piece of art Aunt Kathy came across years ago.  Feeling a bit like voyeurs, we took our photo in front of the fireplace by resting the camera on the piano.  That's Louis, Christina, Jim, Camille, Bob and Joe.  Thank you, Mark!

 

THE BASEMENT 

   

Complete with one of those trapdoors people use to elude tornados, the basement has an undeniable allure.  Camille headed straight for the darkroom, where her father crafted his art at the sink, below.

 

JOHN P, PHOTOGRAPHER

John with his camera.  John and Frank after returning home from the war.

 

What Camille recalls most about her dad from her childhood was his books and his cameras.  He had a great eye and was a craftsman in the darkroom.  Click on the photos for a closer look.

 

FRANK THE STAGE MANAGER 

 

Camille's grandfather was born in Austin Texas in 1886 before his family moved to Dallas.  Here is a photo of him with a cart horse and driver.  Grandpa's mother was from Northern Italy and his father was from Sicily.  He met Helen Kaminksi (Nana) when she was dancing on the chorus line.  They married, and Helen had her first son, Frank, when she was seventeen and still traveling with the show.  After the baby was born, Nana made a bed for him at night in the hotel by opening a dresser drawer halfway.   Click on the photos for a closer look.

 

TOOL KIT

 

 Grandpa used this traveling tool box when he set up the show for the Follies and other lavish revues.  

     

Bob was fascinated by the basement memorabilia, as were we all.

 

SANTA CLAUS

 

So here's where Santa has been hiding all these years!  In Mark's basement!  These life-sized plywood creations were placed on the lawn before Christmas to bring in another season of love, laughter, family, gifts and food.

  

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