The first email to arrive was from Eileen:
Although he died just a few years after I came into the family, I have such nice memories of Grandpa Pat. I wish my girls could have known him. He seemed pretty quiet but when he did have something to say it was memorable. Here are a couple of examples:
My first meeting with the family came a month after Mike and I got married. I'd already met Grandma and Grandpa, of course, and also John and Ruth Ann; but not the rest of the clan. Right after our wedding, Mike had to go back to Iceland to finish his deployment, but he came home on leave for a few days so that he could move me from Pittsburgh to Florida.
It just so happened that everyone was in East Palestine visiting - I am not sure what the occasion was- you know how it is with newlyweds - we had other things on our mind, and although we were both anxious to see everyone, we certainly wanted some time alone, and time was short! Someone got the idea that they would come out to the airport to pick up Mike and make us sleep in the back yard in the tent with the kids. Mary, bless her heart, lied through her teeth and said she didn't know when Mike's plane was coming in. Thankfully, I was the only one at the airport, and that night we had some "time alone." The next day we drove down to East Palestine and I was very graciously welcomed. Then the teasing began. By the time Grandpa Pat arrived home from work, things had died down a bit; but picked right up again when Grandpa quietly sat down next to me, took my wrist between his thumb and fingers and, looking at me with a twinkle in his eye said, "the girl's pulse is still racing."
A year or so later, he and Grandma Ruthie flew down to Jacksonville for a visit. We took them down to see all the tourist traps in St. Augustine. The first place was the Fountain of Youth where you get to have a sip. As we walked out of the place Pat said "Michael! Your mother is holding my hand. Go back in there and get a whole bottle of that stuff."
Editor's note: And that's just about as racy as Dad got. He and Mom were from a different era, and any direct mention of sex embarrassed them both. Romance, however, was a different matter, and Dad's gentle jokes were easy to miss if you weren't paying attention.
Dad had a quiet wit about him -- an Irish wit -- full of subtle irony about life's little occasions. For example, he was very proud of the cuckoo clock that Skip sent them from Germany while Skip was deployed over there in the 1950s. One night I remember sitting with him watching the cuckoo as he performed one of his longer, upon-the-hour recitations. After the little yellow wooden bird was finished, Dad looked over at me with a small smile in his eyes and said, "you notice how he always slams the door when he's done?" It's not a big, knee-slapping joke, but that's the kind of humor Dad had.
This next contribution is from our Kay:
Mike's Sarah asked about Grandma and Grandpa Gillooly. As a member of this family for 50 years, I feel qualified to tell a little bit.
Grandpa liked to tease, and he used to smoke cigars in my presence just because they made me nauseous when I was pregnant, (which seemed like all the time the first few years). He enjoyed being with family and around the grandchildren. One time when we were visiting, Skip and John finished his bottle of bourbon, and poured vinegar in the bottle. He never said anything about it, and finally Skip couldn't stand it any longer and asked about it. Grandpa said he knew if he waited long enough, he'd find out who it was.
Grandma was always helpful, but not interferring. When Chris was a baby, she hardly ever slept, and finally Grandma came and stayed overnight so Skip and I could get some sleep.
She was well known in East Palestine for her pie baking ability. Her peach pie was especially good. She made some really good cinnamon rolls too, as I'm sure most of you know. When my Dad died, she was visiting us in Arizona, and she stayed with Rick and Colleen so Skip and I could go to the funeral.
She liked her beer and cigarettes, and whe she used to kiss Colleen goodnight, she worried about her breath. When Colleen would come in her pajamas to say goodnight, Grandma would rub her hand across her mouth, take Colleen's face in her hands, get right up close to her face, and say "I Don't want you to smell the beer and cigarettes." We still laugh about that because both the beer and the cigarettes were very strong that late in the day and that close to her face.
She always loved to go out to lunch or dinner, and sometimes fought you for the check. One waitress found Grandma and my Aunt Rosie scrambling under the table fighting for the check. When Grandma went to dinner with us, she used to want dessert first, and Skip always told her she had to eat something else first. She didn't like that because then she was too full for dessert! Now that I am older, I know what she meant, and I wish we had been more sympathetic.
I hope this gives a little more insight as to what Grandma and Grandpa were like from the eyes of a daughter-in-law.
Editor's note: I hope Aunt Kay will write back and tell the story of how she and Grandma fooled us all when they came back from the hairdressers!
This next note is from Aunt Nancy, who responded to my request for the raisin-filled cookie recipe. She also added a two more of her favorites, one from Grandma Ruth and one from Nancy's mother-in-law, Swanee Olsen. She and Little Grandma used to love to sit and smoke together and settle the problems of the world.
Katie Did, (That's what Nancy calls me.)
Here are the recipes. I hope they go through.
Mom' s filled cookies
Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of chopped raisins
Mix sugar and flour; then add other ingredients. Cook stirring constantly until thickened. You may substitute nuts, marmalade, figs or dates for the raisins. (I usually make a little extra filling as we like nicely filled cookies, not thin.) Set this mixture aside to cool while you mix the dough.
Dough:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
1/2 cup sour milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
3 and 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Mix sugar, shortening, egg, milk and vanilla together; mix flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar together. Then combine both mixtures and add only enough flouf to roll out dough as you would a pie crust. (Handle dough as little as possible, jsut as you would a pie crust.) Using a two-inch circle such as a cookie cutter or a glass, cut out as many circles as you can. You can put the circles right next to each other, and you can re-use an extra dough that is left to roll out and cut more circles. Add filling to center of circle and cover with second circle. Lightly press around edges.
Since there were no baking instructions on mom's recipe, I
bake at 350 until very slightly brown. As for time, your quess is as good as mine, watch closely.
Any questions, contact Ruthie where ever she maybe, probably over at Mother Cabrini's showing her how to make cinnamon rolls. It's all in the kneading, you know.
Even though you say you don't like dates or is date candy here is mom's receipe to pass on to any who might like to try it. (Editor's note: Aunt Nancy loves this candy; I'm not fond of it. It is unique, and it keeps well. I think Grandma used to send it to Skip when he was overseas. You might want to give it a try.)
Ruthie's date candy
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb dates (chopped)
1 cup nuts (chopped)
Cook and stir sugar and milk until boiling, add chopped dates and cook until a small amount of the mixture forms a soft ball in cold water. Add butter and vanilla. Beat until stiff; then add nuts beat again. Roll in a damp cloth and leave until ready to serve. Roll in powdered sugar, slice, and serve. (By roll, I think she means roll into round strips about the size of a very thick cigar or very thick pretzel. All that beating takes a strong arm. No wonder mom only made this at Christmas.
Last but not least, one of my family's favorite desserts is from Grandma Olsen. So here it is for your collection:
Swanee's apple crisp
Peel and slice 8 to 10 cooking apples as for an apple pie. Place in 9 by 13 baking dish springle the top with the following mixture:
1-1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/2 cup sugar
1 unbeaten egg
cinnamon to taste
1/3 to 1/2 cup butter
Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder with fork. Add unbeaten egg and mix with flour mixture until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples; then sprinkle desired amount of cinnamon over that. Drizzle on 1/3 to 1/2 cup melted butter (whichever amount you prefer). Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until top is a nice golden brown, and of course this may be served with ice cream.
Any questions, ask Grandma Olsen. You won't find her at Mother Cabrini's but you may find her out on the patio with Grandma G having a smoke and talking about the good times.
I sure hope this goes through because I'm not sure I want to do this again.
Much love to all from Aunt Nancy
