Today Marcus and I went to see Gramma as we usually do and she was excited to tell Marcus some FAB stories!!
#1: We had taken Grammas Christmas stuff up stairs and Marcus started wandering the rooms upstairs saying how he loves the rooms and the history in them!! When he told Gramma that he loved the upstairs she proceeded to tell him of Uncle Sam McCrow and his attic bedroom!! She smiled from ear to ear when she told him how Sam would push the attick hatch open to get into the attic, and while he was 'living' in the attic, he would drill holes in the ceiling in order to allow Gramma to listen to music throughout the house!
#2: A little story of how Gramma, Uncle ted, uncle Rich? i think and Phil C. took a little drive up to a certain Bob'sy cabin. The story began with Gramma telling Marcus how she use to have picnics in the kitchen in the winter in order to stay warm, by leaving the oven door open for heat! She also told him how she would boil water to put in bottles in order to keep the upstairs warm. So apparently Gramma talked with Bob'sy asking for sleeping bags to keep the kids warm and he would not get them! He did however get some for when the kids visited him at a certain cabin. SOOOOOO Grams and ted, rich? and Phil went for a drive, not knowing exactly where said cabin was, with just a hunch fournd the cabin!!! and OOPS they let themselves in and she got her sleeping bags for her kids after all!!!
*** At a later time the boys were with their dad and verna going up tothe cabin and they saw their footprints in the snow, so one smart young man kicked the footprints away :) and to this day untill now, it was a BIG secret how the kids got all of those sleeping bags!!!
I LOVE my grams, she did what she had to do, to keep her kids Safe and WARM!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Marguerite McCrow...... Story #1
So i mentioned to grandma today that I love hearing her stories and that I have decided to write down in blog form each daily story! Well this opened a whole new can of worms! She decided to tell me one of the LONGEST and most depressing story I have heard thus far & it begins like this....
It's Halloween night and she waiting for her husband to come home from work, so that the kids can go trick or treating! It's getting late and Bob is not home, so she sends Mary Gale out with the llittle kids & their pillow cases to trick or treat the N.Monroe neighborhood! Soon after the kids leave, the phone rings and it's Armor's, Bob's work, asking for him! Maggie says, "well isn't he at work?" and they proceed to tell her that they had sent him home at 4:00pm! At this point she is frantic, thinking he had killed him self, due to the stress of a large family and bills that were way behind. As she's franticly thinking of what could had happened, the police department called, asking her why her van was abondoned and parked in the maribeux park area? She stated her husband had not come home, and that she was very worried! She called Ted F., Bob's boss and asked him if he'd seen Bob, and he confirmed that he had let him off of work at 4:00pm that evening! As she hung up the phone, she thought, "well I HAVE to find him! She called her in-laws Gramma & Grandpa McCrow, telling them what happened, so they came over to sit with her and help her try and find her husband. All the while the children were out trick or treating!
While Gram & Gramps McCrow were at the house Bob FINALLY showed up and the dialogue went something like this:
Mag: "Where have you been you !@#$%%^$$$?" Bob:"I don't want to answer that!" Mag:"Were you with someone?" Bob: "Yes." Mag: "Who??" Bob was silent! Mag:"who bob, who were you with, was it a girl?" Bob: "Yes it was!" Maggie couldn't believe and of course began to ball, screaming and yelling, "why, who is she, why would you do this?" yelling "WHO IS SHE?" Bob: "i'm not going to say" and he never told her! Eventually the kids came home, the grandparents left and everyone turned in for the night!
The next day was all souls day, when everyone went to church to pray for the souls to reach their final destinations! At this time grandma went to the priest and told him that 'Bob went out on me..... wawawa.... what am i gonna do, oh my goodness....." She prayed hard that day, asking for the strength to know what to do! When she went home she continued to push her husband for answers! She really wanted to know who this mistress lady was, but he wouldn't budge and he would not tell her!
As days and weeks went on she was determined to find out who the hell this lady was that has taken her husbands heart! She first started by finding a map of spokane! She started by plotting where Armors was located! All they had was a VW Bus, and it was in horrible condition, so she knew it would not go far, so she drew a 10 mile radius around the Armors building, figuring he wouldn't drive any farther than that! Little did she know at that point, she was VERY accurate!
Later on in the week, after no success finding out who this lady was, she decided to call the bacon slice crew lady, whom she knew! She told the bacon lady what had been going on, and asked if she had seen anything weird at work! Of course the bacon lady did, saying that a Verna J. was always visiting him in his office, and hanging all over him! At this point, she knew that this was the lady she had been searching for!
She kept this information too her self for some time, trying to get Bob to tell her, he never did! So Maggie got out her trusty map again! Within that circle, it was mainly buildings or empty space, except one area where there was a residence! She knew in her heart she had found it, there was only one house there! So she plotted in her mind what to do next!(mind you, she has no license, rarely drove anywhere, let alone the valley!) She soon went to her trusty neighbor and friend Bernita C.! They hopped into the old green station wagon, and put putted and smoked their way out to the valley, down Trent Ave to the corner of Grace and Marguerite AVE. both Maggie and Bernita sat outside the house for some time, then Maggie said "We MUST go to the door!" Bernita said 'NO way!" but Maggie pulled her outta the car and made her anyway!
So up to the door they went! Mr.J, Verna's husband came to the door! Maggie stated "do you know your wife is having an affair with my husband?" Mr.J began to cry asking who is your husband? She stated "Bob"..... Maggie then made her way into the house, and found Verna frying potatoes in the kitchen! Maggie stated she can still remember the smell of the potatoes, and the smoke rising from the pan! Maggie asked are you Verna J., she stated "YES!" while continuing to fry those potatoes. "I am Maggie McCrow, why are you having an affair with my husband?" "I love him," Verna stated! "Do you know we have 11 kids?" Maggie stated. Verna than proceeded to state, "well you should have taken care of that a LONG time ago!" Well Maggie was baffled, Mr.J was crying and Maggie left and went home! At this point Bob was none the wiser! He still hadn't told Maggie who the lady was, so she didn't tell him she had found out!
Of course Verna cried to Bob at work, saying she's found us out..... So bob came home and was of course mad stating "You just had to find out didn't you....." making it out to be Maggie's fault! At this point Maggie decided the war was on! So days or so after, she decided to give Verna a taste of what it was like to have 11 kids, so she took 3 full garbage cans of family garbage and dumped it all over Verna's lawn! She said it made her feel content for a few weeks :)
Of course the depression set in, with Bob still living in the home! One day she said she took the gun they had from under the bed while she sat in her room crying, at this point she hadn't slept in days, bob wasn't talking to her.....! She said she was holding the gun and decided that the hurt was to bad and that she was going to kill her self! She sat on the the bed clicking the safety of the gun back and forth, while Bob sat in the living room! After a short while of her thinking about death, and flicking the safety on and off of the gun, Bob finally came into the room, grabbed the gun and told her to start acting her age! She stated to him that "she couldn't take it anymore and that she was going to end her life", he told her "no you are not, so Grow up......" "Bob, what am i going to do, how am i going to do this?" he told her she'd be "FINE" He told her that he'd go on living there, but wash his own socks and underwear, and keep on seeing Verna!
So as they coincided at the house with the children Maggie decided take up knitting! She remembers thinking well I'll show him, I'll just sit around the house and knit, so knitting she did! Of course she missed the company of her husband, even though he was sitting in the same area as her, so she decided one night to sit next to him! As she sat down next to him, he would get up and move, so she'd pick up her knitting supplies and relocate next to him again! Of course he'd move again, so the next time she sat by him and he tried to move, she stuck the knitting needle into his leg! I'm sure there were some words exchanged :).... Bob then took the kitting needles and broke them in half, and that was the end of her knitting! (of course all of these incidences didn't happen in one week, or even two, she said they happened over a period of 3 months!
The next memory she had of this hard time was the annual Armor's Christmas party! Bob was in charge of the party this particular year and Maggie had been fussing over him for some final plans for the party! She remembers him making her very angry this day and giving him a good ol' Karate chop on the side of the arm, in turn breaking his arm. He had to go to the hospital and have surgery to fix his arm. When the hospital asked what had happened he told them he had fallen down the basement stairs (gramma laughed when telling me this part).
After weeks in the hospital, Bob finally came home, and Maggie had enough! She told him that he needed to just leave! He of course did not!... again weeks went by, work, taking care of the kids....etc. One snowy evening while Bob was still in his sling, they were fighting again out on the porch and as Maggie as telling him to just leave, he stated a firm 'NO," and incidentally at the same time he slipped down the slippery front steps and broke his other arm! He was again away for some time in the hospital! When he came back again, more time went past and she had just have enough, and this was FINAL! So one day while he was at work she packed up his clothes, and guns and threw them out on the front porch! She then asked her eldest son Sam who was 16 at the time to go up and purchase some new door locks, and he did! Sam changed out the door locks on both the front and back doors, and that was the last time Bob ever lived in that house again!
He initially moved in with a friend of theirs who lived up the street, Sam Catalina! He was there for 3 weeks, before Maggie became very lonely for her husband! She had her only week moment for this time, and went to Sam C.'s home and begged for Bob to come back to her! He of course denied and told her to leave and go home, that she could keep the house and that she could go ahead and file for divorce!
So divorce she did, she remembered at that time that Aunt Judy (her sister in law) had separated from her husband, but he got all the kids, making Aunt Judy look crazy! She was determined not to let this happen to her! So when she go her lawyer, she made sure that in the paperwork it stated that she had full control over 11 minor children, and that it was up to her if and when there would be visitation from Bob! At this time she was advised to take $90 a week for child support! She of course got what she wanted in the settlement!...... (so much more to come)
*****Just a heads up, I don't usually get sequential stories, so they may not be in an orderly time line.....
It's Halloween night and she waiting for her husband to come home from work, so that the kids can go trick or treating! It's getting late and Bob is not home, so she sends Mary Gale out with the llittle kids & their pillow cases to trick or treat the N.Monroe neighborhood! Soon after the kids leave, the phone rings and it's Armor's, Bob's work, asking for him! Maggie says, "well isn't he at work?" and they proceed to tell her that they had sent him home at 4:00pm! At this point she is frantic, thinking he had killed him self, due to the stress of a large family and bills that were way behind. As she's franticly thinking of what could had happened, the police department called, asking her why her van was abondoned and parked in the maribeux park area? She stated her husband had not come home, and that she was very worried! She called Ted F., Bob's boss and asked him if he'd seen Bob, and he confirmed that he had let him off of work at 4:00pm that evening! As she hung up the phone, she thought, "well I HAVE to find him! She called her in-laws Gramma & Grandpa McCrow, telling them what happened, so they came over to sit with her and help her try and find her husband. All the while the children were out trick or treating!
While Gram & Gramps McCrow were at the house Bob FINALLY showed up and the dialogue went something like this:
Mag: "Where have you been you !@#$%%^$$$?" Bob:"I don't want to answer that!" Mag:"Were you with someone?" Bob: "Yes." Mag: "Who??" Bob was silent! Mag:"who bob, who were you with, was it a girl?" Bob: "Yes it was!" Maggie couldn't believe and of course began to ball, screaming and yelling, "why, who is she, why would you do this?" yelling "WHO IS SHE?" Bob: "i'm not going to say" and he never told her! Eventually the kids came home, the grandparents left and everyone turned in for the night!
The next day was all souls day, when everyone went to church to pray for the souls to reach their final destinations! At this time grandma went to the priest and told him that 'Bob went out on me..... wawawa.... what am i gonna do, oh my goodness....." She prayed hard that day, asking for the strength to know what to do! When she went home she continued to push her husband for answers! She really wanted to know who this mistress lady was, but he wouldn't budge and he would not tell her!
As days and weeks went on she was determined to find out who the hell this lady was that has taken her husbands heart! She first started by finding a map of spokane! She started by plotting where Armors was located! All they had was a VW Bus, and it was in horrible condition, so she knew it would not go far, so she drew a 10 mile radius around the Armors building, figuring he wouldn't drive any farther than that! Little did she know at that point, she was VERY accurate!
Later on in the week, after no success finding out who this lady was, she decided to call the bacon slice crew lady, whom she knew! She told the bacon lady what had been going on, and asked if she had seen anything weird at work! Of course the bacon lady did, saying that a Verna J. was always visiting him in his office, and hanging all over him! At this point, she knew that this was the lady she had been searching for!
She kept this information too her self for some time, trying to get Bob to tell her, he never did! So Maggie got out her trusty map again! Within that circle, it was mainly buildings or empty space, except one area where there was a residence! She knew in her heart she had found it, there was only one house there! So she plotted in her mind what to do next!(mind you, she has no license, rarely drove anywhere, let alone the valley!) She soon went to her trusty neighbor and friend Bernita C.! They hopped into the old green station wagon, and put putted and smoked their way out to the valley, down Trent Ave to the corner of Grace and Marguerite AVE. both Maggie and Bernita sat outside the house for some time, then Maggie said "We MUST go to the door!" Bernita said 'NO way!" but Maggie pulled her outta the car and made her anyway!
So up to the door they went! Mr.J, Verna's husband came to the door! Maggie stated "do you know your wife is having an affair with my husband?" Mr.J began to cry asking who is your husband? She stated "Bob"..... Maggie then made her way into the house, and found Verna frying potatoes in the kitchen! Maggie stated she can still remember the smell of the potatoes, and the smoke rising from the pan! Maggie asked are you Verna J., she stated "YES!" while continuing to fry those potatoes. "I am Maggie McCrow, why are you having an affair with my husband?" "I love him," Verna stated! "Do you know we have 11 kids?" Maggie stated. Verna than proceeded to state, "well you should have taken care of that a LONG time ago!" Well Maggie was baffled, Mr.J was crying and Maggie left and went home! At this point Bob was none the wiser! He still hadn't told Maggie who the lady was, so she didn't tell him she had found out!
Of course Verna cried to Bob at work, saying she's found us out..... So bob came home and was of course mad stating "You just had to find out didn't you....." making it out to be Maggie's fault! At this point Maggie decided the war was on! So days or so after, she decided to give Verna a taste of what it was like to have 11 kids, so she took 3 full garbage cans of family garbage and dumped it all over Verna's lawn! She said it made her feel content for a few weeks :)
Of course the depression set in, with Bob still living in the home! One day she said she took the gun they had from under the bed while she sat in her room crying, at this point she hadn't slept in days, bob wasn't talking to her.....! She said she was holding the gun and decided that the hurt was to bad and that she was going to kill her self! She sat on the the bed clicking the safety of the gun back and forth, while Bob sat in the living room! After a short while of her thinking about death, and flicking the safety on and off of the gun, Bob finally came into the room, grabbed the gun and told her to start acting her age! She stated to him that "she couldn't take it anymore and that she was going to end her life", he told her "no you are not, so Grow up......" "Bob, what am i going to do, how am i going to do this?" he told her she'd be "FINE" He told her that he'd go on living there, but wash his own socks and underwear, and keep on seeing Verna!
So as they coincided at the house with the children Maggie decided take up knitting! She remembers thinking well I'll show him, I'll just sit around the house and knit, so knitting she did! Of course she missed the company of her husband, even though he was sitting in the same area as her, so she decided one night to sit next to him! As she sat down next to him, he would get up and move, so she'd pick up her knitting supplies and relocate next to him again! Of course he'd move again, so the next time she sat by him and he tried to move, she stuck the knitting needle into his leg! I'm sure there were some words exchanged :).... Bob then took the kitting needles and broke them in half, and that was the end of her knitting! (of course all of these incidences didn't happen in one week, or even two, she said they happened over a period of 3 months!
The next memory she had of this hard time was the annual Armor's Christmas party! Bob was in charge of the party this particular year and Maggie had been fussing over him for some final plans for the party! She remembers him making her very angry this day and giving him a good ol' Karate chop on the side of the arm, in turn breaking his arm. He had to go to the hospital and have surgery to fix his arm. When the hospital asked what had happened he told them he had fallen down the basement stairs (gramma laughed when telling me this part).
After weeks in the hospital, Bob finally came home, and Maggie had enough! She told him that he needed to just leave! He of course did not!... again weeks went by, work, taking care of the kids....etc. One snowy evening while Bob was still in his sling, they were fighting again out on the porch and as Maggie as telling him to just leave, he stated a firm 'NO," and incidentally at the same time he slipped down the slippery front steps and broke his other arm! He was again away for some time in the hospital! When he came back again, more time went past and she had just have enough, and this was FINAL! So one day while he was at work she packed up his clothes, and guns and threw them out on the front porch! She then asked her eldest son Sam who was 16 at the time to go up and purchase some new door locks, and he did! Sam changed out the door locks on both the front and back doors, and that was the last time Bob ever lived in that house again!
He initially moved in with a friend of theirs who lived up the street, Sam Catalina! He was there for 3 weeks, before Maggie became very lonely for her husband! She had her only week moment for this time, and went to Sam C.'s home and begged for Bob to come back to her! He of course denied and told her to leave and go home, that she could keep the house and that she could go ahead and file for divorce!
So divorce she did, she remembered at that time that Aunt Judy (her sister in law) had separated from her husband, but he got all the kids, making Aunt Judy look crazy! She was determined not to let this happen to her! So when she go her lawyer, she made sure that in the paperwork it stated that she had full control over 11 minor children, and that it was up to her if and when there would be visitation from Bob! At this time she was advised to take $90 a week for child support! She of course got what she wanted in the settlement!...... (so much more to come)
*****Just a heads up, I don't usually get sequential stories, so they may not be in an orderly time line.....
Gramma Maggie McCrow...... oh the stories she tells!
9-3-09 ~ So as of today I have decided that over the last 6 years that I have spent nearly everyday with my Gramma, caring for her, I need to begin writting down all of the interesting stories she tells me! I am so lucky to be the recipient of her stories, mostly funny, some serious, and a few sad! I do regret not starting this 6 years ago, but I am hoping as I type and reflect, and with the fact that she tends to repeat her stories over and over again, that I will be able to catch up quickly and share with my family and the world MY Grandma Mags! (side note, I am NOT a writer, and never will claim to be, so I hope somewhere in my jumbled up thoughts and stories i will write, you can grasp a sense of my Gramma that I so wish to share!)
To start with a little background: My Grandma Maguerite Lucille McCrow is the strongest Lady I know! She has 11 children, and raised most of them as a single mom after her husband left her when her youngest child was merely a baby! She shared with me that she still remembers the day he left, saying he told her "I am leaving you, I don't love, I don't hate you, I feel nothing for you!" when she asked him "what am i going to do," He told her "I don't know, I'm sure you'll figure it out," and then he left! During the 60's it was very unusual, and even frowned upon for someone to be single mother, let alone a single mother to 11 kids! But she did it, and endured and raised 11 very successful children! All of her stories, wisdom, laughs and love stem from this very moment as her life changed to a course that she never imagined she would take! But as she states often she wouldn't change any of it!
As I'm sure I will refer to people by name and assume all will know who they are, the 11 McCrow kids are as follows : Gale(6), Sam(5), Peggy(2), Bobbie(2), Joe(4), Pat(3), Carol(6), Richard (5),Ted(3),Sally(3), Andy(3)~ The numbers next to their name=the # of children they have! Grandkids to Maggie=42 She then has 28 Great Grandchildren with 3 on the way! Our Family is LARGE, and we LOVE IT!
To start with a little background: My Grandma Maguerite Lucille McCrow is the strongest Lady I know! She has 11 children, and raised most of them as a single mom after her husband left her when her youngest child was merely a baby! She shared with me that she still remembers the day he left, saying he told her "I am leaving you, I don't love, I don't hate you, I feel nothing for you!" when she asked him "what am i going to do," He told her "I don't know, I'm sure you'll figure it out," and then he left! During the 60's it was very unusual, and even frowned upon for someone to be single mother, let alone a single mother to 11 kids! But she did it, and endured and raised 11 very successful children! All of her stories, wisdom, laughs and love stem from this very moment as her life changed to a course that she never imagined she would take! But as she states often she wouldn't change any of it!
As I'm sure I will refer to people by name and assume all will know who they are, the 11 McCrow kids are as follows : Gale(6), Sam(5), Peggy(2), Bobbie(2), Joe(4), Pat(3), Carol(6), Richard (5),Ted(3),Sally(3), Andy(3)~ The numbers next to their name=the # of children they have! Grandkids to Maggie=42 She then has 28 Great Grandchildren with 3 on the way! Our Family is LARGE, and we LOVE IT!
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