History

Haven't had a Family Lore post in quite some time. So let me try and get something rolling.

I was born in Chicago, but that's pretty much all I know about that period in the Okar Family history. Resurrection Hospital. Dr. Malarkey, or Mileski, or some such dude, was there.

There was a dog involved, Zip. He had some kind of "sixth sense" about when Dad was returning from a sales trip. When instructed by our mother to take me (an infant) for a walk, Liz and Greg used to pinch me so that they could claim I was crying to return home. This may be why I have an inexplicable dread of walking around the block, especially while being pushed in a stroller. Occasionally, they left me on the rail-road tracks, strapped tightly into the stroller. Apparently, I became inured to the pinches. As I have said, I have no direct memory of these events. These are lore, even to me.

Our Mother's family was disappointed and/or upset because she did not marry a Polish man, or because she had the gall to move all the way to Michigan. I suspect it was both. I've never understood the latter. These were people that had traveled across the ocean and, presumably, west from NYC (or wherever). Chicago/Detroit seems small potatoes. Oh well. In any case, turmoil ensued. At some point, my Busia was living in Huntington Woods with us and her husband was in Chicago. After she died, her room became the Blue Room.

Somewhere along the line MA got married, Greg joined the Army and Liz managed American Drugs in Berkley, MI. I mostly hung around at got into scrapes with the Hurley's and Longs, or into trouble with McMullen and the Crowe boys. I was a latchkey kid. Staying with Grandma Thuss at the Crowe's was alot of fun. Later, I'd go to work with Liz and count cartons of cigarettes. I remember being so surprised when the people around me began to smoke at how narrow of a range they consumed, given the many brands I routinely stocked in the store. One of the first times I can remember being acutely aware of how small my social circle was, despite how overwhelming it seemed at times. An early lesson in the importance of scale that I;m still actively working to fully comprehend. All because of cigarettes and manual labor. A lethal combination in so many ways. Thanks for that, Liz. It was a very good experience. I enjoyed it at the time, too.

Any more and I'll be getting into my autobiography rather than Lore. So, siblings, let's see where my interpretation of the piecemeal picture that are my earliest memories.

Back from Halifax

Quick note to let you all know we had a wonderful visit to Nova Scotia over the last 5 days. Got stranded in Boston last night, though, so we just arrived this morning and scrambled off to work.

Greg's new diary needs more digesting than I can manage at the moment.