My Mom did not always have an easy life. Early in their marriage, after I was born, my Dad was laid off for various lengths of time. He worked at the Arnold Print and later GE. Blue collar workers had it rough and when the GE did not need you for a while, you were gone. So my Mom had to go to work. She worked mostly as a secretary, for Sprague Electric and then for a lawyer in town. My Mom is a very good cook and she used what she had to make creative meals. I loved her spaghetti, roast beef, and chicken soup. Later, she learned the art of Polish cooking from my Babciu and she makes wonderful golabki and pierogi. She learned how to make pies from Other Gram and how to make nut rolls from our neighbor, Mrs. Mecher. Mom taught herself to sew and made numerous outfits for the two of us; later, when I was in high school, she taught me how to sew.

My Dad has always been one of the most patient people I have ever known. He was always handy with whatever needed to be done around the house. He fixed cars, did plumbing and carpentry, put up wall paper, scraped the woodwork, repainted, and stained furniture. He taught us how to play baseball and how to fish and swim. We took long hikes around Mt Greylock and other local places. He worked the second shift at the GE and we rarely saw him during the week but he always made time for us on the weekends.

I was born in 1952, about 11 months after my parents were married. My brother Bruce was born 2 years later, to the very day...October 26. Bruce was a funny kid who had the most awful tantrums if he could not have his own way. I remember him as always having a bandaid on his forehead as a 2-3-year-old because he banged his head on the floor during those tantrums. When I was 5, we moved into a house and just after we moved, in 1958, my brother Paul came along. Paul was a sweet baby but he did not want to speak until about the age of 2. He has not stopped talking since. Jason, the last of the clan, was born in 1968, when I was already almost into my junior year of high school. Though he was a great baby, it was almost embarassing to acknowledge that my parents were sexually active. Needless to say, babysitting became one of my sisterly duties.