I'M THINKING ABOUT MY GRANDPARENTS

I was the first Grandchild in our family. We lived with my Grandparents in a house they owned until I was almost six years old. My mother's younger brother was still in college and also lived in the house. It was a nice house on a nice street in Detroit. These were my maternal grandparents. {My father's parents lived in New York.} I think because I was the oldest grandchild and lived with them for a number of year's I probably had a different relationship and understanding of them than the other five grandchildren.

My grandparents came to America from Eastern Europe around 1910. They probably had little if any money. No formal education. Spoke some broken English. They came to Detroit because they had some cousins here. They had come earlier and were already established in the fruit and vegetable business. They showed him the ropes maybe helped him obtain a truck and they were on their own.

My grandfather went to night school for a few years and learned some reading, writing and arithmetic. My grandmother never went to school and could never read or write. She did seem to know some arithmetic. It apparently came naturally to her. I do not have any idea where they lived when they first arrived in Detroit. In about ten years they would have three children, a truck for business, a car and a house. I think they also had something called common sense.

My grandmother worked alongside my grandfather except when she was taking care of young children. She cooked all the meals; grocery shopped and cleaned the house. She did these things when she worked or was home with the children. They were up early! They would be at the Eastern Market in Detroit by 6a.m. to buy from farmers and vendors who brought merchandise to the market each morning. They would by fruit and vegetables, load the truck and drive somewhere in Southwest Detroit. They had built a following of customers in that area. They would arrive back home about ten or eleven hours later. They would do it again the next day and almost every day for the next forty plus years. They did it in the cold of winter and the heat of summer. They did it in the rain or snow. They did it without air-conditioning, without paid vacation or sick days.

They sent two sons to college. They each became Pharmacists. They helped their family if it was needed. Bought and sold a couple of homes for themselves over the years. In later years took a few trips to warm climates in the winter. They would buy a new Chevy or Plymouth for cash every four or five years. They always lived within their means. Saved for a rainy day. Saved for retirement.

They worked hard, took care of the family, and lived sort of modestly for about sixty years.

Is that so hard?

WRITTEN BY

RON TURETT

WRITTEN BY

RON TURETT