Pat Kinsella and her Grandma Sharing Bunk Beds, By Lucille Taylor Kinsella

Not so many stockings as in the later years, with 20 or more!

Pat remembers that this happened near Christmas. We had lit candles in each window that shone a glow over the walls. Remember doing strange animal shadows with hands? Well, Pat added to the complexity by using her toes and feet. The Famed Bald Eagle was born, and so the legend began…..Many in the 2846 household that Christmas came down with sickness, but not those who were lucky enough to see the Bald Eagle. Grandma shared the room, so saw the fabled bird show, and was healthy the entire visit.

 Tom and Grandma Taylor, December 1967

When my father, Lloyd Taylor, died in June, 1969, Mom made a few visits to stay with her kids, but really wanted to stay in her house, tending her flowerbeds, her garden vegetables and visiting her neighbors! They had a good circle of friends who visited often, so we all agreed and made frequent visits ourselves to help her shop and take her to doctor visits. However, as fall turned to colder weather and snow was forecast we laid out a schedule that she stay three weeks with Ruth in Geneva, then three weeks with Esther in Spencerport, three weeks with Doris in Lockport and three weeks with me in Rochester. Harold and Arnon kept track of the house in Waterloo in her absence.

Pat's Room in 1971, with bunk beds on the left

 We all looked forward to her coming to our house and each of the kids offered her their bed! However, it was determined that she’d sleep in what was then Pat’s room and all that contained was a bunk bed set.

 Jim and Chris on Christmas morning, 1969

 That didn’t faze Grandma at all. She decided that she was surely able to climb that little ladder and make the top bunk. (She was 82.) However, Pat had an idea— she declared that each night she and Grandma would flip a coin and see who’d sleep up there. Grandma agreed that was fair. However, Grandma did not know that Pat had learned from her father how to toss a coin so that it always went the way she wanted. Thus, night after night, they flipped a coin and it always landed so that Pat climbed the ladder to the top bunk. Mom wondered, thought she “smelled a rat” but could see no way “angel face” Pat was cheating.

Thus ended a lovely visit with Grandma, still unaware of the deviltry she’d witnessed!!

Now, if only Pat could remember that coin trick! It would come in handy for nephews and nieces at just the right age.

1969 Christmas Tree at 2846

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's to All on our Cousins Blog!