Claire V. Bogdanos

Have I said that I am proud to be Jersey born and bred ?  Well I am !  Back in the 30’s we still had  small pockets of Lenni-Lenape Indians along the Metedeconk River near Cedarwood  Park ( no running water ).  You will notice that I’ve previously mentioned this fact because it connotes “delicately ” that we lacked indoor plumbing.  But very CLEAN outhouses !  Also sometimes very COLD !!  And my great grandma, “economist” that she was, used the tissue-  like pages of catalogs such as Sears for “service roll”.  She had heavy black wire from the house hung on huge tree limbs with sockets containing bare bulbs for outdoor lighting especially on the stone pathways to the garage fitted out for the summer visitors, the large hand pump for outdoor uses like brushing teeth, bathing and laundry AND the facility for “nature’s call” which was amongst the pines, out of necessity !  I sure loved my grandma, I know I was her favorite and ONLY great grandchild.  She rose about 5 in the morning to bake her daily bread, I would tip-toe down those wide stairs to the kitchen to have my breakfast each morning.  A treat I have never forgotten, a thick slab of warm homemade bread slathered with whipped sweet butter ceremoniously dipped into the huge crystal bowl that held the sugar accompanied by a heavy ironstone mug of foamy chocolate.  Who had it better ?  She’d had 7 living children, 5 of whom never left home !  I may have inherited her strong resolve and independent nature.  You think ? I never heard her raise her voice except to God and thanks to Eastman Kodak, I still have  the old camera AND precious photos!

Sincerely,                                      Claire B.