The flight was pretty uneventful except for being delayed
before takeoff because of storms in Chicago and upon landing we sat on the
runway for 10 minutes or so as we were earlier than anticipated and they had no
room for us to park at the gate. O’Hare was way more crowded than Logan,
probably because of the storm delays and people scrambling to adjust. After a
pit stop I picked up my already circling baggage.
Larry, Rosemary’s brother, had told me, when I called to let
him know I had landed, he had just left Racine as he had been following the
flight online so he wouldn’t have to sit long if it was delayed. It was only
perhaps a 15 minute wait outside Terminal 1 before he drove up. Fortunately I
always have a book with me so I just sat in one of those bus stop cubicles and
read till he pulled up in the Highlander. Unfortunately, for awhile I was
standing outside leaning up against a large post and later Larry noticed I had
black stains all over the back of my orange shirt. I’m still trying different
spot removers to get them off but I think it will become a work shirt only!
Fortunately, I had on black pants so nothing showed there.
As we drove through the countryside, Larry and I caught up
since we’d seen each other 2 years ago at Jon’s wedding. I knew he had 5 kids
so asked him to take me through each one so I could keep them straight. He told
me about Dan and his family out in Virginia where he visits several times a
year, it sounds like. Then there is Scott and his wife Lisa who adopted Libby
from China – I think she’s now about 8. Todd and his family live in Whitewater,
WI, and Stephen is graduating from high school Saturday so we’ll get out of
Larry’s way by Friday. Then Laura and Ron live in Bartlett, IL with their 4 boys
not far from O’Hare. This is the family that Larry does the RV trips with –
they are leaving soon for Yellowstone this year. And Becky and “skinny ass”
(Scott) – Larry insists that’s what he calls him! – live in Racine and Larry
takes care of their youngest little boy who just turned 4. There are also 2
older girls. That afternoon Becky and Laura turned up at the house to say
hello, bringing the 7 cousins with them who played inside and out. They were
very friendly and welcoming!
We had stopped in Kenosha on our way from the airport for a
decadent lunch (they don’t even give you PEANUTS any more on the plane!) of
burgers and fries, so we just had cheese and these great multi-grain crackers
that evening as we chatted and watched the BBC show “Coppers” that he had DVRed
(is that a word?). It’s about New York city during the draft riots of 1864 and
the corrupt underworld (similar to Gangs of New York movie) of immigrant
Manhattan in that time period. Violent but interesting! It was confusing as
this is Season 2 so I’ll have to find the DVD on Netflix or library of Season
1.
I was up at 5:30 or so as Larry was getting ready to go to
his daily mass and then he takes communion to his 98 year old mother-in-law who
still lives in her own home, on her own!! Amazing! After making egg salad out
of the 2 remaining boiled eggs I had brought with me, I had a great sandwich of
Canadian bacon and the egg and an apple I’d also brought.
Larry gave me a wonderfully thorough drivearound tour of
Racine and its history. It’s so interesting to hear someone talk about a place
they were born in and lived their entire life! So different from my experience
of moving around. My checkered living went from Detroit, Grosse Ile, MI; Ames,
Iowa; Dubuque, IA for 4 years; Europe for a year hitchhiking around; Oshkosh,
WI for a year, Houston, TX for 3 years; Wilmington, DE; Glen Ellyn, IL for 6
mos.; Michigan City, IN; Chadds Ford, PA; Fairfield, CT; Newtown, CT (for maybe
20 yrs); Southbury, CT for 10 yrs; Yangzhou, PRC (China) for a year; and now
Wellfleet, MA for 7 yrs. Whew!! I’m tired just thinking of all those moves!
Larry was able to show me the house where he was born, then
grew up, talking about kids taking off in the morning to play in the fields, at
each others’ houses, cutting through industrial area buildings, walking over a
mile to school and back each day, and only coming home when the street lights
came on. He remembers the plant that made tanks during WWII that would roll
down a neighboring street during the middle of the night when they came out of
the plant. He showed the Johnson Wax corporate headquarters, designed by Frank
Lloyd Wright, and talked about the “family company” where if you got married,
you had to quit your job!! Those were the 40s and 50s! We went by the house
where his parents lived, where I spent the night prior to Tom and Rosemary’s
wedding with her, laughing and bonding!! That, and a shower for Sandy, were the
only 2 times I was ever in Racine and didn’t see any of the town, really, then.
We drove by the church where they were married – going on 50 years ago! –
that’s now looking closed up or certainly no longer a Catholic church.
I have never been in a town where I saw so many churches!!
Larry said there were Slovak neighborhood with its own church (this is area
where Judi lived – his deceased wife) and where her mom still lives; there was
the Polish neighborhood and church where the Weisbrod’s (his family) lived;
there was a Germany area; the Lithuanians in another; etc. There were maybe 3
black families before the war, but large numbers moved in from the south when
the area industrialized and geared up for the war. American Motors (Ramblers,
etc.) used to be made here. We drove down by Lake Michigan to see the parks and
beaches along it and the downtown area. Very interesting as I love history!
Jackie Weisbrod, Bernie’s (a brother) widow, whom I had met
and bonded with at Jon’s wedding, came over in the afternoon for a walk, visit
and dinner. Rod came down and had brought steaks that Larry grilled and we all
had a great time chatting! Jackie had just returned from cleaning out her
brother Tom’s house in Baltimore. He had recently passed away from
complications from diabetes so we had a long conversation about that disease.
She had recently returned from a trip to Nepal and me South America so we
chatted “travel.”
Speaking of which, I forgot to mention as I had gotten to
Logan so early before my flight, I met Lynette, a recently retired nurse from
Boston, who was flying with her 95 and 93 year old parents back to Eau Claire,
WI, after their visit. We started chatting and she’d traveled all over the
world with her husband, who had passed away. She LOVES to travel and NOT high
end!! By the end of an hour, we had exchanged emails and talked about Australia
next year perhaps together!! Weird those chance meetings! It’s what I love
about travel; there are so many interesting people who have done fascinating
things – and I want to meet them all!! So that may be my 2014 blog!!
I’d better end this! Stay tuned!
This area was one of the last to be homesteaded as western
SD was set aside as Indian reservation. The Homestead Act required that 5 acres
be plowed into crops. Another requirement was living on the land for 18 months
and then paying $.50/acre, or $80, for a patent on the homestead. This the
Brown’s did. Most, including this family, had a hard time surviving poverty. It
has been determined that 160 acres like this would only sustain eight cows. 
