Thanks for the Memories

There are so many different perspectives in a family – different memories of what it was like being part of a large, close Swedish family. I used to think that all families were just like ours. As I grew older, I discovered just how lucky I was to have been a part of this particular family.

Thank you for sharing your memories with us.  A special “thank you” to Cathy who sent me many photographs that I’ve never seen before, and the many emails we exchanged during the last month, many into the wee hours of the morning. For those who might like to share more memories with us, I’m only an email away.

You’ve given me a special trip down Memory Lane.

Larry Dishaw

remembers when he was 11 or 12 going up north to visit Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rhiney.  They were baking bread in their kitchen, with the wonderful smell of yeast bread. 

He spent hours in the lake catching crayfish.  Uncle Rhiney always wanted the soft shell crayfish to use as bait for bass fishing. 

He and Tommy were sitting in the lake,  and the planes from K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base flew over and first you saw the plane and then you heard the sonic boom! that would actually ripple the water they sat in. 

When they went to see Aunt Doris and Uncle Dave., Aunt Doris was always cooking and always fed them.  Aunt Doris made pasties and everybody thought they were the best.  

When he remembers Uncle Steve Chiolak and Aunt Violet, he remembers how Uncle Steve loved the horse races and always went to Hazel Park raceway when he visited the Detroit area. 

On the trip up north along Highway 2, mom would let them get out at a rest stop and go out into Lake Michigan.  It was so cold that they couldn’t swim and only went up to their ankles. 

At Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill's, he (Larry) and Tommy climbed their tree so high they almost fell out of it. They were 30 feet in the air and as he (Larry) hung onto a branch, it broke. On another occasion, Larry remembers Aunt Janet scolding his mom as Tommy hid behind the couch mocking them, saying "Alice! Can't you control your kids?"

Once while running in the woods with Jimmy Lundwall, they came upon a skunk.  Sure did scare those city slicker Dishaw boys. 

Doris Dishaw

I do remember some things going up north as a kid. Dad would never stop. What a long ride. That's when I found out I got car sick. As much as I love to read that's something I cannot do in the car.

Mom and Dad did let me stay up north one year when they went home. I spent three weeks with family there. One day when I was at Aunt Janet’s the girls went down to the lake to swim and out to the raft they went. Guess I'm like Aunt Doris, mom said Aunt Doris never learned to swim either. I wasn't going to be left behind though. I can float and I managed to float out and back. I think it was Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill who took me home. Funny I don't remember that part.

I remember one time staying at Aunt Nancy's out at the lake. Always fun but she didn't like if we said Jeez. Sounded too much like that special person.

That reminds me too, that mom never let us play cards on Sunday. I know that was from her upbringing but she never said why.

The first time mom took me to see grandma when she lived alone I remember thinking how small her place was. And we lived in a small house.

I remember thinking how Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill’s house was so far off the road. Remember, we lived in a subdivision. When Jim and I were up one year, we went to find their old house and missed it the first time. It was closer to the road than I remembered but everything changes from a child’s perception with time.

I loved all the picnics at the county park. And the Indian Burial Grounds.

I remember mom telling me one time how mad Grandma got at Janet when she was young that she took her slipper off and used it on her. Sure was something I saw mom do when I was little too.

Mary Ann

Some of my memories:

1.  The great get togethers of the family at Chicaugoan Lake.

2.  Aunt Doris' "Dream Bars" (I loved them!!!)  She would always lift the pan and smile at me when she put them down on the table.

3.  Uncle Dave's laugh

4.  Eating a lemon slice with salt on it with Aunt Joyce when she was pregnant the last time.  I still do that!!

5.  Babysitting with Nancy Adele at Aunt Joyce's and being so scared because the house was across the street from the cemetary.

6.  Visiting Aunt Inga in her little house on Ice Lake Road.

7.  Trips to Commonwealth to visit the relatives there.  I remember a big white stuffed owl in one of the rooms.

8.  The last time I saw Aunt Janet (God bless her)

9.  Sweet Uncle Bill

10.  The Christmas after Uncle Lloyd died and we were at Aunt Joyce's for dinner.  There was lutefisk, and Al was so thrilled because he thought it would taste like one of his favorites, creamed codfish.  I tried to warn him that it really wasn't the same.  The look on his face when he took a big mouthful will always remain in my memory.  Needless to say, lutefisk was not a favorite of his!!  I still grin when I think of it.  (but then, I have a wicked sense of humor!!)

11.  Nancy Adele and I getting in trouble for tasting the dessert in the fridge that Nan had made.  We weren't allowed to have any of it after dinner.

12. The fun Al and I had with Aunt Violet and her friend each time they were here in Las Vegas.