26 dec 06
My family spent this Christmas in Massachusetts, where we’re all originally from and where my extended family still lives. The last time I was in Massachusetts was for my cousin Dawn’s wedding, and she has a three-year-old son now, Nicholas.
On Saturday morning my mother took all the girls up to the JFK Library in Dorchester (Boston). This reminded us of a long-standing family joke where my grandmother (maternal, if you’re keeping track) claims she was Miss Dorchester in 1948, but no one in the family believes her because there’s no “proof.” So we called her Miss Dorchester all weekend, and at Sunday lunch she showed up with her tiara, the original bobby pins on it and all.
At my Uncle’s Christmas Eve party, we begged my grandmother to tell us stories about when she was a girl. One time, her friend had tickets to her prom but her boyfriend went off to the war, so she gave the tickets to my grandmother, who went to the dance with her boyfriend, even though neither of them went to that school. For another prom, a different girl asked her boyfriend to go, and although she said it was okay, she later decided she’d find another date and go as well. Unfortunately, the boy she called to go said he’d seriously consider it if he weren’t getting married the next day!
She also told us that she met my grandfather when she was dating one of his friends (my parents met this way as well), and their first date was to the movies where my grandfather was an usher. I thought it was interesting that going to the movies and going to proms are still the same things high schoolers do now.
J. Dakar / 26 dec 2006 / 7:54 p.m.
Hahaha…Grandma showed you guys.
I hear the JFK Library is great; a friend of mine was there recently and bought me a few souvenirs.