Tag: Dorothy

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Biography

Funny tidbits

One time a girl at work brought in some cheesecake cupcakes as a peace offering. It was so good I [Dorothy] got the recipe and took a batch out to the family. I told Grandpa [Florent] that it was a custard and we had been eating it. My turkey of a nephew Tom asked me what was in the cupcakes and I tried to be vague about it, but he kept pressing me for an answer, and I, stupidly, told him the cupcakes contained cream cheese. Grandpa never ate them again.

One Christmas your Grandpa [Florent] and I [Dorothy] were driving to your Mom [Lorraine] & Dad’s [Edward’s]. I had the desserts, I had placed a cherry pie on the floor in the back of the driver’s seat.

At Utica and 14 Mile a guy in a car made a left hand turn right in front of me. Don’t know why he couldn’t have waited; our 2 cars were the only ones there.

Well, we didn’t have any cherry pie for dinner because I had to slam on the breaks and the pie slid under the driver’s seat and I had cherry pie all around my feet.

My grandpa’s [Eduard’s] house had a porch with windows on two sides of the house, near the back door was a swing fastened to the porch ceiling by two chains. One day Aunt Martha & someone else were in the swing and one of the chains broke. No one was hurt. We laughed so hard about this; Aunt Martha had to wash her underpants because she wet them.

When this was happening, my dad [Florent] + Uncle Joe [Morock] were picking up a boyhood friend of my dad’s, Father Joe Duquette, a very funny man.

After we got through laughing about the swing, we decided to fasten the swing + wait for the men to return. We wanted to face where the guys would sit in it. Well, they sat in it and we giggled and giggled, waiting for it to fall. The guys asked us why we were giggling so we finally had to tell them because their weight wasn’t enough to break the chain. We were disappointed!

The only place to wash at my Grandpa’s was the kitchen sink. One time, your Grandma [Helen] told your dad [Edward] to wash his hands. He wasn’t moving so Grandma told him again. No movement. My Aunt Len [Magdaleine], who was severely retarded and couldn’t speak clearly, was also in the kitchen. She walked over to your dad, grabbed him by the ear and took him over to the sink. Your dad was sure surprised and we all had a good laugh.

Categories
Biography

Florent’s accident

In December 1941, Grandpa [Florent] was delivering milk with his horse and wagon. It was 7:30AM and still dark. Although he had a lantern on the back of his wagon, a young man drove into the back of the wagon which caused many cases of milk to fall on Grandpa. At that time milk and cream were in glass bottles + in wooden case. 

Grandpa went to a doctor who took care of people who worked for the creamery. He (the doctor) didn’t have any x-rays taken, although Grandpa kept complaining about shortness of breath. Grandpa went back to work a few days later. 

About six weeks later, Grandpa had terrible pain in his back above the waist on the right side. Our family doctor sent Grandpa to the hospital, thinking he had a kidney problem.

After x-rays, the doctor asked Grandpa if he had been in an accident recently. Then he told about the ramming of his wagon. 

They found 2 broken ribs which had festered. This poison settled in Grandpa’s right hip socket or the hip bone (I forget which). (This was caused because he been lifting the heavy cases of milk while his ribs were broken).

Grandpa had 2 or 3 operations, the first one unsuccessful. After his last operation, he had to wear a leg brace.

Grandpa became very bitter after the surgery. He enjoyed working outdoors with his horse and wagon and now he was able to get around only with the aid of crutches.  He was no longer able to work at a job outside our home.

He was going to sue the Creamery (because the doctor did not have x-rays taken) but becuase he had accepted insurance benefits on his company policy, the lawyer said he would not have a case.

I [Dorothy] was in the tenth grade at the time; it was during WWII. I got a job at F. W. Woolworth as a salesgirl. At that time, each counter had a salesgirl and cash register. I started at 35 cents an hour. I worked there through my senior year. Gave Grandma [Helen] some money each pay (rest paid for my schooling) which she saved to buy me a Bulova watch for my graduation.

When Grandpa was in the hospital, Grandma went to the hospital twice a day, everyday, always stopping at St. Anthonys church for a visit and prayer.

I firmly believe the power of prayer kept Grandma going. This was very trying times – Grandpa hurt, little money coming in and two children in school.

Grandma told us it wasn’t until she was a grown woman that she started praying in English – she was taught to pray in Polish.

Grandpa finally got rid of the brace on his leg.

Our home on Sheridan was not too far from Gratiot and Van Dyke. Many items were hard to get during the war. Many times during [World] War II Grandpa would walk (on crutches) and wait in line so he could get a pair of nylon stockings at the Cunningham Drugstore. (Nylon hose came out just before the war). My first pair of nylons lasted me one year. They were much stronger hose at that time. Grandpa also waited in line for a pack of cigarettes.  Sometimes the clerks at Cunningham’s would let Grandpa know when they were going to get hard-to-get items and he would be one of the first in line.

Right after WWII, our landlord sold the home we were renting and we had to move. Housing was very difficult to find and with Grandpa not working, it was more difficult. 

During Grandpa’s illness many priests used to bring the Holy Eucharist to Grandpa and also stop and visit Grandma + Grandpa. One these was Father Joe Lapinski, through his efforts we got into a temporary housing project on Iowa Street (near Davison and Van Dyke). We lived there until 1954 when had to move because they were going to tear down the buildings.

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Biography

Stories touched by the war

Your Grandma [Helen] was an excellent baker. Her pie crusts, made with lard, were great. After WWII she purchased lard several times and it was terrible, so she started to use Spry (we preferred it instead of Crisco). It took her quite a while to get adjusted to the use of Spry in making pie crusts, but she mastered it!

During WWII our upstairs neighbor, Mrs. Young, was preparing a meal with her pressure cooker. Something went wrong and the cover blew through the kitchen ceiling and the pot dropped to the bottom of the stove; of course, making a big hole. She had to get a permit or whatever they called it, from the rationing board to get a new stove. Luckily no one was hurt.

We had ration books for meat, canned food, butter and dairy products. Each family had so many stamps per month.

Clothing (that is, decent clothing) was hard to get. We had to wear lisle stockings (saved our nylon’s for “good”). They were heavy stockings and wrinkled badly. Some dresses and blouses were made of rayon material, which was of very poor quality. Even today I cannot buy the rayon, thinking how awful it was back then!

When the war ended, we all went down to Gratiot and Sheridan and everybody was happy and kissing anyone near them.

Right after WWII, our landlord sold the home we were renting and we had to move. Housing was very difficult to find and with Grandpa not working, it was more difficult. 

During World War II your dad [Edward] wanted to join the Marines; but because of his age he had to have Grandpa’s [Florent’s] signature, which Grandpa would not do. In 1945 your dad was inducted into the US Army and served one year in the Philippines. Remember your dad telling the story of a sergeant throwing a book at your dad, saying “Keep this machine running.”

After getting out of the service Ed got a job at the factory at Chrysler’s. He wanted to get a car; much to the chagrin of Grandma [Helen], Grandpa and me [Dorothy], he bought an 8 passenger Chrysler to $850. A real gas guzzler! Sold it soon after your mom [Lorianne] and dad were married. Can remember the story of your mom having to push this monster of a car when it got stuck in the snow in Connecticut.

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Biography

Visiting Republic

When your dad [Edward] and I [Dorothy] were kids and we all would go up to Republic to visit our grandpa [Eduard], Uncle Joe [Morock], Aunt Martha and Ruth would go along. Grandpa and Uncle Joe would go fishing every day and every day our big meal at near noon would be fresh sautéed fish. Delicious!

Our appetites were so ravenous when we were there, we would eat cereal and then toast bread on top of the wood burning stove. It tasted so good! I can remember one breakfast I had 5 slices of toast. Aunt Martha hollered at us and told us to get out of the kitchen that day. Saying she and Grandma [Frances?] were getting dinner ready and we were still eating breakfast.

One year Uncle Joe, Aunt Martha, Ruth + Uncle Henry, Aunt Martha and their four girls plus Grandma [Frances] Morock all went up to Republic. Of course, our main meal was fish. One day baloney sandwiches were put on a big plate and placed on the table where the kids were seated. We were told to wait until given the word to eat. When we were given the word, you never saw anything disappear so fast! 

Grandma Morock was a heavy-set woman who wore long dresses which she sewed together by hand with tiny stitching without {illegible}.

{illegible} across the road from my Grandpa’s [Eduard], there is a picture of her there. {illegible} her dress looks like a balloon.

One year Uncle Joe, Aunt Martha, and Ruth accompanied our family to Republic. There were 7 of us in a 4-door 1938 Chrysler. We kids took turns sitting on a small chair in the back. We weren’t too far from my Grandpa’s [Eduard’s] on a gravel road when a tire blew. I remember our Aunt Martha saying “hold it Joe.” The car went out of control and rolled over about 3 times, hitting a huge rock. When the rolling was done, the car was on its side. One of us was standing on Ruth and Len [Magdaleine]. Amazingly none of us were seriously hurt. Grandma [Frances? Helen?] had some skin burns from rubbing on the upholstery. We found Uncle Joe’s rimless glasses in the grass. The car was totaled. People couldn’t believe no one was seriously hurt or killed.

1938 Chrysler Imperial Touring Sedan

A car stopped and a man offered to take the women and kids to my Grandpa’s. Uncle Joe and my dad [Florent] stayed with the car. When we arrived at my Grandpa’s, the man hesitatingly gave us his business card. He sold tombstones!

I believe that was the time Uncle Joe’s insurance agent neglected to renew his auto insurance so he had no insurance.

Grandpa [Florent] and Uncle Joe had to buy a used car — a 2-door Chevrolet. Talk about being packed in that car like sardines! Needless to say, that vacation was not the best.

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Biography Meta

Hello!

Inspired by Aunt Dorothy’s writing, I’ve tried to make an area where we can share stories about our family. Some silly, some serious, some embellished, but all full of the love that is the fabric of our family.

Many of the stories I have to put up here are transcribed from Aunt Dorothy’s hand-written stories given to her nieces and nephews. When transcribing, we tried to name the people mentioned in the story by relation, but some are more challenging than others; you’ll find a few question marks where we weren’t quite sure. You’ll also see a few places where we just couldn’t make out the words written on the page. We kept as much as we could possibly read.

There are also two Edwards in these stories – one is the grandson of the other. Because it quickly gets confusing, I’ve used the Dutch spelling of the name (Eduard) for the man born in Belgium in the late 1870’s who ultimately became the grandfather and namesake of the man born in Detroit in the 1920’s. This is simply to keep these two Edward Van Langenhovens as separate individuals in writing; there was no spelling difference in reality.