Peggy Crane
Dear Family,
After your call, Jeff, my sisters and I reminisced about our childhood and memories of your family, and our cousin Pam, in particular. I wanted to recount for you, Jeff and Nicole, some of what we remember and how our cousin, Pam, lives in us.
We recalled that your family moved from Racine to Dallas when Tab was a toddler. My parents, Aunt Irma and Uncle Herb, my younger sister, Cory and I drove down to Dallas for a visit, I’m thinking around 1958. Cory was 10 and I was 15 or so (Pam and are 10 months apart in age). My older sisters, Lynne and Judy, stayed behind. At this time, they were working and living apart from the family.
After we had a visit with you all at your home in Dallas, My Mom, Dad, Pam and I took a car trip down to Mexico, leaving Cory to the care of Aunt Sis and Uncle Glenn. The experience showed another world to me, who had never left Wisconsin. One event during the trip stayed with me. We visited a city market where the locals were selling their farm goods – vegetables, eggs and chickens. My Dad began filming the market as the towns people went about their business. His aim was to record our vacation experiences. The locals did not take kindly to the intrusion into their affairs. They pelted my Dad and us with tomatoes! Such was the lesson of an “ugly American,” a phrase made popular by a book by that title.
Cory doesn’t remember much about the visit, but her take-away was the fact of two separate school systems. She was puzzled by that; in the north we separated, too, but did it differently. Of course, the puzzle pieces fit into place as we got a little older.
Sometimes your Mom came to Racine in the summers. She would stay with Grandma Erb. Such visits were quiet – we didn’t have much money and there wasn’t a lot going on in the town, so we stayed close to the neighborhood. My family lived maybe 10 blocks from Grandma Erb – easy walking distance. I remember your Mom having a musical laugh and a beautiful smile. She would object to some words I would say. Apparently, the connotation or meaning, maybe slang, was different in the south. In her good humor, she would chide me not to say them so loud, and, me seeing an opportunity, would say them. We had a good laugh over that.
When Jeff was a baby, your Mom and Dad came for a visit. Your Mom was an attentive mother. I still can see your Mom changing Jeff’s diaper in my living room. During the visit, we had many heart to heart talks about motherhood and marriage. (I had two young kids at the time.) Pam was especially earnest about her role as a mother and caretaker. I’m sure, Nicole and Jeff, you felt that sentiment throughout your whole lives.
Pam and I only talked once in a while in our later years, but there remained a family bond and affection from our childhood. I was moved by Jeff’s call and wish I could have been present with all of you and share in Pam’s funeral service.
May you, in your grief at your Mom’s passing, celebrate her long life and rejoice in family memories. I send my love and sincerest sympathy.
Peggy
