This week we welcome Barbara Early to Author Memories.
Barbara Early grew up buried in the snowy suburbs of Buffalo, NY, where she developed a love for all things sedentary: reading, writing, classic movies, and Facebook Scrabble. She holds a degree in Electrical Engineering, but her penchant for the creative caused her to run away screaming from the pocket-protector set. She taught for several years in a Christian school before home schooling her daughter successfully through high school. Barbara cooks up cozy mysteries with a healthy dose of comedy and sometimes a splash of romance, and was a double finalist in the 2010 ACFW Genesis competition.
Old Lang Syne
by Barbara Early
For a child, a new year was anticlimactic following the excitement of Christmas. Oh, sure, I’d get to stay up late on New Year’s Eve, but living with my mother and grandparents meant much of it was spent with adults. I remember sitting in my flannel jammies in front of our “TV trays,” eating crackers with spray cheese and watching Guy Lombardo.
Then the kissing--yuck!--my grandparents being the worst offenders. When “Auld Lang Syne” started, everybody in the house had to kiss everybody else--unless you were so lucky to sneak off and pretend to be asleep.
Grandpa Arbeiter and Barb
The new year also marked the transformation of those Christmas toys. Toys that squawked, beeped, and buzzed grew mute. Broken? That’s what I was led to believe, until years later when the conspiracy was uncovered. All the noisemaking parts were removed by my handy, but quiet-loving grandfather.
Grandpa, named Rudolph by his German-Hungarian immigrant parents, married Beatrice (Grandma) when he was eighteen, just before he shipped off to join the Navy during WWII.
Following the war, he worked at the Wurlitzer factory, assembling jukeboxes and theater organs, like the one that still resides in the local historic theater.
Grandpa, named Rudolph by his German-Hungarian immigrant parents, married Beatrice (Grandma) when he was eighteen, just before he shipped off to join the Navy during WWII.
Following the war, he worked at the Wurlitzer factory, assembling jukeboxes and theater organs, like the one that still resides in the local historic theater.
Wurlitzer organ
But theater organs didn’t survive the move to multiplexes, and jukeboxes likewise waned, leading to plant closure. My grandparents scurried to find work. Grandma found a job at an electronics plant, where they hired women because of their small, nimble fingers and willingness to work for lower salaries. Grandpa never found a job, perhaps because his snowy hair made him look older than he was. Eventually, he settled into the majority of the household chores. He began to leave the house less often, then not at all. Decades later, I’d learn the meaning of the word “agoraphobia.”
Grandpa was a crusty fellow with a soft heart. He was the go-to disciplinarian. The oft-repeated threat for misbehavior was, “If you don’t stop, Grandpa will take a brush to your behind.” Or “He’ll ship you off to Father Baker’s,” which I learned much later was a home for wayward boys. Of course, the threats were enough.
Grandpa was a crusty fellow with a soft heart. He was the go-to disciplinarian. The oft-repeated threat for misbehavior was, “If you don’t stop, Grandpa will take a brush to your behind.” Or “He’ll ship you off to Father Baker’s,” which I learned much later was a home for wayward boys. Of course, the threats were enough.
Grandpa, Mom and Barb
I thought Grandpa was one of a kind, from his mixture of kindness and sarcasm, care for his family and a bigotry common to the time, to his authoritarian dominance of the home. Until I saw All in the Family. My grandfather could have inspired Archie Bunker, right down to his armchair no one was permitted to sit in.
Grandpa’s inability to leave the house eventually took his life, as he neglected seeing a doctor until the pain became unbearable. By then, the cancer which began in his intestines had spread to his liver. He passed away in 1983, just weeks before my high school graduation.
But hardly a new year passes when I don’t think of Guy Lombardo, spray cheese, and my grandfather.
Grandpa’s inability to leave the house eventually took his life, as he neglected seeing a doctor until the pain became unbearable. By then, the cancer which began in his intestines had spread to his liver. He passed away in 1983, just weeks before my high school graduation.
But hardly a new year passes when I don’t think of Guy Lombardo, spray cheese, and my grandfather.
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?
Who do you think of when they play 'Old Lang Syne'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY!
Leave a comment with a valid email address by midnight, January 8th
to be entered to win a free electronic copy of Barb's holiday novella giveaway,
Gold, Frankincense, and Murder in your choice of Kindle, ePub, or PDF versions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY!
Leave a comment with a valid email address by midnight, January 8th
to be entered to win a free electronic copy of Barb's holiday novella giveaway,
Gold, Frankincense, and Murder in your choice of Kindle, ePub, or PDF versions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gold, Frankincense and Murder, White Rose Publishing, available now.
High school geometry teacher, Donna Russell likes her life well-ordered and logical, even if it is a tad solitary at times. But when a charming co-worker at the local food bank disappears just before Christmas, Donna is left with more questions than solutions.
After the missing man's neighbor, muscle-bound EMT Sam Holton, volunteers as Donna's crime-fighting sidekick, sparks fly between them. Donna wonders if Sam can be trusted, or if he's trying to throw an unknown into her calculations—and her life.
And when police recover a body from the icy Niagara River, Donna is faced with the most frustrating equation of all: can murder plus mayhem ever equal romance?
After the missing man's neighbor, muscle-bound EMT Sam Holton, volunteers as Donna's crime-fighting sidekick, sparks fly between them. Donna wonders if Sam can be trusted, or if he's trying to throw an unknown into her calculations—and her life.
And when police recover a body from the icy Niagara River, Donna is faced with the most frustrating equation of all: can murder plus mayhem ever equal romance?
You can find Barbara Early online at the following sites:
www.BarbaraEarly.com
www.barbearly.blogspot.com
www.inkwellinspirations.com
www.BarbaraEarly.com
www.barbearly.blogspot.com
www.inkwellinspirations.com
