Cruises and Grandchildren
My grandmother, Jeanette Shrum Willett, left us a wonderful handwritten manuscript of her life which she wrote in the mid-1980s. She was born August 4, 1897, in Bloomington, Indiana, and died March 3, 1988, in Salem, Massachusetts. I have been transcribing her manuscript here. You can start from the beginning with Part 1.
My grandmother loved to travel. She and my grandfather traveled all over the world together. When he died in 1973, my grandmother asked my mother to be her traveling buddy. They went on many cruises together in the 1970s and early 1980s. My mother had never been outside of the United States before she started traveling with her mother, and she loved it. They especially loved taking cruises. You can read about a rather rough trip my grandparents took here in this entry. In this entry, my grandmother also talks about she and my grandfather traveling to Florida to meet old friends, the Codmans. They had been friends of the Codmans since their early days of marriage when they lived in Hermosa Beach, California together. You can read about that time in California and the Codmans here in an earlier journal entry. It was funny to read my grandmother remembering that when they visited the Codmans, she and my grandfather stayed at a motel rather than the extravagant hotel the Codmans stayed at. That wasn’t jealousy speaking. That was frugality. If anything, that remark was a subtle jab at how frivolous the Codmans could be when a motel was perfectly fine. Typical Buba (what we called her).
My grandmother also writes about the birth of three of my oldest siblings.
The grammar, punctuation, and any spelling errors are left as Jenny Shrum Willett wrote them.
Part 12
“Our second trip to Florida was a combination convention at Hollywood Beach hall & visit in Key Biscayne. There we joined our friends the Codmans who we had lived with in Hermosa Beach. They were at the expensive Key Biscayne Hotel but we stayed Crondon Court Motel. It was fun to be with them after so many years. From there we drove over to the west coast – trip was Mar 24 to Apr 15 1954. Next year we went to Laguna Beach Fla intending to see New Orleans. A bad storm washed a bridge out so we didn’t make it .
On Apr 18 1952, Martha Lee’s first child was born & I went over to be with her. Chuckee was a lovely baby seldom cried and slept most of the time. Lynn was born the year Oct 9, 1953. Then Jean & Martha Lee were both pregnant & I planned to go to Martha Lee & have a rest before Jean was due but Jean’s Beth came early on the day I arrived at M.L. May 23 1955. Beth was born on the 27th.
We took our first cruise 1959 – on freighter Alcoa Runner. The second day out we ran into a heavy storm, the ship went over at a 30 degree angle and I was thrown out of my chair across the room and into the hall – had a big bump on my forehead and a black eye. Harold was thrown on to a steel drawer that came out of a dresser and he landed on his coxis bone. He couldn’t sit with any comfort for the rest of the trip. I had to get new glasses when we reached Porto Rico. I still had a black eye when we returned. We visited Mayaguez , Ponce, Guyowd. We went swimming in the lovely Luquillo beach near Porto Rico. I said never again on a freighter. Next trip would be on a big ship and it was on the United States.”
Did you enjoy this? Click here to read Chapter 13
I have joined an online challenge by Amy Johnson Crow to write about 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. I’m writing about the prompt “Diary.” I am hopelessly behind on participating, but Amy says there really is no “behind.” Writing at your pace and getting something out on the page is what is most important. You can join any time and find all the details here: