The Wrong Way Home

This evening Harland and I were speaking of my grandmother (maternal).  Her name was Lucille (definitely not Lucy).  I remember her as a sort of tough lady with a crusty outer shell, but a big soft heart for her family.  Her home was Terre Haute, Indiana, directly across the street from the Chesty Potato Chip factory.  Anyway, I got to thinking about her and a few stories I could share with you.

When I started kindergarten, my mom would drop me off at her mom's house in town.  Grandma would walk a few blocks with me to school near her home.  Now remember this was a few years back and times were definitely different then.  On the way to school there was a block of houses, I remember being uncomfortable to walk past.  There was always a gaggle of dirty kids and babies of various ages in various stages of dress on the porches and in the grass less yards.  They were a rowdy and vocal bunch.  Now that I think about it, why weren't they on the way to school too?

That area of the country was settled by German immigrants in fair numbers.  Actually, kindergarten is a German word, which literally means 'children's garden'.  A German, Freidrich Frobal created the term as part of a social experiment in 1837.  The goal was to help children transition from home to school with play and activities.

I can still remember one particular boy because he was blond haired, blue eyed, mean and loud.  His name was Sebastian. a good German name, but he was not a good boy.  I was afraid of those kids and him!  I don't know who cussed more, him or Grandma after he cussed at us as we would walk by.  Amazing how a young girl could increase her vocabulary by just walking to school.  As I look back, he nor the others could have been that much older than me.

Anyway back to my story...In the afternoon after school, grandma would be waiting for me and we would walk back to her house.  After some time had passed, I observed that the other children would walk home by  themselves and in groups.  I was anxious to walk home by myself and engaged a conversation with my grandma about doing so.  I don't know why (I suspect that I wanted to walk and play with the other kids), but I remember that I was animate that she not come to walk with me, follow me or watch me.  I wanted to do it myself and she finally agreed with the condition that I come straight home.

So the appointed day came that I was to walk home alone.  As I was leaving I noticed a group of kids that lived near my grandma walking together.  But, they were not taking a right turn to get on 9th street, they went left and headed down the alley.  Now I have to stop and explain....In town there is an alley that ran the length of every street giving access to the back of homes for garbage pickup and such.  Also so the residents could get to their back yards and garages via automobile. You see the houses are built so close together it was difficult to drive from the street to the back of your home.  I remember so clearly being torn about whether to go down the street the way I walked with grandma or following the other kids down the alley.  I also remembered that I had to walk by Sebastian's house by myself.  Guess what...I followed the other kids.

I went straight home as was instructed, but no one was there!  I sat on the porch.  Finally my grandma came home.  But she was not happy to see me.  She had gone to school to watch and make sure that I walked home by myself without problem.  However, as we already know, I did not come home that way so she didn't find me.  When she did, she was furious and I did get a spanking.  I never received many spankings from either of my grandmothers.  I remember all that I did get and that one too.  I never understood why I was in so much trouble.  I came straight home, just as was agreed.  Why was I the one in trouble?  She didn't keep her end of the bargain!  Needless to say, I didn't get to walk home alone again.


More about German immigration....(with my limited knowledge)  Have you ever heard of Black Forest ham?  The Black Forest is in Germany.  German immigrants brought with them food that still influences American taste buds.  All types of sausages and processed meats like the frankfurter and bratwurst and many many more.  Then there are all the potato and cabbages dishes, like kartoffelsalaat (potato salad), sauerkraut.  How about a pretzel and strudel?  Then there are all the foods that are no longer known by their German names, like weiner schnetzel (breaded veal or pork cutlets), a knodel (a dumpling or noodle), and schwarzwalder kirshtorte (black forest chocolate cake).  Of course lager beer and hamburgers and hundreds more.  If you have ever heard of the very popular cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, it was written by German-American Irma S. Rombauer.  Some of the first Mennonite and Amish communities were immigrants from Germany.