A Week with Grandpa - 1956

Joan Mollenhauer

 

Sue and I spent a week with grandpa & grandma. Eli was driving a taxi at the time; summer of 1956 is my best guess. He was there to get us cereal for breakfast. He drove taxi in the late afternoon / evening. He had us ride with him when... he first went to work, proudly introducing us to all his fares. Suppertime was at the local burger place. We ordered hamburger, french fries, chocolate malt. About the 3rd day, he said " but there are all kinds of sandwiches, don't you want something different? " Nope. After dark, he brought us home and we went to bed. We had little interaction with grandma. It was a fun week exploring his yard, his front porch and especially the back porch/room.

 

Susan Sundquist Do you remember him getting us to try a black cow? (rootbeer float). I still can see us sittting in the back of the cab at night....so fun!

The Scar on my Right Knee - 1957

So this isn't about grandpa.  Two blocks from his house was the grade school, complete with a playground.  We were allowed to go play, without an adult.  The merry-go-round was unique.  You sat on a bench and had a bar to hold onto.  Two opposing seats had a pivot bar that you could pump with arms and legs, to make it go around.  A mechanical marvel!  It wasn't going fast enough, so I got off to push.  I pushed so well and others pumped so hard, it really took off.  I lost my footing and still holding on, was dragged about halfway around, on my right knee.  I cried, my knee looked like hamburger.  Susan (always the "oldest so you're in charge") took me back to grandpas.  Mom fixed it by pouring alcohol over it.  After the shock of the burn, it was better.  I still liked that merry-go-round! 

From Denise - Donuts and Walnuts

Denise Ellickson Palumbo

He gave all us of great memories we have a great family :) I remember when he would take me in his vigortone truck and I would sit on the feed bags while he would deliver the feed at the end he would stop at the little gas station as you ...came in town and I mean little and buy a pepsi:) When we would go stay for the weekend sleeping upstairs in the old beds we would get up in the morning and go to the bakery and get donuts which one of my favorites was raspberry filled bismark:) If it was cold we would go downstairs in the morning since there was really no heat upstairs and stand on the one and only heat register and he would say be careful the register gets really hot. When the bakery I believed closed we would then go to the grocery store and get donuts and one time we ran into Great Grandma Dinger and remember the back yard I hated going back there because of all the walnuts it hurt bare feet. Love it:)

Earliest Memory - 1953

 I was 2 - 3 yrs old.  We lived in a farmhouse just outside of Decorah.  The gravel driveway came off the highway and curved uphill to the house.  Susan and I were playing outside when we spotted grandpa's car turning into the driveway.  We ran down the drive to meet him and he stopped about 30 feet from the house.  He let us stand on the running boards (yes! running boards) and wrap our arms through the window frame to hold on.  He drove very slowly up to the house.  Wow, that was a wild ride!