As well as my visits to daddy’s parents on the farm, I have equally fond childhood memories of summer visits to mommy’s parents in the house that grandpa Brousseau built and where mommy grew up, at 50 Sweetland Ave., in Sandy Hill. Whereas Johnny and I went together to visit Grandma and Grandpa Maloney, when I visited granny and grandpa Brousseau I usually had them all to myself.
Grandpa came to get me on several occasions for at least a few days and sometimes for as long as a week. He always gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek. Grandpa had this trick that I knew was coming. He would kiss us kids on the cheek while blowing through his moustache so that it made a whistling sound. I laughed hysterically every time he did this.
Grandpa wasn’t very tall so he used to sit on a cushion when he drove his car. Just a little bit of trivia
Oh how I loved those times. I remember entering the house by way of the back porch located at the right hand side of their narrow driveway.
From the back porch there was another door leading into a very large kitchen. There was an icebox in the porch on the left. In the centre of the kitchen there was a table and behind the table to the left there were narrow winding stairs that led up to the room that became mine for as long as I was there. It was a room straight out of a fairy tale with frilly curtains and bedspread and I loved it! It was so private and cozy. There was a door at the bottom of the stairs and one at the top. As a kid I had the feeling like it was my own little apartment.
There was even a typewriter near the window. I remember trying to type on it although I am not sure if I was allowed to or not.
The porch, kitchen and the magical bedroom all had a distinctive really nice smell that is locked in my memory. Maybe it was the wooden floors or cupboards: I don’t know how to explain it. Sort of like a new car smell but different. Grandpa spent a lot of time in the basement building furniture so that could be part of it.
Anyways, granny always had a big hug for me when I got there and of course milk and cookies at the kitchen table.
I remember taking milk and cookies down to the basement for grandpa too when he was busy building a new piece of furniture. Milk and cookies were always a staple when visiting granny and grandpa: even when we got older.
Sitting on the wooden swing in the backyard with granny and sometimes grandpa and talking about anything and everything, especially mommy when she was growing up, was so exciting. I wish I could remember more of what we talked about. I think grandpa made the swing but I’m not sure.
Aunt Adelaide, granny’s sister lived on Nelson Street which was parallel to Sweetland and just one street west of it. She lived in the house directly behind granny and grandpas’s so if they were both outside at the same time they could have a chat at the back fence, and I think they usually did. I remember going to visit aunt Adelaide with granny once. I think we had to walk around the block to get there: I don’t think there was a gate in the fence.
Grandpa came to get me on several occasions for at least a few days and sometimes for as long as a week. He always gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek. Grandpa had this trick that I knew was coming. He would kiss us kids on the cheek while blowing through his moustache so that it made a whistling sound. I laughed hysterically every time he did this.
Grandpa wasn’t very tall so he used to sit on a cushion when he drove his car. Just a little bit of trivia
Oh how I loved those times. I remember entering the house by way of the back porch located at the right hand side of their narrow driveway.
From the back porch there was another door leading into a very large kitchen. There was an icebox in the porch on the left. In the centre of the kitchen there was a table and behind the table to the left there were narrow winding stairs that led up to the room that became mine for as long as I was there. It was a room straight out of a fairy tale with frilly curtains and bedspread and I loved it! It was so private and cozy. There was a door at the bottom of the stairs and one at the top. As a kid I had the feeling like it was my own little apartment.
There was even a typewriter near the window. I remember trying to type on it although I am not sure if I was allowed to or not.
The porch, kitchen and the magical bedroom all had a distinctive really nice smell that is locked in my memory. Maybe it was the wooden floors or cupboards: I don’t know how to explain it. Sort of like a new car smell but different. Grandpa spent a lot of time in the basement building furniture so that could be part of it.
Anyways, granny always had a big hug for me when I got there and of course milk and cookies at the kitchen table.
I remember taking milk and cookies down to the basement for grandpa too when he was busy building a new piece of furniture. Milk and cookies were always a staple when visiting granny and grandpa: even when we got older.
Sitting on the wooden swing in the backyard with granny and sometimes grandpa and talking about anything and everything, especially mommy when she was growing up, was so exciting. I wish I could remember more of what we talked about. I think grandpa made the swing but I’m not sure.
Aunt Adelaide, granny’s sister lived on Nelson Street which was parallel to Sweetland and just one street west of it. She lived in the house directly behind granny and grandpas’s so if they were both outside at the same time they could have a chat at the back fence, and I think they usually did. I remember going to visit aunt Adelaide with granny once. I think we had to walk around the block to get there: I don’t think there was a gate in the fence.
Aunt Mary who was another one of granny’s sisters lived in granny and grandpa's house but she had her own little apartment. The entrance to her apartment was at the front of the house whereas granny and grandpa’s front entrance was to the right and down the little walkway. I used the back door most of the time and my memory is a bit sketchy when it comes to the front of the house but it seems to me that their front door opened directly into the living room and the first thing you would see was the very large grandfather clock which was about six feet high and stood on the floor on the left hand side against the wall. Beyond the living room was a hall which led to the kitchen. On the right hand side of the hall was the entrance to the basement. It seems to me granny and grandpa’s bedroom was off of the living room to the left. I remember a window above their door, which I guess you see in old houses.
Jimmy tells me that in 1975 he rented an upstairs apartment at 52 Sweetland in the house where uncle Yvon grew up and that aunt Bertha had an apartment there as well at that time. He says that Aunt Bertha was a lot of fun and that they occasionally had a gin and tonic together. A little bit of family trivia
I miss you granny and grandpa and I love you both just like I did when I was littleJimmy tells me that in 1975 he rented an upstairs apartment at 52 Sweetland in the house where uncle Yvon grew up and that aunt Bertha had an apartment there as well at that time. He says that Aunt Bertha was a lot of fun and that they occasionally had a gin and tonic together. A little bit of family trivia
I remember Granny and Grandpa Brousseau too and their house at 50 Sweetland. It was the best. And the smell of the house, the grandfather clock and the swing in the backward. I miss them too. They were the best grandparents ever!
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