Tag Archives: Grandma Theresa

Family, Photo-A-Day, Travel

Storybook Day at Edaville Railroad

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Storybook Day at Edaville Railroad
Photo-A-Day #1619

Today Allison and I took Eva to Edaville Railroad. But we’ll get to that in a moment.

Last night Eva would not go to bed at the Cape House. She completely refused from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. Finally after Allison and I took turns with her trying to read stories and to get her to calm down she succumbed to the sleep she needed. Well, for few hours at least. She was back up at 3:30am screaming and crying. Allison brought her to our room and Eva wanted me out of the bed. So to get some sleep I ended up on the Goldilocks bed which contrary to popular belief was not “just right”.

We awakened worn and weary but eager for our trip to Edaville. We didn’t have Grandfather’s fabulous breakfast on hand so we went to Betsy’s Diner. We texted up our friends Neil and Andrea and asked if they were up and also up for Betsy’s. Neil, a man who knows breakfast, said “Be there or Be Square”. So, we knew they were on their way.

Breakfast was awesome and we are very grateful to Neil and Andrea for sharing that meal with us and taking us out. Also we are extremely grateful that they are friends in our lives. Their support and generosity is greatly appreciated.

After breakfast it was off to Edaville. Edaville Railroad is a small theme park in Carver, MA. The main theme is around trains and it also has some vintage rides. There is a beautiful carousel and a Ferris wheel (Eva’s too small for that and I really wanted to go up with her because she loves rides and speed, I bet she likes heights too).

Loving the Carousel

There are plenty of ride there for the little ones. I think when kids are real little say between 2 and 5 they love trains. It doesn’t hurt that Thomas the Tank Engine is such a PR giant. At Edaville they have a Day out With Thomas every once in a while where they have a small replica of Thomas come and pull the train around the track which goes through the working cranberry bogs.

Harvesting Cranberries

The really nice thing about Edaville is how it is very geared to the little ones, the rides the interactive areas and of course the train ride that comes along every 20 minutes. Eva enjoyed riding along on the train looking at everything out in the woods and in the cranberry bogs along the way. Edaville really shines at night in the winter though. That is when the train chugs along and there are lighted figures out in the woods and along the whole route. There is even a giant Noah’s Ark scene.

The reason that we went to Edaville today was for the storybook characters that would be appearing. On tap were The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Wild Thing, Clifford the Big Red Dog and the monkey Eva really wanted to see, Curious George. Every 15 minutes the characters would come out 2 at a time for a meet and greet where kids and parents could pose. When we got there The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Wild Thing were just going back in and Curious George and Clifford were coming out. We got in line to see Clifford and Curious George.

A very Stuffed Caterpillar

I went over to the snack bar to get Allison a water and that is where I met Tilden of Tilden Talks.

I mentioned that we were going to Edaville and Tilden’s sister-in-law Quilly left me a message letting me know that Tilden not only worked at Edaville and was the best cook there but she was also a member of my IZEA Insiders crew the “I’m Not A Famous Blogger” Crew. So I was there at the counter and a woman comes into the snack bar. I catch her name and I ask. “Are you on SocialSpark?” She looks at me for a moment and then smiles “Are you Ben? What are you doing here?” We chat for a bit and I explain that we were here for the storybook show and that the last time I was there I was 4. Things have changed a lot since then. I will have to see about finding some photos from when I was a kid.

We had a wonderful day at the park and then headed home for a memorial mass for Grandma Theresa. I think that Fr. Dave’s homily hit both Allison and I right where we needed and I’m grateful for that. Eva was in rare form at Mass. She was up and down and entertaining the people behind us. Of course Allison and I are mortified, exhausted both physically and emotionally. So we are trying to wrangle this little jitterbug and not doing that good a job of it. So we are kneeling and Fr. Dave is consecrating the host, as he lifts it to the air Eva lets out a “Yumm!” That broke the tension and Allison and I were fighting the inappropriate giggles. This means that the two of us were shaking and laughing hysterically while trying to hide the fact that we were shaking and laughing hysterically. I tell you, that kid has comic timing.

Family

Tara’s Eulogy for Grandma Theresa

As promised yesterday here is the wonderful eulogy that Tara gave, right after mine, for Grandma Theresa. You can read it in its entirety below.

“As Drew mentioned, Theresa Williams had the most tremendous gift for sharing. I’m not talking necessarily about material things, but rather sharing her gifts of talent. She had a talent for cooking and creating a comfortable home. As a result, anyone who ever stepped foot into her house was always fed and welcomed. She imparted this generosity of spirit on her children, grandchildren, family and friends.

With Theresa, there was magic everywhere. Whether it was the star-like glitter in the ceiling of the Wareham house, stars above our head at my wedding or stars on our Christmas trees that she had stitched and starched to perfection, as Shelby said last night, “Grandma made the most ordinary things extraordinary.”

How else other than magic can we explain the way that she created each person’s favorite foods whenever they would arrive. I can’t help but smile when I think of the warm cinnamon toast or crepes that she served up. She made such wonderful foods and in abundance being sure that everyone had what they wanted. She shared recipes with her children and grandchildren so that they could continue to shower people with these wonderful foods.

There was something wonderful about things at Grandma’s house. As a rite of passage, the grandchildren slept in the “Goldilocks bed.” Had she not created magic about the bed, I doubt that anyone would have slept in such a tiny bed at the end of the room farthest from the door. Without a doubt, she loved her children and grandchildren and wanted to make things as special as possible. Easter was a most magical time in their house. Theresa would gather us and send the grandchildren off to collect some of the hundreds of eggs that she’d carefully filled and instructed Grandpa in hiding. Now that was real sharing since Grandma filled the eggs with two of her favorite things: chocolate and quarters

One of Theresa’s greatest talents was knitting and crocheting. She couldn’t wait to make something new for someone else. Hats and mittens, sweaters and blankets, always giving to someone. She used the tightest weave and made perfect stitches. So when you put one of Theresa’s afghans around you, you can feel the warmth and love, as if it were a hug from her. That’s what I loved about learning to crochet from her. It is a way to keep a tradition of sharing talent and comfort and warmth with the people that you love.

However, for Grandma it wasn’t just about making pretty sweaters and blankets, it was about keeping you entirely warm. A staple in our wardrobes has to be the signature slippers. Who out there doesn’t own at least one pair of these?

Grandma loved traditions and she created many wonderful ones. I have the fondest memories of making meat pies with the family and Ellen. We worked late into the evening and everyone had their tasks. Grandma would prepare the meat earlier in the day and then kept watch and made sure things ran smoothly. When we would finish, it was time for strudel. Uncle Richard would come up from downstairs and we would finally rest and enjoy the last scraps of dough transformed into a magnificent dessert as if by magic.

Theresa constantly strived for perfection and this made her the perfect CEO of Williams Pewter. Grandpa may have owned the business, but Grandma was running it. Her motto, if it wasn’t good enough, do it again. I have to admit that I struggled with this mentality on more than one occasion. I can still remember being very proud of my very first part of an afghan. Grandma carefully looked at my stitches and with a few pulls from her hand transformed it back into a pile of yarn. Luckily, my second attempt passed inspection. I now realize the wonderful lesson in this and the importance of perfection since everything she made was a reflection of her.

I think I also understand now where her magic came from. Theresa put a little bit of herself into everything her hands touched and that’s how she made the ordinary truly extraordinary.”