Grandma Grace played the piano but had much difficulty playing because her hands were so crippled and deformed with rheumatoid arthritis. They lived on a little acreage in Arvada where my Grandma raised the most beautiful flowers. My Grandpa Lentz passed away before I was born and Grandma Grace was already married to her second husband, Jim Smith before I came along. My Grandma Grace Kaufman Lentz Smith was my maternal Grandmother. My Grandma Emma was certainly a remarkable lady. When she went out somewhere, it was hats, sometimes gloves, and costume jewelry. She was always interested in dressing neat as proved evident in her younger photos and as the years went by. I also remember, and I am pretty certain of this, that I had never seen my Grandma in pants…even though it had become acceptable for women to wear pants or trousers she always wore dresses, even until the day she passed away. It was fun just sitting on the benches watching people dance and mingle, while we ate ice cream cones. Elitch Gardens was famous for their beautiful flower displays. They also had big bands play in the Trocadero Ballroom, which was an outdoor pavilion where people could go to dance. We went in the evening and just strolled around looking at all the beautiful flowers. She would take me to either the dog races or the horse races. They loved to travel and made trips to places like Florida, Arizona, and California.Īfter Grandpa Haas passed away, sometimes I would go stay at her house in the summer. All of their boarders were single and either worked or went to college. She and Grandpa Haas also took in women boarders, at one time, to help pay the bills. I know that Grandma made money on them while the popularity lasted. I don’t remember what house it was, possibly the house on Mead Street. I don’t remember exactly when this was, but it was during a time when chinchillas were very popular. She also, on occasion, had parakeets and she was good at teaching them to talk.Īnother venture she started was raising chinchillas. She would also whistle to them or talk to them much of the time. Maybe that is how she made them sing so well. I remember when I would visit her, she had these old phonograph records that looked like a 78 RPM, but were much thicker, that she would play for the canaries, of other canaries singing. She was always so proud of those birds and could they ever sing!! She also raised them even after she came to Denver. She used to raise canaries and shipped them all over the country, either to sell or to show. I remember that Grandma was always an enterprising woman. Grandma also taught school in Nebraska when she was only 16. I never knew her as Grandma Gibson since she and my grandfather, William, divorced in 1940, and she remarried to William Haas in 1943…all before I was born. She was actually born a minute before midnight the 22nd, so her official birthdate was the 22nd of January. My grandma Emma was a remarkable woman…I was her “birthday girl” as my birthday was near the same day as her birthday which was Jan 23rd. Karen’s Childhood Memories Quilt by Karen
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