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My Little Windber



I took Grandma down to "her little Windber". That's where her mom grew up and she used to visit when she was a girl growing up. Well we found out that it isn't "little Windber" anymore! On Saturday morning I told Grandma that we were going to drive to see Windber. At first Grandma wasn't sure she really wanted to go. It was a long drive and we could do something with the family. I told her that nope we were going. She told me of her cousin but wasn't sure if he even lived there anymore. I went to the computer and found him in a minute. I came back into the room and showed her the information and she said she thought it was him. So I called and spoke with Jr. He said he would be around all day and that we could come so off we went. It took us about 4 hours to get there. All along talking about Grandma's memories of Windber and Jr. I was very thankful for the GPS system we had. We didn't get lost until we got to his street. After we found his house Grandma went up on the porch and asked Jr. if he remembered her. He put his hands out and gave her a big hug! From there it was a day full of memories for them both. I learned even more I never knew. Grandma had an Aunt Irm. (Jr's mom). She had great memories of her Aunt Irm, who by the way passed away last year on August 8, 2007. She was 102 years old. (I told Grandma she was going to be around for a long time and she hit me!) Anyway, Aunt Irm was a great cook according to Jr and Grandma. She baked alot of different things but Grandma loved her Pies. Jr on the other hand said she made bread that looked like a picture, it was perfect! She had a recipe for sugar cookies that is over 100 years old. From what I am told it makes the best sugar cookies in the world! I can't wait for Grandma to get the recipe. I was told stories of a family member named Coach who was very big in Windber. Back in the day he lived in England and was a Coachman. He would open the doors to the coaches and drive the horse wagon so everyone called him Coach. When he moved to Windber he owned 2 horses and would take merchandise around to the stores so they still called him Coach. The funny thing is that everyone calls Jr. Coach as well. He is called Coach because he coached Basketball and Football for 38 years at the high school. He has a big trophy room that is filled with pictures and plaques. It was really neat to be able to see it all! Anyway the swing is one that is on the front porch of Aunt Irm's home. According to my Grandma when she would go back she would sit on the swing with Aunt Irm. When she got married and had kids they would like to swing on the swing as well. They would race to the swing to see who could get on it first. Grandma called the house a doll house. It was really about that size. Very CUTE!!!! We didn't go inside but just seeing the outside was enough for Grandma. I could listen to her stories all night! We then went to lunch and talked for a few hours there. I thought this was a great little trip. Grandma is going to keep in touch with Jr now. (By the way, Jr. said NO ONE but his Mom and Dad called him Jr. but that he would let Grandma call him that!) I can't wait to visit again with Grandma. I would love to hear a few more stories from the past!

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