So sweet! I remember bringing my daughter to my grandmother, her 100 year old great-grandmother at that time, to interview her for the genealogy class she was taking in school. It was so heart-warming to see. And she told my daughter a few things I had never asked, so educational!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's who read Canzano, and the sons and daughters whose mothers made it possible for them to read BFT. I loved my mom and she was a talented painter/artist, but my mom's mom made her possible. My grandmother was born in Iowa and lived her childhood in Nebraska (her dad worked on the railroad). She was a good Christian woman and at 21 she volunteered, through her church, to join a group of local high school grads / early 20s, to go to India to do a mission. This was in 1918, WW1 was just ending, the world was in turmoil, and she wanted to do her part to bring peace. India was VERY primitive in 1918 and it was very uncommon for women to travel on their own at that time, the same year of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. But my grandmother was a fierce woman and she took on the challenge. She stayed in India for 5 years teaching English and reading to the poor, and often ill. When she came home she went to work as a school teacher, meeting my grandfather at a boarding house in Flagstaff AZ, which is a little ironic since I have always loved AZ.
My grandfather was a traveling salesman who was selling gas pumps, the old ones with the jar of gas on top and a hand pump, to people who wanted to open a station in the Southwest, especially along Route 66, which runs through Flagstaff and was just starting to see the migration traffic to California that would become a key to the John Steinbeck story, "Grapes of Wrath". They settled down in Denver, Colorado and had my uncle, Fred, in 1932 and then my mom, Nancy, in 1935. They stayed poor through the Great Depression with my grandfather unable to hang onto a sales job. He was already approaching 60 at this point (was born in 1876 and my grandma was his 2nd wife; my grandfather had five girls by his first wife who became my step-aunts, though almost as old as my grandmother) and so he retired. But before Social Security, and no pension, you had to fend for yourself. So my grandma continued teaching to pay the bills. She took a job at a small country school in Garibaldi, OR on the coast, and continued working there, commuting on weekends, even after the family moved to Corvallis.
My mom ended up going to CHS and met my dad in 1954. The rest is (my) history!
Corvallis is good Brian! It misses you my good man!! Everyone is on pins and needles with the baseball team and hoping they can finish strong after the melt down in Eugene! The recent performance in Iowa is helping!!
It's funny that you ask about Dr. Mike Sheets. He is doing GREAT by the way!!! His wife Elene is Italian and is also a fantastic cook! We live about 3 miles apart and frequently have dinner at one house or the other so that our spouses can cook together sharing family recipes. They love the time together and Mike and I are more than happy to share the results!! Mike's comment is always: Best Restaurant in Corvallis!!
BTW I purchased Beaver football season tickets right next to Mike for this upcoming season. You need to come up for one of Beaver Tom's tailgates!!!
Mike is, always was, such a great guy. I had blocked out the Houston game for the Delt tailgater, but then ESPN moved the game to Friday night. So, now, I have blocked out the Washington State game on Nov 1, the new Tailgater date. I hope to see you there. Yes, sad about the Beavs series in Eugene. They are better than that, but didn't show it.
This is awesome, thank you for sharing. I love reading about family history. My Grandmother was born in Council Bluffs Iowa. My mom was born in Oakland, Iowa. Several Hawkeyes & Nebraska Corn Husker alumni in the family. I enjoy visiting the mid-west & seeing family😊
Thank you Julie...both of my grandmothers came from the same area of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska (Valley). My grandfather on my mom's side had a small homestead farm in North Dakota which failed in the 1920s due to drought and low prices. My grandfather on my dad's side is the only one of my grandparents who had history in Oregon, with my ancestors going back to the 1850s / 60s in the Corvallis area (original pioneer settlers). There was a big connection between the upper Midwest and Oregon, probably due to the Union Pacific railway. Here is my grandmother's on my mom's side history. Note her education, which was unusual for women of that era, including her Masters / PhD degree from Stanford (I am not sure which):
"Minta Estella Duncan was an English instructor at Oregon State College in 1946. She was married to Fred W. H. Duncan with two children when she came to OSC (my uncle and mom). She was born in 1892, in Marshalltown, Iowa. She had previously been a housewife. When asked why she wanted to work at Oregon State, she said, “I feel that I have a contribution to make.” She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Colter College in 1917. She received her graduate education at the University of Nebraska from 1924 to 1925, and from Stanford University in 1929. She had previously worked as the head of the English department at York College from 1926 to 1928. She spent five and a half years in India from 1918 to 1924, where she learned the Hindi language and studied Urdu. She was hired for a ten month period with a $2,000 salary."
Excellent story today John. I finished my MBA this week and surprised my mother with the news over breakfast yesterday, which was also my parent's 56th wedding anniversary. I understand she ran home and told anyone who would listen. If it weren't for both my parents teaching me to work hard and persevere, it never would have happened. I can always remember her working right along side us on the small family Christmas tree farm. I don't think any of her seven boys could out work her. Happy Mother's day Mom.
Great column JC!!! My grandmother immigrated from Ireland. She owned a woman's dress shop in Portland on SE Hawthorne - Terry's Dress Shop. One of the Greatest salespeople I have ever seen in action, and I have spent my career in high end insurance sales/consulting. I married into an Italian family and my wife cooks exactly like you described!! Our daughter is a chef. She is passing this down to our granddaughters!! A salute to all of the mom's and grandmothers today!!! May God Bless you all today and every day!!! You BLESS us fortunate men every single day!!!
Beautiful. My Italian girl friend is making Mother's Day brunch in our new home for her Italian mother (they speak Italian back and forth when they want to say something about me, I am convinced). Liliana's two sons, her sister, and families are coming, so I have to get to work (not in the kitchen, even though I once owned two restaurants, I am banned!). Thanks for this, John, as always, you are on the money. I am printing it to share with all the family guests. Happy Mother's Day everyone!
You must watch the movie Nonna on Netflix, you will love it and those Italian Nonnas!
My grandparents bought a home in Astoria after my parents divorced and took my mother and four children in to live them. My grandfather had a restaurant o er the years and grandmother
baked all the pies. Great role models for the four of us. Mother lived to be 100.
My husband and I just celebrated 71 years of marriage after staring at 16 and 18. We are blessed with an incredible family.
Love your columns. Gave our oldest son a subscription two years ago and keep renewing.
My mom did not like to cook. However, when she was a teenage girl there was a drive thru in Portland that sold twice baked potatoes (this was the 60’s). She and her girlfriend Candy tried recipe upon recipe until they got it “just right”.
That moment began a family tradition and my mom’s love language each Christmas Eve. Those twice baked potatoes beloved by the whole family. She would also sneak them in at family gatherings with her six siblings and the nearly 30 first cousins I grew up with.
I learned to make these potatoes when I was in my late teens. Unlike my mom, I love to cook and host parties and holidays for my friends and family. She loved attending those events.
My potatoes are very good, but they are not quite hers. There is no recipe. Just a few basic ingredients that are not chefy in any way. But you have to know that taste after mixing before being baked a second time. It is different then how they taste after, but very distinct to get it “just right”. They have been affectionately referred to as “crack” potatoes over the years.
My mom passed in March after a tortuous months long hospital stay. This is my first Mother’s Day without her. We are not up for a family dinner this year. Come Christmas, I’ll be ready for the tradition and those potatoes. It is now my job to teach my niece who is 11 to make them, my mom’s only grandchild who she loved so dearly and called her “home run”. My mom coached softball and volunteered with Little League for over two decades. There’s my sports tie in.
What a sweet Mother's Day gift! We can always count on Canzano to get the waterworks exercised on special days, can't we. What an amazing grandmother--what a blessed family. Mazel'tov!
Thinking of my mother today, a mother of five children who endured the deaths of three beloved adult sons. I decided to reread the obituary I wrote for her after she died in 2008 at age 92, and it included this description: Edythe Dunbar Burrell was funny and feisty, irreverent, and endearing, and was never afraid to speak her mind, often profanely. She was a tolerant woman, and unbiased in her beliefs and actions. She also was kind, gentle, sweet and remained a North Dakota ‘farm girl’ in her heart and spirit. She was spry and sprightly…loved doing crosswords and having her evening ‘toddy for the body.’ But of everything she was…’most of all she was a mother, the best.’
Many thanks, John, for your beautiful piece. My only grandparent was my grandmother. She lived in Omaha, NE. She would visit us in Los Angeles in the summertime. I remember her putting up pickles in jars, standing them on the window sill where they could catch the sunlight. Boy's Town, in Omaha, was well known at that time. She volunteered there and even though she was not Catholic, worked with Father Flanagan on behalf of the community. She baked great cherry pies. Those were the days my friends..........
My grandmother claimed she spoke no English, only French, yet she appeared to understand perfectly when she wanted to:) Each Christmas, when we visited her house which was always at 90F and she was wearing a sweater, she gave us each an envelope with a crisp $1 bill in it. We thought we were rich!! And of course we were in many, many ways.
"She always took great pleasure in feeding us all. It was how she showed her love. It was often some kind of pasta and red meat sauce. And, a dish of ice cream or homemade cookies for dessert. She’d approach her grandchildren in the hallway of her house before we went home, and slip us each a $5 bill."
She sounds a lot like my German grandmother, John. Only differences: She made bratwurst and brautkartoffeln (fried potatoes), typically made cheesecakes for dessert, (those things sold out in what seemed like seconds when she catered German dances at Swiss Park in Fremont), and slipped my sister and I twenties.
Good story John. I had an Italian Grandma who also was a great cook. Lasagna,Pizza. I an only 1/2 Italian but the food in life is to be enjoyed. History brings out life’s simplicity in a complex world.
Italian Grandmother’s was a regular but special thing. I remember at 7 years old she made basil pesto with noodles and I ate 3 full dinners plates of it. I still love basil pesto as do my kids and grandsons. As vegetable growers we always have an extra pound for two if the Canzono family could put it to use.
When they "stay with us" it is because of the love we shared and the forever bond between us. Great story on this special day. Here's to your grandma's red sauce!
And…as a grandmother, there’s nothing like having had my grandson interview me weekly for a school project. 🥰
So sweet! I remember bringing my daughter to my grandmother, her 100 year old great-grandmother at that time, to interview her for the genealogy class she was taking in school. It was so heart-warming to see. And she told my daughter a few things I had never asked, so educational!
Such a gift
Love this!!
I am hoping for this. Oldest grandkid starts school for the first time in September.
It's a gift.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's who read Canzano, and the sons and daughters whose mothers made it possible for them to read BFT. I loved my mom and she was a talented painter/artist, but my mom's mom made her possible. My grandmother was born in Iowa and lived her childhood in Nebraska (her dad worked on the railroad). She was a good Christian woman and at 21 she volunteered, through her church, to join a group of local high school grads / early 20s, to go to India to do a mission. This was in 1918, WW1 was just ending, the world was in turmoil, and she wanted to do her part to bring peace. India was VERY primitive in 1918 and it was very uncommon for women to travel on their own at that time, the same year of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. But my grandmother was a fierce woman and she took on the challenge. She stayed in India for 5 years teaching English and reading to the poor, and often ill. When she came home she went to work as a school teacher, meeting my grandfather at a boarding house in Flagstaff AZ, which is a little ironic since I have always loved AZ.
My grandfather was a traveling salesman who was selling gas pumps, the old ones with the jar of gas on top and a hand pump, to people who wanted to open a station in the Southwest, especially along Route 66, which runs through Flagstaff and was just starting to see the migration traffic to California that would become a key to the John Steinbeck story, "Grapes of Wrath". They settled down in Denver, Colorado and had my uncle, Fred, in 1932 and then my mom, Nancy, in 1935. They stayed poor through the Great Depression with my grandfather unable to hang onto a sales job. He was already approaching 60 at this point (was born in 1876 and my grandma was his 2nd wife; my grandfather had five girls by his first wife who became my step-aunts, though almost as old as my grandmother) and so he retired. But before Social Security, and no pension, you had to fend for yourself. So my grandma continued teaching to pay the bills. She took a job at a small country school in Garibaldi, OR on the coast, and continued working there, commuting on weekends, even after the family moved to Corvallis.
My mom ended up going to CHS and met my dad in 1954. The rest is (my) history!
Great thoughts and comments as always Brian!! I always appreciate you posts!!
Thanks Kent! How is Corvallis? Seen Dr Sheets recently?
Corvallis is good Brian! It misses you my good man!! Everyone is on pins and needles with the baseball team and hoping they can finish strong after the melt down in Eugene! The recent performance in Iowa is helping!!
It's funny that you ask about Dr. Mike Sheets. He is doing GREAT by the way!!! His wife Elene is Italian and is also a fantastic cook! We live about 3 miles apart and frequently have dinner at one house or the other so that our spouses can cook together sharing family recipes. They love the time together and Mike and I are more than happy to share the results!! Mike's comment is always: Best Restaurant in Corvallis!!
BTW I purchased Beaver football season tickets right next to Mike for this upcoming season. You need to come up for one of Beaver Tom's tailgates!!!
Mike is, always was, such a great guy. I had blocked out the Houston game for the Delt tailgater, but then ESPN moved the game to Friday night. So, now, I have blocked out the Washington State game on Nov 1, the new Tailgater date. I hope to see you there. Yes, sad about the Beavs series in Eugene. They are better than that, but didn't show it.
This is awesome, thank you for sharing. I love reading about family history. My Grandmother was born in Council Bluffs Iowa. My mom was born in Oakland, Iowa. Several Hawkeyes & Nebraska Corn Husker alumni in the family. I enjoy visiting the mid-west & seeing family😊
Thank you Julie...both of my grandmothers came from the same area of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska (Valley). My grandfather on my mom's side had a small homestead farm in North Dakota which failed in the 1920s due to drought and low prices. My grandfather on my dad's side is the only one of my grandparents who had history in Oregon, with my ancestors going back to the 1850s / 60s in the Corvallis area (original pioneer settlers). There was a big connection between the upper Midwest and Oregon, probably due to the Union Pacific railway. Here is my grandmother's on my mom's side history. Note her education, which was unusual for women of that era, including her Masters / PhD degree from Stanford (I am not sure which):
"Minta Estella Duncan was an English instructor at Oregon State College in 1946. She was married to Fred W. H. Duncan with two children when she came to OSC (my uncle and mom). She was born in 1892, in Marshalltown, Iowa. She had previously been a housewife. When asked why she wanted to work at Oregon State, she said, “I feel that I have a contribution to make.” She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Colter College in 1917. She received her graduate education at the University of Nebraska from 1924 to 1925, and from Stanford University in 1929. She had previously worked as the head of the English department at York College from 1926 to 1928. She spent five and a half years in India from 1918 to 1924, where she learned the Hindi language and studied Urdu. She was hired for a ten month period with a $2,000 salary."
Excellent story today John. I finished my MBA this week and surprised my mother with the news over breakfast yesterday, which was also my parent's 56th wedding anniversary. I understand she ran home and told anyone who would listen. If it weren't for both my parents teaching me to work hard and persevere, it never would have happened. I can always remember her working right along side us on the small family Christmas tree farm. I don't think any of her seven boys could out work her. Happy Mother's day Mom.
So valuable
Glad you still get to see your mom (parents), what a gift.
We’re all richer thanks to your insights, recollections and writing, John.
Hearty agreement!
Appreciate you
Great column JC!!! My grandmother immigrated from Ireland. She owned a woman's dress shop in Portland on SE Hawthorne - Terry's Dress Shop. One of the Greatest salespeople I have ever seen in action, and I have spent my career in high end insurance sales/consulting. I married into an Italian family and my wife cooks exactly like you described!! Our daughter is a chef. She is passing this down to our granddaughters!! A salute to all of the mom's and grandmothers today!!! May God Bless you all today and every day!!! You BLESS us fortunate men every single day!!!
Thanks for this
Beautiful. My Italian girl friend is making Mother's Day brunch in our new home for her Italian mother (they speak Italian back and forth when they want to say something about me, I am convinced). Liliana's two sons, her sister, and families are coming, so I have to get to work (not in the kitchen, even though I once owned two restaurants, I am banned!). Thanks for this, John, as always, you are on the money. I am printing it to share with all the family guests. Happy Mother's Day everyone!
Great story David!!!
Love this.
You must watch the movie Nonna on Netflix, you will love it and those Italian Nonnas!
My grandparents bought a home in Astoria after my parents divorced and took my mother and four children in to live them. My grandfather had a restaurant o er the years and grandmother
baked all the pies. Great role models for the four of us. Mother lived to be 100.
My husband and I just celebrated 71 years of marriage after staring at 16 and 18. We are blessed with an incredible family.
Love your columns. Gave our oldest son a subscription two years ago and keep renewing.
Awesome story Beverly!! Thank you for sharing with our tribe! Happy Mothers Day to you!!!
Perfect
Thank you.
Thank you!!
71! Congratulations on doing the work for a successful marriage.
Thank you.
Congratulations Beverly, 71 years together is amazing! Sounds like your son has great role models too🥰
My mom did not like to cook. However, when she was a teenage girl there was a drive thru in Portland that sold twice baked potatoes (this was the 60’s). She and her girlfriend Candy tried recipe upon recipe until they got it “just right”.
That moment began a family tradition and my mom’s love language each Christmas Eve. Those twice baked potatoes beloved by the whole family. She would also sneak them in at family gatherings with her six siblings and the nearly 30 first cousins I grew up with.
I learned to make these potatoes when I was in my late teens. Unlike my mom, I love to cook and host parties and holidays for my friends and family. She loved attending those events.
My potatoes are very good, but they are not quite hers. There is no recipe. Just a few basic ingredients that are not chefy in any way. But you have to know that taste after mixing before being baked a second time. It is different then how they taste after, but very distinct to get it “just right”. They have been affectionately referred to as “crack” potatoes over the years.
My mom passed in March after a tortuous months long hospital stay. This is my first Mother’s Day without her. We are not up for a family dinner this year. Come Christmas, I’ll be ready for the tradition and those potatoes. It is now my job to teach my niece who is 11 to make them, my mom’s only grandchild who she loved so dearly and called her “home run”. My mom coached softball and volunteered with Little League for over two decades. There’s my sports tie in.
Thank you John for nudging out this memory today.
My condolences on the passing of your mom, especially today.
Love this!
What a sweet Mother's Day gift! We can always count on Canzano to get the waterworks exercised on special days, can't we. What an amazing grandmother--what a blessed family. Mazel'tov!
Thanks Michael
Thinking of my mother today, a mother of five children who endured the deaths of three beloved adult sons. I decided to reread the obituary I wrote for her after she died in 2008 at age 92, and it included this description: Edythe Dunbar Burrell was funny and feisty, irreverent, and endearing, and was never afraid to speak her mind, often profanely. She was a tolerant woman, and unbiased in her beliefs and actions. She also was kind, gentle, sweet and remained a North Dakota ‘farm girl’ in her heart and spirit. She was spry and sprightly…loved doing crosswords and having her evening ‘toddy for the body.’ But of everything she was…’most of all she was a mother, the best.’
I love that you posted this.
Many thanks, John, for your beautiful piece. My only grandparent was my grandmother. She lived in Omaha, NE. She would visit us in Los Angeles in the summertime. I remember her putting up pickles in jars, standing them on the window sill where they could catch the sunlight. Boy's Town, in Omaha, was well known at that time. She volunteered there and even though she was not Catholic, worked with Father Flanagan on behalf of the community. She baked great cherry pies. Those were the days my friends..........
What great memories.
My grandmother claimed she spoke no English, only French, yet she appeared to understand perfectly when she wanted to:) Each Christmas, when we visited her house which was always at 90F and she was wearing a sweater, she gave us each an envelope with a crisp $1 bill in it. We thought we were rich!! And of course we were in many, many ways.
Thank you for this
"She always took great pleasure in feeding us all. It was how she showed her love. It was often some kind of pasta and red meat sauce. And, a dish of ice cream or homemade cookies for dessert. She’d approach her grandchildren in the hallway of her house before we went home, and slip us each a $5 bill."
She sounds a lot like my German grandmother, John. Only differences: She made bratwurst and brautkartoffeln (fried potatoes), typically made cheesecakes for dessert, (those things sold out in what seemed like seconds when she catered German dances at Swiss Park in Fremont), and slipped my sister and I twenties.
Funny how that works. Thanks for this.
Good story John. I had an Italian Grandma who also was a great cook. Lasagna,Pizza. I an only 1/2 Italian but the food in life is to be enjoyed. History brings out life’s simplicity in a complex world.
Simple stuff wins
John, Sunday dinner at my
Italian Grandmother’s was a regular but special thing. I remember at 7 years old she made basil pesto with noodles and I ate 3 full dinners plates of it. I still love basil pesto as do my kids and grandsons. As vegetable growers we always have an extra pound for two if the Canzono family could put it to use.
Great story, it brings wonderful memories! Thx
Those Sunday dinners!!!
When they "stay with us" it is because of the love we shared and the forever bond between us. Great story on this special day. Here's to your grandma's red sauce!
Thanks