Ava went out with her friend Jayne today. Jayne used to be Ava's nurse and still comes by to take Ava out. They go to lunch, shopping, museums...whatever they want. They are an unlikely pair, considering one is 54 and one is 7, but they get along perfectly. Today they went swimming at the lake and back to Jayne's house for lunch and play. Ava has been asking if she is old enough to sleep over at Jayne's house. She told Jayne that "She would have to ask her Mom because Mom would have a lot of questions, and we don't want to shock Mom." Bless that child, she must know my nerves are shot.
I think I was about 7 when I began to sleep over at people's houses. (My first attempt, at age 3, was a disaster and ended with my poor father having to drive back to Brooklyn from Staten Island late at night to pick me up. My mother was in the hospital at the time since she had just given birth to my brother.)
I also remember crying once when I slept over at my best friend Donna's house; this resulted in Donna crying as well, but the whole mess was solved when Carol, Donna's mother, promised to make us extra large pancakes in the morning (excellent). Clever woman...she knew her target audience.
By far, the best sleepovers were at Grandma and Grandpa Salamo's house. I don't think I ever cried there; in fact, I think I jumped up and clicked my heels when everyone had gone. Most of the time I think my parents left me there on a Sunday after our visit and returned to claim me on a Tuesday.
Life at the Salamo's was far different than life at my house. For one thing, they lived in an apartment in Brooklyn, a far cry from my suburban Staten Island neighborhood. Not too mention that I was the only child there; my brothers were at home with my parents. This made me the center of attention (excellent). And for this reason I was happy to do anything that was asked of me, or cooperate with any plans my grandmother had. Grandma always wanted to go out, which was fine with me. Monday started with an Entenmann's corn muffin, toasted, and Sunday's re-heated coffee. I had Tropicana OJ rather than coffee, but this breakfast was delicious. Then we got dressed; my Grandma always wore a dress back then, and so I probably did too. We always took the bus or the subway to Manhattan, or sometimes to downtown Brooklyn. Being on the bus or subway was an adventure in itself; I was fascinated with the tokens that went into the box on the box, or the turnstile of the subway. There were so many people, and Grandma and I looked out the window and talked. She told me about the buildings and the places we were seeing. Sometimes we went shopping to Saks Fifth Avenue or Macys; A&S if we went to downtown Brooklyn. Grandma liked to shop.We always went out for lunch; it was always a little coffee shop, but it might as well have been Sardi's. I LOVED going out for lunch and ordering anything I wanted from the menu.
As I got a little older, Grandma took me to the museums, the Botanical Gardens, movies, Radio City or theatre shows. I am sure I would have groaned with boredom if my parents had suggested going to the Botanical Gardens, but with Grandma, it was different. She listened to me in a way others did not, and talked to me in a way she likely didn't talk to anyone else. We shared a lot. Wherever we went, we always got home in time to give Grandpa his dinner. He was always in his chair, reading the paper, and would peer at us when we came in, wondering what there was to eat. Most Monday nights it was leftovers from Sunday (excellent). We ate quietly in the kitchen and then changed into our pjs.
Grandpa always wanted to watch the ball game, which was usually on since our sleepovers took place mostly in summer (when school was out). But Grandpa would be snoring in his chair by 9 pm and Grandma took over the TV. We watched MASH and then Lou Grant. I didn't make one sound during any of the TV shows, mostly because I didn't want to be sent to bed. Funny thing is, they never sent me to bed...I just stayed up until they went to bed (excellent). It didn't matter that i didn't understand most of what was going on on Lou Grant; I knew the character from watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a younger child, but Lou Grant was a drama and dealt with some fairly mature issues. Sometimes we'd watch the 11 o'clock news and then go to bed. Mind you one of those summers was the Summer of Sam, and so I knew more about the Son of Sam than any other 10-year old around. I even remember when they caught him.
Grandpa, bless his grumpy little heart, slept on the sofa bed and I slept in the big bed with Grandma. We would chat in the morning and then Grandma would do these crazy stretching exercises, which I did too. I didn't care...I was just looking forward to lunch. I guess I was happy to see my parents on Tuesday evening, but I could have stayed at Grandma's for a month. My grandparent's treated me like I was the most precious gift they had ever received; they let me do mostly whatever I wanted; and they never sent me to bed. I thought they were the best people on Earth. Somehow I think they are the best people in heaven too.
