Friends

My flashback this week is all about friends and family in Persia in the late 30’s and in the 40’s. These two friends got into trouble for applying lipstick before they took this photo. My mother on the left and our friend who we always called Aunt Zena on the right.

The same friends over 60 years later in California. Aunt Zena on the left and my mom on the right.

Most of the people in the following photos immigrated to the U.S.A. from Persia. Unfortunately my maternal grandfather died before he could immigrate. My maternal grandmother came to the states as a widow.

My mom is sitting down on the left. I need help identifying the other girls in this photo. I think some are Katkovs and the girl on the left is Vera (Leleland). Hopefully someone who sees my post that knows our extended family and friends can help me out with some names.

This is my mom on the left, her sister who died young, and her brother Paul.

My mom and my Uncle Paul

My mom and her cousin Luba

My mom on the right with her cousin Luba on the left and the two gals in the middle are Vera Leleland and Lyda Hamzaeff (married last names).

Nicolai, Aunt Nina, my mom and Uncle Paul

The Katkov and Shvetzov families in Persia. My parents and sister had left Persia already for America. My maternal grandfather is sitting on the right next to my maternal grandmother with my cousin Alex standing between them.

My Uncle Paul’s wedding day with my Aunt Nina and her family and friends. All the people in this photo are single except for my aunt and uncle. It was a tradition for the bride and groom to take a photo with their single guests and family.

Here we are in March already. We’re fighting off a cold bug at this old house. Dear is down for the count and I hope I don’t have to join him.

Have a good week everyone!

My First Plane Ride…

In 1970 my best friend and I were able to plan a trip east to see her family and meet up with friends for a wonderful tour including Mackinac Island, New Jersey, New York City, Buffalo, Boston, Connecticut and Washington D.C. This would be the first time I took a trip that included flying in a plane. Here are my old photos from that trip.

I’m really not sure exactly where we started from and where we ended this trip. My friend Heidi and I traveled from Los Angeles. One of the spots we stayed was in Michigan at our friend Faye’s home. Faye’s dad was our pastor at Bethany Baptist in L.A. for several years. When they left L.A. they settled in Troy, Michigan. Faye and Heidi were best friends through high school. We also spent time on the lake at Peter and Ruth Leonovich’s home. Peter and Ruth took the three of us to Mackinac Island for a day.

We had loads of fun riding bikes around the island. On the way to the island there were threats of rain and I remember Pete stopping the car so the 3 of us could do sun dances instead of rain dances. Looks like it worked.

In New Jersey after we visited Heidi’s grandmother and uncles and aunts we were guests at Peter Leonovich’s brother’s home. Al and Babs treated us to wonderful meals and a trip into New York City to see the sights including the Statue of Liberty.

Somehow we also ended up in Buffalo New York with more “friends of friends” who took us to see Niagara Falls and we had the most delicious barbecued corn during a backyard barbecue that I had ever tasted.

Andy Semenchuk was our amazing tour guide to Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Washington D.C.

Boston was beautiful. I remember how shocked I was at seeing how small Plymouth Rock was.

Because we were from California we had to pose next to Junipero Serra in the National Statuary Room. Turns out the first school Dear and my two sons attended was Junipero Serra Elementary School in Ventura, California.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Looking back I’m so humbled at how hospitable everyone was to us. A place to lay our heads, food, sightseeing trips, and transportation everywhere we needed to go and didn’t need to go but these amazing people wanted to treat us to these sights. Thank you, thank you, to Andy Semenchuk, the Al Leonovich Family, Peter and Ruth Leonovich, and the Chechowich family. You broadened our horizons and our world view and modeled hospitality to us! I am forever grateful…

Cross Country

For my flashback post this week I’m posting some photos from Dear and my trip from California to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We made this trip in 1976. We stopped in Denver, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan and Canada in our little yellow 1976 Honda Civic.

Somewhere in Colorado on our way to Denver to visit Dear’s uncles and aunts on his mother’s side. Just as we entered the fine state of Colorado the state patrol decided we should contribute some money for the state’s economy!

Dear had 2 uncles that never married and they cared for their mother till she died. We had a good time in the kitchen and I helped Uncle Cliff make his famous Rhubarb pie. This was my first experience ever with Rhubarb. Uncle Arnold was the poet of the family and historian. We spent some time with Uncle Red (Chester) and Aunt Jeanette at their cabin and Dear helped Uncle Red saw wood. We also stopped to see my sister’s SIL’s family who had moved to Denver from Chicago, Kenneth and Lillian Semenchuk. (Upper left photo). We would stop at another of my sister’s SIL’s in Michigan.

As we continued east we went through Kansas and stopped at Dear’s Great Aunt Matilda’s. She was single all her life and never forgot anyone’s birthday. We all received cards every year while she was alive.

Our next stop was in Peoria, Illinois to visit Dear’s paternal grandmother and his uncle Harry at the family home. We visited other aunts and uncles while in Peoria but I don’t have photos. One uncle was a pig farmer and those pigs scared me. So huge! From Peoria we made a stop in Wheaton to visit our friend Andrew Semenchuk who officiated our wedding and his dear wife, Pauline. They worked for Slavic Gospel Association so we visited the offices in Wheaton.

From Chicago we drove to Michigan to my sister Kathy’s sister-in-law’s home. Peter and Ruth Leonovich were so hospitable and generous to us whenever we ended up at their home on the lake. I learned to water ski here.

We continued on our journey into Canada from Detroit with a plan to stop at a China shop in Windsor to complete my Royal Albert china set. All I had was a tea set that I purchased on one of our trips to England. We found a shop that had a good selection of seconds and we bought service for 12 in my pattern. We decided to continue on and visit the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We also visited Niagara on the Lake. If only I had a digital camera then. I would love to visit this area again.

Have you ever visited Niagara Falls? This was my second visit. In 1970 I visited friends in Buffalo, New York and they took me to the U.S. side of Niagara Falls.

It’s good for my brain to document these trips we took so long ago. It’s amazing how far we’ve come in the world of photography since those days. When we crossed back into the U.S. from this trip we were given the 3rd degree about our camera. They would not believe we hadn’t purchased it in Canada. I gave them all the receipts for the China but they did not care about the China, all they were concerned about was the camera! Oye!

This week I’m looking forward to a visit to my hairdresser and then our tax return appointment with our accountant. It will be nice to have that behind me. How’s your week shaping up?

Graduations

For my Flashback this week I’m posting my graduation photos from Junior High, High School, College (mine and my sister Kathy’s) and my youngest siblings’ Kindergarten graduation.

A formal graduation ceremony from Montebello Junior High. My opinion these days is that this was a little over kill. New dresses for the girls and suits for the guys. I wonder how much money each family had to invest? The photo of me and my dad got a little chewed up. The other photos are me with my little maternal grandmother. Me, my mom and my cousin once removed. Here’s a photo of my junior high school that has since been demolished.

Montebello High School graduation in June of 1968. I think it’s appropriate to have a ceremony for this accomplishment. Again I have a photo with my little maternal grandmother. She really was a dear lady!

The photo on the right was taken in the front yard of our home in Montebello. The Volkswagon in the driveway belonged to my brother.

My brother Fred and me at my sister Kathy’s graduation from Cal State L.A.

These are photos from my graduation from Cal-State L.A. My brother Fred graduated the same time as I did. That’s him and me on the right. Dear and me on the left.

Aren’t they cute? They are twins, Leonard and Lana, our youngest siblings.

I decided to throw this next photo in, too, since it’s in the same time period as the others.

We went out to Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour to celebrate the twins. I’m guessing this is for their 6th birthday. So much fun for all of us. Did you ever eat at Farrell’s? We drove miles to go to the first Farrell’s in California.

Our snow is practically all washed away this morning. The rain has been falling hard and steady so it’s a slushy mess out there. I do hope it lightens up for tomorrow as I’ll be traveling up across the line to Abbotsford for a special time with most of the “girls”. How’s your Monday shaping up?

Happy Family Day to our Canadian neighbors to the North! Enjoy your day off!

An Electric Week!

What a week we’ve had in Seattle. Here are my favorites in no particular order.

1. Enjoying our home team winning the Super Bowl! There’s something so rich about unbridled joy.

2. Being able to replace our older dishwasher with a new one installed without a hitch.

3. Some clear skies albeit quite chilly for us here in Western Washington. We were in the teens today and we never made it over freezing on our hill. It’s so dry and cold that my first touch on light switches and my computer buttons sends a little shock through my fingers…”electric”.

4. Hearing some good news from Andrew in Afghanistan is always a favorite.

5. Talking to my pop and hearing hope in his voice. We bought him a recliner that he is really enjoying and I found this photo from the late 1960’s of him in a recliner that makes me smile. This photo was taken on Christmas day in the afternoon after our lunch and before we headed back to Sunday night services…

What are your favorites this week?

You can join us at Living to Tell the Story for this weekly event that Susanne hosts.

Flashback to the Late Sixties…

These next photos from my high school years might show one of the reasons for my interest in sports. These were taken from 1966 to 1968 at my home and at Montebello High School in Montebello, California. Montebello is just East of East L.A.

I was on the Song leader squad in my junior and senior years. The first few photos are from my junior year.

Every Friday before game time we would have a Pepster Squad Dinner at one of the Pepsters’ homes. When the squads came to my house my mother would prepare a Russian meal. We enjoyed this time together before game time. It was easy to lose 5 pounds in one night of cheerleading.

This was my best friend and she was a flag twirler our Junior year. In our senior year we were both Song leaders.

Some more of my friends Judy, Shelly and Bet. The hanging of Dumbo is a long story.

It was crazy hat night at our Basketball game. Looks like we were playing the Whittier Cards? Shuffle the Cards was our motto for the night.

Our uniforms changed every year but they were always some combination of blue and gold our school colors. This was my senior year.

It was crazy hat night again.

We’d always go out for fast food after the game to try to gain back some of the weight we’d lose in the course of cheering during the games.

The Pep squad would have their own Physical Education hour together to practice our routines and to learn all the rules connected with the different sports we would cheer on the sidelines for. I remember studying the rules for football and learning all the referee signs. It has come in handy in understanding what’s going on when I watch sports now. These were the days when you had to have your P.E. uniform washed each weekend at home and brought back on Monday pressed and ready for the week. After class you were also required to take a shower in those group shower stalls and get your name checked off. I don’t think kids use uniforms anymore for Physical Education. Did you have uniforms in high school for P.E.?

We had a very quiet Monday here. After all the excitement yesterday with the Super Bowl it was nice to have a quiet day. Katie and I are talking about going to the Super Bowl parade in Seattle on Wednesday.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, our new dishwasher is coming to be installed. I’ll have to learn a different technique in filling the new one.

How’s the first week of February in your world?

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Flashbacks