Tag Archives: Star Market

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 25

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving

July 16, 2026- Hana is becoming increasingly concerned with cleanliness. She wipes her play pen with a clean cloth, She hates having a soiled diaper and fusses until she is perfectly clean again. (This may be a good time to lobby for a toddler potty, but we’ll take that cause up very soon.) She wipes her own face after a meal.

We went out around 9:30, this morning. The road crews were already hard at work, so we went along the north sidewalk, then across to Hoblitzelle Park and back through the quieter areas of Greenfield Avenue, where work had been finished. The park was fairly active, but the return route was nearly deserted. Hana occupied herself with singing and with feeling the texture of the bug net. She drew lots of smiles and compliments from people passing by us.

I have heard from friends elsewhere, who are concerned that the storm now ravaging central Texas might be headed our way. We had three intense showers today, but our cul-de-sac is well away from any flowing water, and the kids reported there was no flooding on the roads to Coppell and Euless, where they work. I ache for the people in San Antonio and points west and south, who are again getting the brunt of the flooding.

HANA’S NOTE- I like to take baths, so I am glad that I can sit up on my own now. It makes bath night much more fun.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1968 This was my first big transition, since 1956. I graduated high school, not wanting to make a big deal of it, but also wondering about what was next. Graduation summer found me mostly working at Star Market, basically treading water. I would continue there until the end of my semester at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, to which I commuted each day, in the Fall of that year.

I made friends in Boston, and started off on a good foot, academically. A month in, though, I was more interested in parties and protests than in studying. That lack of focus cost me a girl I might have truly loved. She was serious about her education. I wasn’t really serious about much of anything.

So, December, 1968 found me thinking about what, exactly, I was going to do to discipline myself. It was too late for Katie, but I was going to have a redeemed life, somehow. I enlisted in the Army Reserves- a six-year commitment. I also agreed to work at the General Electric plant where my father worked.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 24

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

July 15, 2026- Hana is taking on small responsibilities, with regard to getting dressed and feeding. She puts her sleeves through the body bib at lunchtime and can feed herself if someone puts food on the spoon and hands it to her. She chooses which of two outfits she wants to wear for the day and helps put the onesie or dress over her head. She also sits up straight in the plastic bath tub and is better about letting her mother wash her hair. She already likes to “wipe” the play mat, using a small bamboo cloth.

She is learning a lot by watching the three of us do different tasks. We describe what we are doing, step by step, and she listens with rapt attention. With repetition, much of this will register, as the months roll on. As I mentioned above, she has pretty much mastered sitting up. If she is tired, it helps her to have someone or something to hold onto, but otherwise, my granddaughter is on track, developmentally.

Today, we sat by the window and watched the cement truck pour concrete into the forms for the new sidewalk and landing. After a few minutes, she became more interested in feeling the curtain, but went back to watching the cement pouring after that. We stayed in today, because of the work being done, especially as there was really no room for a stroller anywhere in our immediate front walk.

HANA’S NOTE- I took my medicine tablet by myself, when Papa gave it to me, and I made it dissolve in my mouth. After another little while, I put my arms in the big bib. I like to be helpful.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1967 (I am writing this part, so that Hana may read these reflections, when she gets old enough, and will understand things that happened to her Grandfather.) Junior year saw me break a few rules and set myself on a path with some bad choices. I never got in trouble with the Law, fortunately, but I know my use of alcohol hurt my parents’ hearts and it did me no favours, in the long run. I went to work at Star Market, shortly after I turned 16. As it was three miles from my home, I got rides for the first few months. Then, thanks to the long-suffering, but fastidious, Coach Wall, I earned my Driver’s License. I learned to scan the road on both sides of me, very quickly, and managed to not have an accident, for nearly 47 years-and then, only because someone tampered with the brakes of my car. As for my work at Star, I was diligent, but also maddeningly slow in going about my work. It would have helped, had I listened to my supervisors, but the 16-year-old Gary was not so ready to do that.

The first part of my Senior year saw a budding interest in writing gain support from our English teacher, Mrs. Vande. That course was probably one of the most rewarding classes I’ve had. It’s largely why I am here now. Mr. Quinlan took us through Algebra II. I had two history classes: Latin American History, very rewarding and Asian History, which was fascinating, but for the incompetence of the teacher, proved annoying. Business Law, taught by our then-State Representative, was one of the most useful classes I’ve ever had. Coach Wall and Mr. Bly are two of the reasons I’ve kept out of trouble. Bob Powers, at Star Market, would have been a third, had I listened to the poor man.