Ryan was still a baby when we moved to the farm, less than a year old. Erin, the only girl, was three. Kyle was five and I was six. There were four of us in under six years. During my Kindergarten year Dad drove trucks over the road sometimes, gone some nights. I still don't know how Mom did it.
We were very close to Mom's family, Grandma and Grandpa Suchomel and Mom's sisters, Deann and Barb. We went to Grandma's house every Sunday for dinner. Grandma is a fantastic cook. I remember her fried chicken most vivdly. Her mashed potatoes are still my favorite in the world. She was also famous for dumplings, and sauerkraut, but these were not dishes I enjoyed.
Grandma made some of the best desserts I have ever eaten. There were so many good ones, I am sure I can't name them all. Her apple bars, slathered in cream cheese frosting, were amazing. I know she made great sweet rolls (more sugary that cinnamon rolls) and angel food cake (if that was your thing).
Sunday afternoons were spent hanging out in the basement, watching whatever might be on TV, playing games sometimes (when we weren't shopping at Kmart or at Target in Cedar Rapids). Grandpa was a lifelong Cubs fan, but I don't remember watching Cubs games with him, or football or basketball, until later in my life.
We saw my Grandma Meade less frequently, even though we lived on her property for my Kindergarten year. I went to Pentecostal church with her some Sundays that year, someplace south for what seemed like a really long ways, maybe Mount Pleasant or Riverside. Mom took me to Catholic church a few times that year, too, in to Iowa City to St Thomas Moore.
Grandma and Grandpa Meade were divorced around the time I was born. They had had ten children, eight of whom lived to adulthood. The surviving children were improbably ordered four boys and then four girls. We didn't see my Grandpa Meade much until we moved back to the farm. Then we saw him almost every day. Or, rather, it wasn't uncommon to see him everyday. We didn't interact much with him, though. This was different for the Little Boys (I still call them that today, even though they're big bruisers). Ryan, and Cory after he came along, bonded much more with Grandpa Meade than Kyle and I ever did. Erin did, too, I suppose because she was the only girl.
