I asked Granddad Jerry if he recognized the picture of the house on Bouton Avenue that I found in Google Streetview and posted on this blog in the article on Josephine Plogsted. In reply, he told me that he remembered Frank living on Bouton Avenue, but that he'd never been there. I remembered him saying that his family "went to the Grupenhoff's" on Christmas afternoons, so I asked for clarification. I got this wonderful reply:
"To be correct, I should have said "We celebrated with the Grupenhoff family." Initially It rotated between us, Ed & Edna Grupenhoff, Bill & Clara Grupenhoff and Bill & Ceil Barlow. In the early 40's Ed & Family moved to Baltimore. Sometime later both Clara and Bill Barlow. The rotation between the three siblings continued long after your grandmother and I moved away. I remember my Grandfather Frank at some of these Christmases. He was a pinochle player who played most days after he was retired at the firehouse.
"My only cousins were Ed and Edna's children, Dave and the twins Lynn and Lyle. Dave went to the U of Cincinnati where he was one of my apartment roommates and my partner in Badminton in Intramurals. We lost either in the Finals or Semis.
"Dave, who died this year, was far and away my best and most frequent bridge partner. We had a good career with a Sectional Swiss Teams Championship where we defeated the current World Mixed Champions and a 3rd (of 430) at the National Swiss teams. Cousin Lynn was the partner with whom I won the second most Master Points. I also won master points with family Uncle Bill, Aunt Ceil, Mother, Father and your Grandmother (A Sectional Non-Masters Pairs).
"Which all leads up to what happened at the Grupenhoff Christmas. They were all good bridge players. We ate, exchanged presents and played cards. Initially we played Tripoli, than switched to Bridge when I learned to play.
"Last update on Grupenhoff family. Lynn and I are the only ones left from my generation. Lynn is a bridge star. She is annually in top 200-500 players in the US. She is the top woman in MD,DE,WV,VA Region."
"My only cousins were Ed and Edna's children, Dave and the twins Lynn and Lyle. Dave went to the U of Cincinnati where he was one of my apartment roommates and my partner in Badminton in Intramurals. We lost either in the Finals or Semis.
"Dave, who died this year, was far and away my best and most frequent bridge partner. We had a good career with a Sectional Swiss Teams Championship where we defeated the current World Mixed Champions and a 3rd (of 430) at the National Swiss teams. Cousin Lynn was the partner with whom I won the second most Master Points. I also won master points with family Uncle Bill, Aunt Ceil, Mother, Father and your Grandmother (A Sectional Non-Masters Pairs).
"Which all leads up to what happened at the Grupenhoff Christmas. They were all good bridge players. We ate, exchanged presents and played cards. Initially we played Tripoli, than switched to Bridge when I learned to play.
"Last update on Grupenhoff family. Lynn and I are the only ones left from my generation. Lynn is a bridge star. She is annually in top 200-500 players in the US. She is the top woman in MD,DE,WV,VA Region."
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I think it's really neat that my ideal Christmas celebration is almost identical to how the Grupenhoffs celebrated. Eat, exchange presents, and play games (and/or visit) with family members. Perfect!
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