besotted, adjective 1. strongly infatuated 2. of or related to grandparents, esp. with regard to their grandchildren Most recently brother Larry is a new grandfather to Noah Bey, Laura’s firstborn son. He recently told me that he never really understood being a grandparent until he became one. I totally agree. Noah Henry Savolaine, my first …
Author Archives: Steve
Bruner Family
Although the original post on this blog focused on the Fritz and McElligott families, there are other families included under this umbrella. Aunt Mary McElligott married Dr. Bill Bruner and their children and grandchildren are all part of our extended family and of this blog. We didn’t get to spend as much time with the …
Butte “Spring” 1970
In the Spring of 1970 I was in the Navy on sea duty, getting ready to deploy on a 4 month cruise on USS Wasp. Grandma Fritz had never seen Eric, who was then eleven months old. Carmen and I made a trip to Butte to see her, show off our son and have some …
Grandma McElligott’s House
I remember Grandma’s house since we lived there until 1952 when I was 8.I’m not sure how we fit Grandma, Uncle Ed, Mom, Dad and three children in a three bedroom, 1 bath house, but we did. I remember one night Ed and I were sleeping in the back bedroom when a bat flew in. …
Orphan Girl Mine
G GALLUS FRAME AT ORPHAN GIRL MINE Today it’s the World Museum of Mining but I remember it as the Orphan Girl mine where Grandpa Fritz was caretaker during the years we vacationed in Montana. We would approach the Orphan Girl along a high wooden fence When we came to the gate there was …
Fireworks
Time was fireworks were legal everywhere and were used in every famiy 4th of July celebration. I mentioned that we went to Montana in the summer when we could afford it. One summer (1954 I think) Mom and Dad had a firework stand on Independence Avenue in Northeast Kansas City to fund our trip. The …
Salt Lake City
In 1955 my Grandma McElligott took me to Salt Lake City on the train to visit Aunt Gerry who was about to have a new baby. G’ma had a widow’s pass with Missouri Pacific that paid for our tickets. I remember riding in the observation car (a car with a raised, transparent bubble with several …
Cats
I mentioned my cousin Vicky Podgurski in my first post and wanted to share a story she told me. Vicky was at school in Geneva, Switzerland in the late 1960’s and her brother Jay was in the Army in Turkey. She wanted to visit him and took the train to Turkey. At some point in …
Butte Vacations
One of the highlights of my youth was vacationing in Montana. We would drive from Kansas City to Butte on the U. S.highways, a slow drive at best. Mom and Dad would alternate drving and we wouldn’t stop overnight. They had to be exhausted by the time we reached Butte! The first vacation I can …
Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! This is a great time to give thanks for our (very) extended family. Our children have added to this family through marriage and I include all these families in the scope of this site. We will have many memories, some happy, some sad, but all of them defining us. For them (you) all …