Week 5

Wow - this is a tough one! There are SO many wonderful memories - some very recent and some, much older. I guess I will go with the first one that popped into my head (for what reason I don't really know)....
I have many, many wonderful memories of Christmases when I was a little girl and my grandparents - my dad's parents - still lived in Hudson. At the beginning of the Christmas season, I would spend the day with my grandmother and we would bake fruitcake - everyone's favorite! I always loved to bake with her and we spent a lot of time baking together... I think that is why I like to bake so much and am pretty good at it, if I don't say so myself! Once the fruitcakes were all cooled, we would wrap them up and then walk to several of her neighbors and deliver the cakes. Whether or not any ever got eaten, I looked forward to doing this every year.
Another great memory at Christmas was Christmas Eve. My dad's parents and grandparents lived in a 2-family house - I would spend the morning of Christmas Eve with my great-grandmother (my Vava) and we would make codfish balls and other things. In the afternoon, my parents would come with my brother and also my Uncle Tony, Aunt Jean and their 7 kids who lived in Sharon, and we would eat all the food we made and then open presents. When they would leave to go home, we would then go upstairs to my grandparents' house and open gifts from them. Christmas day was spent at our house.
I truly treasure all those happy memories with my family and think of them often - especially around the holidays.

Week 4: Did you have a nickname as you were growing up? If you did, what was it and why did they call you that?

A nickname... well, I never really had one that stuck for a long time. My next-door-neighbor, Mark Alves - used to call me "Rolo" - probably because I liked the candy (and he probably thought I was fat).

When I was little (like elementary school), I had a winter hat - the kind with the pom-pom on top and the patch on the front. Well, the patch on the front was of "The Fonz" so some kids used to call me that (I think they were teasing me though).

That's pretty much it. I've got some nicknames now though but I will save them as I am thinking it might be a "prompt" at some point!

LOL

And now I am caught up!

Week 3 prompt:What traits (physical, character) did you inherit from your dad? from your mom?

This is a tough one and requires some "pondering". I think I look more like my dad and his side of the family (dark hair and eyes and skin that tans easily) but when people see me with my mom, they think I look like her. A lot of people have said to me that there are certain expressions that are just like my mom too (which always cracks me up). My mother is pretty quiet and a little more reserved than my dad and while I do tend to be more like my dad personality-wise, there are times when I am like my mom - I guess it would depend on the situation.

My dad is Portuguese and can be very hot-headed and very opinionated. According to my husband, I am just like him and his mother. I DO have physical traits from his side of the family - big boobs (thank you) and my hands look just like my grandmother's (my dad's mother). I really don't think I physically look like my mom (although as I am writing this, I am thinking of my feet - which are wide and flat and have stubby toes - like my mom, and I do have heavier legs which tend to run in my mom's family so I guess I DO have traits of both! Go figure.

Either way, I am proud to be like both of them.

Week 2 - Was there anything unusual about the circumstances of your birth?

Well, I asked my mom today about the day I was born and she said that there was nothing unusual.
She did say that I was 3 weeks late - guess I just didn't want to be born - and that she was pretty miserable for those 3 weeks. I was born on August 25th - right in the heat of summer - so I can only imagine!
Anyway, I was born at 10:52pm on a Friday night - during a thunderstorm. My mom said that she was all alone at the hospital (my dad was at home as most were in those days) and she said that she was scared to death! I can't believe they didn't allow the dads to be there back in those days - how cruel! I bet it's because they couldn't handle it!
Often, on my birthday, there is a thunderstorm - coincidence? Hmmnnnn???

Week 1 - Response

What is your full name? My full name - before marriage was Shelly Ann Grillo. My full name now is Shelly Ann Keene - I did not choose to keep my maiden name as part of my new married name. People are always asking me if my "real" name is Michelle, but it's not. I used to get upset about that. People also ask if there is an "e" at the end of my name - I guess that is a pretty common question. My 1st grade teacher - Mrs. Bissonnette - always insisted that I spell my name Shelley (because that was the right way) and I used to get really upset about that. Finally, my mother had to go in to the school and tell her that SHE was wrong!

Were you named after someone? I am not named after anyone and honestly, I don't know where my parents came up with that name. I heard stories that they tossed around the name Ann Marie for me but I am glad they did not name me that! Not that it is a bad name (and I guess if it was my name I would like it), but I just don't care for it.