Labor Day Well it came a little bit early this year but the first Monday of the month sometimes works out that way. Im guessing many people will be out and about eating BBQ and having a cold frosty to enjoy an extra long weekend with family and friends. My Dad would do this same thing every year as well. He would pull out the charcoal grill he bought at Sears and Roebuck that was in Kenmore Sq not the ones we know now at the mall. Dad would load up the fire pit with coals and drench them with lighter fluid, still love that smell. Mamma would make the hamburger patties by hand and slit the hot dogs across the length of them. She would also make some type of side dish like a macaroni or potato salad and always a garden salad. I always knew what Labor Day was all about from these two people. Why? Because they where born in the early decades of the 20th Century 1913 and 1915, a time where everything was hard. Work was hard, living wasnt always easy since many young couples shared the apartment with their in-laws and other siblings as they started out together as a young married couple. Their beginning was on Austin Street in Charlestown. But after a few years of working hard they eventually moved into their own apartment on Austin Street in Charlestown. Yes right next door to Ma and Pa Nigro Italian immigrants who came to this country to raise a family. Well thats the base of my Labor Day today it is in my blood to remember the past. Once again you may ask, Why? Ill tell you why, its because of them not just my family but yours to since we all have stories to tell. My grandfather worked down the docks along the Mystic River unloading sacks of sugar weighing around 100lbs a piece back breaker I am sure. My maternal grandfather drove a team of horses delivering produce to and from the Haymarket area in Boston. Both my grandmothers worked at home taking care of the families. My Dad graduated from Charlestown HS in 1930 with the knowledge of how electrical wiring was to be done. He went to work with the DPW street crews fixing the roads and sidewalks. My Mom went to work at Schraffts candy factory after her father suffered a stroke when she was 12 years old, that was it for her 7th grade and off to work. Eventually Dad was hired to work in the Charlestown Navy Yard as a electrician and Mom raised the family. Dad went to work in 1946 with the IBEW Local 103 Electrical Union on a permit that allowed him to receive Union wages for the first time in his life. In 1948 he was sworn into the Union as a full member and remained there for life and into retirement. That his is legacy to me. The legacy of Family, My Union and Labor Day to enjoy because of them both...Thanks Dad and Mom...
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 16:31:20 +0000
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