Abigail Van Hom
11/26/04
Period 6
My Interview With Grandma
Elizabeth Anne Sachleben (my grandma) was born on June 12, 1937.
She was born in a small hospital called Mercy Hospital in Mineola,
New York. I interviewed her a little while back. It went something
like this.
“Grandma, where did you grow up?”I asked, pretending to be interested. “I grew up in Hempstead, New York.” she answered calmly. Having never heard of Hempstead, New York, I decided to go deeper into the subject.
“What was Hempstead like?” “It was a suburb of New York City, and it was a very small town much like the one I live in now," she answered with a hidden giggle in her voice.
“What kind of house did you live in, Grandma'?” I asked, trying to think of
diligent questions.
“I lived at 26 West Columbia Street. I lived on the top floor of the house with my family. The family who owned the house lived on the bottom floor. The father of the family owned an auto repair shop. They were such nice people."
“What did the house look like’?” I asked, semi-interested. “It was tall and white and had a black-shingled roof. It was quite boring if you ask me," she answered with a hoyty-toyty tone in her voice.
“Did you have any friends that you played with?” I sputtered, with a mouth full of gummy worms.
"Actually, one of the girls that lived downstairs was a year younger than I was, so we played together a lot.
“What was the best thing about living in your house?” “The best thing about living there was a movie theater about half a block away, and every Saturday morning they had the Ten O’clock club. If you were a member, you could see a movie for 25 cents at 10 o’clock. The regular price for movies was 85 cents. I thought that was a pretty good deal.”
“Where did you go to school?” I asked, with a hint of boredom. “I went to Washington Street School in 1942 until I was 14. It went up to eighth grade.”
“Were any of the teachers party pooper twits?" I asked with the utmost sincerity.
“No!” she said bursting with laughter. After she was able to contain her laughter, she continued.
“All the teachers were pretty nice. Actually, when I was in second grade, my mother substituted for two months, and then began teaching kindergarten full time.”
“Where did you go to school after that, Grandma?”
“I went to Hempstead High School in 1951."
“Did you live in the same house during high school as you did when you went to Washington Street School?” “Actually no. We moved a little closer to Washington Street. We moved into a duplex. I believe the address was 8 Lent Avenue.”
“Where did you go after high school?" “I went to Cornell University.”
“Did you live at college?" "Yes, I did. I lived on the fifth floor of the dormitory. The worst part was there were no elevators,” she said in a exhausted tone.
“Did you have any friends?" I asked, finally interested.
“Are you kidding? I had a lot of friends! In fact, I joined a sorority. Do you know what a sorority is?"
“No.”
“It’s sort of like a club, and the seniors get to live in a house. You get to go to meetings and dances and fund raisers.” “Who were your friends in the sorority?” “Well, one was Nancy, and another was Jo, and the other one was Bobby."
“These are all girls, right?"
“Yes,” she said with a fist full of giggles.
“When did you meet Grandpa?”
“I met him when I went to a football game in the beginning of my freshman year. I was on a date with one of his fraternity brothers in l955."
“Where did you go on your first date with him?"
“We went to a square dance, and he was very enthusiastic. At one point, I ended up with my butt on the floor, because he was swinging me around so fast!” she said laughing so hard she almost choked.
“So when did he propose to you?”
“He didn’t really propose. He gave me his fraternity pin. That meant we were engaged to be engaged. We got engaged in the fall of my senior year in October of 1958. He had already graduated, so he came to see me on a vacation and brought me the ring.”
“Where was he working at the time?"
“He was working in Florida for Bell Aircraft."
“What was he working as?"
“I have no clue!"
“When was the wedding?"
“August 15, 1959.”
“Where was it held?"
“We were married in the church at Hempstead and had our reception at a hotel in Garden City, New York.
“Where did you go on the honeymoon?”
“We took at trip through the Northeast and Canada, and we drove 2,500 miles in one week!"
“Where was your first house?"
“We first lived on Grand Island."
(“Was it grand?”)
(“No, it wasn’t grand.")
“It was between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York.”
“What was the address?”
“I can’t remember, I`m sorry. But it was in the middle of the Niagara River. That`s why it`s called ‘Grand Island.”
“What did your husband do?”
“He still worked for Bell Aircraft, and I still don’t know what he did.”
“What did you do?”
“I taught first grade at Thirty-Ninth Street School in Niagara Falls.”
Do you have any memorable moments from teaching school?"
“Yes, I do.”
“This is what I call the Denelda story. One day I handed out papers to all the children, and I had copied work on both sides of the paper. One little girl named Denelda raised her hand and said, ‘Mrs.Van Horn, my paper’s upside down.'” I said, ‘Well just tum it around, Denelda.' I gave the directions and asked the children to turn their papers over. Once again, up goes Denelda's hand. ‘Mrs.Van Horn, my paper’s upside down.' ‘Well Denelda,’ I said, ‘turn your paper around.'”
"Also, one of the things we did when I was teaching kindergarten is that we had a letter of the week, and one of the activities was for the children to tell me words that began with that letter, and I would write them down. The week we were doing the letter ‘D,' one of the children said, ‘diarrhea,' and as I was writing it down, another child said, ‘Oh yeah, I know her, she rides on my bus.’"
"One day in the kindergarten class, the children were having a discussion about infinity, and one little boy, after along discussion, said, ‘Well, infinity’s not a number but, it‘s a whole lot more than seven!”
"When did you have your first child?"
“I had my first child in 1964."
“Was it a boy or a girl?"
"It was a girl named Ruth.”
“Did you have any more children?”
"Yes, I did. I had one more. A boy whose name was David."
“What was your favorite thing about raising kids?"
"Seeing them grow and learn things and have happy times.”
“How did Grandpa die?"
“He had cancer.”
“Any specific type--brain, lung?"
“Pancreatic.”
“How are you doing now?"
“Great!"
“What are you doing now that you enjoy?"
"I enjoy my 21 piano students and my grandchild."
There you have it. An interview with a remarkable woman whose many secrets were unopened for many years. My grandma is a truly beautiful woman.