Cuddles the Cat

I was thinking back today to when Tam and I were young and visiting our Grandmother and Grandfather Swarthout in Wellsville. Back then, there were these neighbor kids that lived below our Great Grandmother Glendinning and they had this beautiful tiger kitten named Butterscotch. We just thought that kitten was the cutest thing and really wanted to bring it home with us. The two kids, Robin and Michael had a cat who had recently had kittens and as a result, they were looking for a home for little Butterscotch. Years later, this Michael kid would allegedly attempt to break-in to my Grandmother's house, but we're just talking cats now.

Well, my Mom wouldn't allow us to take the kitten home, but that didn't stop Tammie and I from continuing to beg and plead for a kitten of our own. One day, my Father was speaking to our neighbor Mrs. Blount and he mentioned that he was in the market for a cat . Apparently, she had one in mind and it wasn't long before we had a new and crazy addition to our family. We named the cat, Cuddles and he was anything but that. I couldn't find a photo of him, but this one is pretty close. He was huge, had seven toes, and would prove to be a very angry cat.

From the minute he entered our home, Cuddles was out of control. In fact, when my Dad let him in the house, Cuddles took off and ran and hid under the stereo in our living room. His eyes were glowing, his tail was wagging violently and he wouldn't let any of us near him. We would soon find out that the only time that we could pet him without getting scratched in the face, was when he was asleep.

Each night, my mother would tell Tammie and I to make sure that our doors were shut securely. Otherwise, Cuddles would gain entrance to our rooms and jump on top of us. In the morning, my mother would get out of bed, open her bedroom door and immediately, Cuddles would lunge for her and then hang from my Mom's housecoat as she walked through the house.

Other times, my Aunt Brenda would visit and have to carry a broom with her, as she retreated to the basement to sleep. She had to carry the broom, because Cuddles like to dive from the top of the stairs right onto her head. The cat was crazy, completely out of control and we were scared to death of it. We were always on the lookout for Cuddles and his mercilous attacks.

That one cat was enough for me and we never had another one after Cuddles left our home. On the other hand, Tammie had quite a few cats over the years and many of those were left off by careless owners at the Hachey rural homestead in South Bethlehem. I can remember several cats over the years and probably the most memorable for me was the tiny kitten that had to be fed with an eye dropper and who seemed to like to climb into the engine of our cars. Since I drove a Ford Tempo back then with a very compact engine, this caused quite a problem for me. We had to use a yard stick to coax it out of the engine and invariably, it would hop from that car to another. As a result, we spent many a minute chasing the thing all over the driveway. No cat compared to Cuddles, however.

50 Years!

Fifty years ago, my parents were married in a ceremony at the First United Methodist Church in Wellsville, NY. They originally planned to be married in the fall, but did not make it to the altar until February 20th of the next year. There was a lot of snow and some in the wedding party were not able to make it to the church on time. In addition, the photographer ran into trouble when his camera froze and as a result, he was only able to get a few photographs of the day. I must say, though that they were really good photographs.

Five years ago, Tammie helped organize my Mom and Dad's 45th wedding anniversary and I remember how she spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect song for a music box gift that she would present them. Ultimately, she would have "Unforgettable" put on it and there is no doubt that it fit for those two. Unfortunately, she was not able to help with the planning today and we missed her dearly. We definitely felt her presence, though, as we do every day.

We were very grateful that Sean and Lindsay were able to come up and spend the day with Ma and Da for their 50th. Both of my parents were pleasantly surprised to see them (and it was quite a surprise!). They received phone calls from Bette, Bren and Lenny and then later from their other grandson, Derek. I can tell you that they have two wonderful grandsons and that Tammie continues to be as unforgettable as the song.

My father attempting to hear the music. :-)

My mother hearing the music.

This photo is from the 25th wedding anniversary in Canandaigua. I remember that it was the last time that we all went to Roseland, as it closed that year. By the way, I regret the shorts.

Cardboard Belt

One night, when I lived in Albany with Tammie, Mike and the boys, we decided to pick-up some videos to watch. I had heard for years that "The Producers" by Mel Brooks was an absolutely hilarious film. Two thumbs-up from those two reviewer guys, who were always on tv. I was so excited when we found a copy and brought it home. We had comedy gold right there in Ravena!

Well, we put the film in and soon everyone was asleep in the room, except for Tammie and me. As far as I could tell, it was one of the worst films that I had ever seen. I have no idea why it was later brought back as a Broadway musical, nor why it was so wildly popular. In my opinion, there were two funny moments in the whole film and one of them can be seen here. The other was something that Tammie and I would joke about for years. At one point, Zero Mostel's character was speaking to Gene Wilder and says: "Look at me! I'm wearing a cardboard belt!".

Even years later when I would see her, she would come out with that line and we would laugh and laugh. Thing is I remember having a cardboard belt when I was a kid! Come to think of it, I have one right now.

1980 Lake Placid Olympics

Tammie brought back this plaque for my parents and it hangs prominently on their basement family room wall.

(I like this picture, because it includes a bumper sticker from this joint in Ravena. I don't think that it exists anymore, but they had this strange dish that had eggs, potatoes, and sausage all mushed together. Tam seemed to love it! As we all did)

I am watching the Olympics again, but this is the first year that I couldn't tell you who any of these competitors are. Also, there are so many new sports that it is almost impossible to keep track of everything. Frankly, some of them don't even look like real sports and why is Carrot Top riding a snowboard?

Back in 1980, I knew a lot of the names. People like Linda Fratianne, Mike Eruzione, the legendary Eric Heiden, and my personal favorite, Beth Heiden. Despite my rabid interest in sports, I knew little about the village of Lake Placid, New York. Tammie had decided to go to the Olympics that year with her friends, Cheryl and Marcie and we all thought that she was off her rocker. The traffic alone would preclude most from trying, but Marcie's little green whatchamacallit machine eventually made it through and Tammie had a lot of great stories to tell.

Now, there were a lot of great moments in those Olympics

and the highlight was probably Beth Heiden's Bronze medal.

Scratch that! I meant to write about Eric Heiden's five gold

medals and the "Miracle on Ice" United States hockey team.

Actually,

this Heiden

was amazing in that he won medals at every speed skating

distance. The equivalent

would be someone winning a 100 meter dash, the 400 meter run,

and a 10k

distance event, etc. This was a truly amazing accomplishment

and he did it all

outdoors

in front of the Lake Placid High School with the occasional

snow flake

hitting him in the face.. The hockey team's victory was

incredible too,

but Heiden was the star of that Olympics, in my opinion.

Well, Tammie made it to the Olympics and somewhere

there are some

great photos of her trip (Sean you will get a big kick

out of them,

if you find

them).

From what I remember, she attended the

Canada vs Finland

hockey game and knowing

Tammie, she probably had an off the charts good time.

In addition to the game,

she got to see Heiden practicing and took some photos of that,

too.

Years later, I got to see the oval where he won all the medals,

toured the Olympics museum and saw the rink where hockey

was played.

Of course, Lake Placid also hosted the Olympics in 1932 and

there is mention

of the great Sonia Henie, as well. The Lake Placid trip was

wonderful and I

hope to go back someday. During my time there, I thought

of the great moments

and what it would have been like to witness them. Tammie had

that opportunity and

I am so happy that she did. I thought about her a lot on my

first trip to Lake Placid

and I am sure that I will think of her even more on future trips.

Looking Out For Me

I probably should have left the unedited version of this photo. Unfortunately, it was a bit blurry and covered with little dust particles. In the lower part of the photo, you would see that Tammie had her fist clinched and looked as if she were about to take a swing at me. Fortunately for her little bro, she was just trying to scare me.

I love sports and used to spend all of my free time practicing them. Years ago, ABC's Wide World of Sports made every sport seem so exciting and I was certain that I would play professionally in something. Back then, the most prominent ones for me were basketball and baseball and I was constantly dribbling, shooting, hitting or pitching.

Although my father was a big football fan and played some in college, I was never that enamored with it. I was always kind of skinny and frankly, it seemed a bit risky to me. Of all the sports, however, I picked up football the quickest. My Dad taught me how to throw a spiral at a very young age and I really thought that I could catch just about anything thrown to me. I just didn't like to get hit and getting hit was something that is part and parcel to the game.

There were plenty of opportunites for me to play baseball, as Camillus had two organizations (West Genesee Athletic Club and the Optimist Club) that offered youth leagues. There was great word of mouth for these leagues and as I recall applications were passed out at school. This was not the case for basketball, however, and Tammie helped me get started with that.

During this time, she was a cheerleader for a team in the Optimist Club's basketball league. The kids on the team were her age, except for this tiny little kid who was the same age as me. Teams used to play an additional quarter and this guy would get in and really light things up. His father was the coach and Tammie talked to him about giving me a chance. I was so excited to get an opportunity to play with these big kids. Unfortunately, when I showed up with my black socks and scrawny self, I quickly realized that I was overmatched. The coach was great, however, and told me about this Saturday morning league and I had a ball playing there. In fact, I still think of myself as the greatest eleven-year-old shot blocker of 1976.

Ultimately, my basketball career didn't pan out and I "retired" at sixteen after my team was robbed in a playoff game. There was very little need for 5' 11" centers and I decided to concentrate on other things. I remain very grateful to Tammie for getting me started in basketball and appreciate how she took the time to encourage her shy and lonely little brother. Even though she has moved on from this life, I still believe that she helps me each and every day.