Our family got together on June 28, 2008. We hope to stay in touch through the Family Reunion Blog.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

I NEVER MET A BAKER I DIDN'T LIKE

I NEVER MET A BAKER I DIDN'T LIKE BY PATSY W.
Never met a Baker that I didn't like! Laughter and smiles are their attractiveness. Uncle Bill was a rascal. Aunt Ruth was a Saint. Uncle Ernie was a jokester. Aunt Christine was very nice and hospitable but she could talk without breathing. Uncle Larry was competitive and fun. Aunt Virginia could disappear before your eyes if she decided to. Aunt Lila . . . sweet, innocent, and very helpful. Aunt Ann was a savior. She saved mine and Richard's butts quite a few times because we partied hard when we were first married for 4 + years (before children). She was in the hospital room with me when both Ricky and Carl were born. She was a very special lady.

Alice. She and Aunt Ann would play cards 24 hours a day. Alice came to babysit for us in Lexington. Richard and I went out and when we came home early we saw a bunch of kids dressed in ghosty outfits playing in the yard and street and of course Ricky and Carl were with them. We said hello and came inside and there sat Alice and Ann playing cards. The house was a total wreck. I went down to the kids room and they had taken the sheets off the bed for the ghosty outfits and Alice was completely oblivious. I was a little, no, a whole lot, ticked. Those boys could have been in the next county and she wouldn't have known.

But in retrospect, Alice was a very good mother-in-law. She was very intelligent. Had that special sense of humor. And loved us dearly. I would love to write something about Richard but even though it's been 5 1/2 years it's still difficult to go too deep especially at this time of the year when our grandchildren are getting special recognition for their work at school, sports, art, and moving up another grade level. He would have been so proud and would have enjoyed every minute of it with me.

I hope my kids and grandkids grow up with the Baker characteristics of honesty, laughter, kindness, willingness to help others, general goofiness, and a zest for life.


One Baker brother we haven't heard about is Eugene. I'm not 100% sure but I think it might be him standing in the back left behind Bill in the picture above. A story I heard my mother, Ann, tell about Eugene and his wife Orrine is that they ran a grocery store in the Covington area when she was up there in nursing school. As a young lass away from home she was homesick and didn't have a lot of money. She'd stop in to see Eugene and Orrine and Eugene would pull her aside and slip her a little spending cash and say "don't tell Orrine." Then, later, Orrine would pull her aside and give her some money and say "don't tell Eugene." Of course she didn't tell!

There are lots of Bakers missing from this blog. A lot of the older brothers and sisters were not as in touch and now many of their families are definitely not in touch. I wish we could have printed more about them. Still, the families who have stayed linked together over the years is an amazing wonder. I think it has a lot to do with them all living in close proximity and also has a lot to do with their strong feelings for the importance of family. That feeling is instilled in many brothers and sisters, and in many of the first, second and third cousins. I look forward to seeing all of them this month. - Patricia :)


Another one not mentioned in this blog is Brother Frank (the oldest sibling) who is in the center in the zig-zag patterned sweater with wife Mary in front (Mary was called Mary Frank in Stanton, I guess to tell the difference between the 2 Mary Baker's). Two of their boys are on the ends of the front row, Jerry and Paul. A quick story about Uncle Frank is that his nickname among the kids was "Uncle Bank." He would give the kids money for a kiss. We all remember him saying "Come here, and give old Uncle Frank a kiss." So we started calling him Uncle Bank.







A STORY FROM COUSIN CHI
I remember a story about a bunch of my cousins in Stanton. We weren't supposed to go down behind Aunt Alice's house at the creek. It was a rule that we all knew. One day when all the families were gathered at Grandma Baker's house a bunch of the cousins were playing outside and ended up at the creek behind Aunt Alice's house. Part of that group was Joe (Joey at the time) and Mike Riley. Mike was pretty young. Joey made sure to tell Mike not to tell that they'd been down at the creek. When they got back to Grandma's house someone asked Mike where they'd been and he told them the kids had been down at the creek. Joey cried "Mike, you weren't supposed to tell on me" and Mike replied "I'm not telling on you, Joey, I'm telling on everyone else." (Editor's Note: The cute little snitch is in the left corner of the picture above.)






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