What was your Grandpa’s speciality?
By
Gerry Niskern
Lucky was the grandkid in our family that got to go home for lunch from the shop with Grandpa. They knew they were going to have “fried baloney sandwiches.” They were not given a choice of something else because that’s all their Grandpa knew how to cook!
The grandkid was given the job of getting out the bread, mustard and a couple of plates. Grandpa put the beat up and blackened old skillet on the stove and soon had the slices of baloney fryng. You might say the slices were actually being cremated as they were burned to a crisp when they landed on the bread. Any restaurant would describe it as “blackened” baloney.The skillet was put away to be used again the next day, not washed, just delegated to “baloney frying only” by Grandma.
When I was telling the story of my dad’s culinary skills one day a friend spoke up and told us about the great breakfast’s her Grandad used to make when they visited her Grandad in Tennessee, who was a hog farmer. She said she and her siblings thought they died and went to heaven when he served the bacon, sausages and even a pork chop if desired; this along with the creamiest scrambled eggs you ever tasted. Since their mother was a cream of wheat with skim milk for breakfast kind of mom, they loved trips to the farm.
Years ago I worked with a Mexican woman in my parent’s business who brought wonderful fresh homemade tortillas to work every day. Her Grandfather lived with them and got up before dawn to make the family tortillas every morning. He loved to make them for her and the grandkids.
My family remembers when Grandpa Kenny took over the ice cream making. I thought I was doing fine, but he insisted on trying his hand and of course everyone said his ice cream was better. Why wouldn’t it be with all the extra sugar and heavy cream he added?
Of course, all fathers are expected to cook now, but years ago most Grandpas had just one specialty they had perfected; the specialty they were remembered for.
I have a feeling that if a contest was held today to name the best Grandpa cook, the adult kids in our family would still vote for the griller of the fried baloney sandwiches!

Have you had yours?
By
Gerry Niskern
That seems to be the question everyone asks these days. Have you had your booster shot? How’d it go?
I was discouraged to hear that some young members of our extended family weren’t getting vaccinated for Covid l9; yet these same young people had enjoyed the benefit of having the protection provided by the vaccinations they had received from birth on. That wasn’t always the case.
When I was a kid you were not allowed to start grade school unless you were vaccinated for Smallpox. Diptheria, Whooping Cough and Scarlet Fever were still around and if someone in your family was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever the whole family was ordered quarantined in the home for a month.
I think Polio was the most dreaded. The newsreels at the movies always seemed to show children with Polio in iron lungs. We were no allowed to be in crowds in the summertime as it was most virulent then.
I will never forget the paralyzing fear that held my young husband and I when our first born was around 7 months and ran a l04 temperature for several days. The Doctor couldn’t diagnose it. Polio! That was always the first thought. We were actually happy when she finally broke out with German measles!
She and her brothers all suffered through Chickenpox, Mumps, and other measles, but when she was 7 the Salk vaccine came out against Polio. I can’t begin to describe how incredibly grateful we were to get it for our kids.
By the time our kids had kids of their own, the vaccines were given from birth thru 24 months, and parents haven’t had to worry about Polio, Smallpox, Diptheria, Whooping Cough and numerous other diseases that used to kill kids en masse.
We’ve all been so fortunate that Science has made such great strides. So that’s why I’m bewildered by the choice not to be vaccinated for Covid to help control the spread, when you have benefited from all those other vaccines all your life and so have your kids.

“A Tale of Two Boys” (2005)

By

Gerry Niskern

This ongoing debate about funding all day kindergarten in Arizona is confusing, isn’t it? Let me tell you about two little five-year-old boys that I know who started kindergarten last year, in different schools and districts.
Tristan was enrolled at an all day kindergarten where he learned to read proficiently by the end of the year. He’s lucky. He attended private preschool the two previous years. His mother is a stay-at-home mom. Actually, the only problem occurred in February when the school decided to eliminate the afternoon recess. He went on strike and refused to work; that is, until his daddy explained that kindergartners can’t walk-off the job.
Only half-day kindergarten was available in Daniel’s district. He loved school and didn’t miss a day. He told his mother, at least once a day, “I’m the smartest kid in the class!” However he was not up to the state standards by the end of the year so he is repeating kindergarten this year. Daniel’s mother has two jobs. She waits tables and cleans houses too. There is little time to read to him when both parents are struggling to make ends meet.
Perhaps he could have achieved more if he had been in a Head Start class in pre-school, but Head Start is based on income. His parents made too much to quality for Head Start, but too little to afford private pre-school. All kids need at least a year of pre-school to learn what used to be taught in kindergarten.
Many citizens think kindergarten is still just play, snacks and naptime. “What is the use of spending millions of state dollars to fund a baby sitting service for parents?” they ask. Those questions would certainly be justified if they were indeed the whole story.
The fact is times have changed drastically; the bar has been raised. The State of Arizona Education department has a standard that all schools must follow. Look up the requirements yourself, all 164 pages! It is mandatory that all children must be reading by the end of the kindergarten year or they must repeat kindergarten. Research shows that children who learned to read in kindergarten are higher achievers throughout their school careers.
Any kindergarten teacher will tell you that three hours is not enough to teach all the requirements under today’s stringent guidelines. They need extra time to incorporate art and music into the learning process and make it fun to learn. All day kindergarten would also give them time to work with the kids who weren’t exposed to preschool, don’t know the language or are a little on the young side. They usually add, “Come to my class anytime to get a picture of the situation.”
If every child is expected to achieve the same high levels of learning, then let’s give them the tools. All the little Tristans and Daniels should be provided with the opportunity to learn so that when they start first grade, they can “hit the ground running!”
I can’t believe I wrote those words in 2005 in a column for the Arizona Republic because:
Now here we are again, having the same debate in Congress; trying to get a bill passed to fund preschool for our kids. We know how very important investment in the youngest ages are and how much we benefit from that investment and yet, in the developed world the United States is at the lowest level of financial support for young children’s education. Maybe contacting your Senators and Representatives would help. Can’t hurt!

Between Generations
By
Gerry Niskern
The King and Queen of the Prom dropped in last week. We shared a pizza and two or three of hours of good conversation.
Actually, they were “royalty” in their Senior year of high school, but now she’s a third year Med major at ASU and her boyfriend is studying to be a Physical Therapist. What did we find in common to talk about? Everything under the sun. And since I had a lifetime of medical history to contribute, a lot was about “Current Medications and Pertinent Medical History”, of course!
My great-granddaughter was full of information about subjects she is studying. She just finished her EMT training; reminded me to keep a card on the frig with all medications listed in case of emergency. The boyfriend is working as a tech at a Physical Therapy facility downtown while he’s enrolled at ASU. He had some stories to tell too.
“How did these two generations on each end of the spectrum, from the Y’s-20’s all the way to the Silent Generation-70’s + find things to talk about,” I asked myself later? My granddaughter reminisced about family memories. She recalled trips to the Phoenix Children’s theatre and as I chimed in, the boyfriend did too with memories of his own. I can’t begin to mention all the subjects we covered. I was interested in their opinions and they in mine also. But the refreshing part of the whole afternoon was two subjects we did not cover: religion and politics.
My generation, the Silents, are still learning the new technology . The Y’s grew up with iphones, computers and all the rest and take it for granted. No one had to whip out their phones to check another’s statement as all the generations in between are prone to do.
But what encourages leisurely and meaningful conversation between the different ages is the example that their parents have set. If kids grow up seeing their parents enjoying the company of “their” parents and grandparents, it leads the way. Lucky are the “Silents”, like myself, who have family members of all ages who genuinely like to come by for good conversations!