Nana Biography

No. But you see my grandfather died when I was like seven years old. So I never knew them. Now, my father, who was, whose family, I don’t know where they lived, maybe in Pennsylvania, but I can’t remember the town. But my mother really didn’t know his family very well, And I don’t know a lot about them, but I know that grandmother pretty well, because she lived until I was about 15. She wasn’t close to me, but my mother used to take me there to see her, and I had an uncle who never married, my father‘s brother, who lived with her, and they lived in Newfield, New Jersey, which is very near Atlantic City, and I can remember going and visiting– this was after my mother was widowed, and I love to be there. 

They were nice to me, they had a dog and a cat, and my father – my uncle had the largest squab farm in the world, and raised squabs for all the boats. and Donnie was her name, and I remember her being very nice to me. You know, I had a happy life. I never had anything in my life that I can remember until the time I had a divorce – even terrible grief of any kind. One very good friend died, but somehow our other, everything came up, I always came up smiling. And my childhood was one of tremendous happiness, and I think I was spoiled. I’m sure I must’ve been, but I, I had everything I ever wanted. But not like, what’s this girl up here, that became, you know who I mean, Patty hurst? I mean not that kind of, material things. I just had a good time all the time. And, I didn’t have to work, until the depression. And then that was fun, it was an adventure working at that store.

I don’t get the picture that there was much of an extended family life, though. 

They really wasn’t. I don’t think that I had a close family life. I was not close to my brother when I was little, I didn’t like him, and we didn’t do things as a family very much except the fox hunting, and my father – I had a closer association with my stepfather because of my ability to ride a horseback so well. he was very interested in horses and riding and hunting and polo and all this. I showed horses and he was proud of me, and that was one thing that we had in,. But other than horses, I didn’t get along with him very well.

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