52 Ancestors Week 45: Colorful

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 45

The theme for Week 45 is "Colorful." Colorful as in an artist or colorful as in an interesting personality? You decide!

Taste the fractal rainbow

    In my family tree I have no shortage of people who had interesting personalities. These range from my grandfather Marco Ferraiolo (who also painted by the way) to my second great-grandfather, Joseph Laplante. Just think some of their personality traits were passed down through the generations. I know that's not how DNA works. But, it's fun to think about the reason why you like to write or draw something. Direct ancestors aren't the only colorful people hanging around the tree, though. My grandmother Ollie's sisters were colorful and one great-aunt in particular was like the Energizer Bunny. She just kept going and going and going!

Auntie Louise!

    My great-aunt Louise Carrabs was definitely a colorful person. I hinted at her personality many times before in this blog. I think I've told everyone the story of how we all went to Foxwoods Casino shortly after the death of my grandmother, Ollie. That was a fun trip and it only skimmed the surface of the kind of person she was.

    To recap, we all went to the casino and on the way to the building she noticed that I was feeling a bit down. I mean my grandmother had passed away and my other grandmother Natalie wasn't doing so well at that point herself. The early 2000s are honestly a blur to me.

    Anyway, she told me that if anyone asked any questions about why I was hanging around her at the slot machines she said "Tell them you're my grandson and today's your birthday." I laughed so hard at that the people walking by must have thought we were crazy. Eh....maybe we were! That was when I knew we were going to have an amazing time!

    One of the funniest moments about that trip was when we lost her in Foxwoods for a little bit. I had gone to the restroom and when I came back she was nowhere to be found. I quickly found my parents and we looked all over for her. There were a ton of little old ladies and it was hard to find her in the crowd. Eventually, we did find her playing slots in another part of the casino we hadn't checked. Her reaction was priceless. She said "What? I was here the whole time!". We had a good laugh!

    That was only a little preview of what Aunt Louise was like. Like my grandma Ollie she lived in Haverhill and out of all the five Carrabs sisters she was clearly the funniest. Ollie was the caring hostess. Josie was the cook. Ellie was the smart one. I wish I could remember their oldest sister, Jennie. She was pretty cool from what I've been told! 

The little old Italian ladies!

     We're not here to talk about Jennie, though. No. Auntie Louise was definitely more than just a surrogate grandmother to me after my grandmother passed away. 

    She was a great cook and would often start cooking for get-togethers very early. I remember she used to make these little mini cakes with chocolate frosting on them that was covered with shaved coconuts. She called them "icicles" for some reason and they were just so good. But, I think she trolled me when she said how they were made. After I had one I asked her how they were made and she just smirked at me and said the chocolate frosting was just Hershey's syrup. I laughed so hard.

    I couldn't be upset with her. She was brutally honest about how she made the food she prepared. I kind of suspected the chocolate came from a tube. But, I never wanted to outright ask her "Hey, Auntie Louise. This is just Hershey's syrup isn't it?". Yeah. You don't say that to an Italian woman unless you want to get smacked upside the head or with a rolling pin. Rolling pins were reserved for problematic cases, I'm sure. At least she made original Italian cookies to make up for the times she used Hershey's chocolate syrup. That more than made up for everything!

    

Louise and her son, Joe

    In short, Louise was probably the funniest little old Italian lady you'd ever meet in your life. Sure Ollie had a few zingers in her time. But, Louise always seemed to take it to the next level with her funny remarks. I don't know if that ever got her in trouble with her parents. But, I'm sure they appreciated her sense of humor. It's something that was also passed down to her sons, Joe and Dennis.

    Louise was a fixture at the Christmas eve parties and was always smiling, cracking jokes and telling stories. But, here's the thing. Her jokes were never mean spirited. Like my grandmother, she'd have gladly given you the shirt off of her back....and then tell you how much she paid for it. Kidding! Maybe....

   She was also similar to Ollie in that she'd host parties in her backyard and would often hold court with anyone who wanted to hear her stories. She'd have family from Everett and Melrose over from time to time and it got to the point where even her uncle Rocco's grandchildren would visit her! I think one of them drove around with her more than a few times. They never did say where they went, though. I think she just took her shopping.

    So, while Aunt Louise was very colorful she was also incredibly kind. All of my grandmother's sisters were like that. But, there was just something really special about Louise. It might have just been her sense of humor and her positive outlook on life. Whenever something bad happens, I often think about how she'd react and tell people what to do in those bad times. She'd find a positive spin on things and tell people that tomorrow always had sunny blue skies. I think we need to remember that whenever we face the darkness.

See ya next time!