A Letter To My Granddaughters from Grandma Greiner

Letter to Granddaughter's (Jenna and Cara) Girl Scout Troop dated Jan 31, 2000:

Dear Girl Scout Troop #8234,

I am so pleased that Jenna & Cara gave me this opportunity to tell you girls about my life. I hope what I have to say will show you how times have changed.

On October 15th, 1932 (can you figure out how old I am, using your math skillss?) in Covina, California, I entered this world with a slap on my little bottom, crying just like all of you did. I was very lucky to have a loving Mother and Dad. In fact, my mother, Jenna & Cara's Great Grandmother, is now 91 years old and lives in Carlsbad, with my sister, Linda. Linda is my little sister and I have an older brother who lives in Connecticut.

When I was a little girl, I remember playing dolls, which I had a lot of, with my girl friends, who lived in my neightborhood. We would play for hours, dressing, feeding, and taking care of our "babies". I had a playhouse out in the back yard, which doubled as a club house as I got older. We would spend many hours skating and bicycling around the neighborhood. We didn't have a swimming pool in our yard, so we went to the public plunge, (that was the word used for a public pool) in the city park.

Mandy, you asked if we had television, the answer is no, (not until I was in High School) se we played lots of games, like Monopoly, jacks, cards, Chinese checkers, etc. and we listened to the radio a lot. We had a badminton court in our backyard, which we used quite often. It also doubled as a basketball and volleyball court. My first name is Barbara, but I like yours better. I am married to a great man named Hank. I have 4 children, Laura, Nancy, Danny & Diana, who are all married. I also have two step-daughters, Peg & Diane, who too are married. We now have 10 grandchildren with two new babies arriving in the near future.

Caitlin, your question was, did we have drive thrus? Well, we had drive-ins. You parked your car and a car-hop, some on skates, would take your order and bring it to you, and you would eat in your car. This was great for parents with young children. We didn't have Disneyl.andk, but we did have roller coasters. At the Los Angeles County Fair, the Santa Monica Pier and the Long Beach Pike. Our family used to go to the Pike quite often during the summer. We were able to ride the roller coaster, ferris wheel (a double), tilt-a-whirl, bumper cars, merry-go-round and many more rides.

Roxanne, yes, I played Red Rover, Red Rover, I dare you to come over. I really hadn't thought about that game for a long time. I do like to plant flowers, but I can onlyl plant a few as they have to be planted in pots, as I have no yard. I live in a townhouse with only a patio, but we are happy here.

Carly, sorry to disappoint you, but I wasn't around for the 1900 millenium. Yes, the cars were a little different, mainly they didn't have air conditioning, and most of them had a stick shift, which changes the gears. Some of them had radios, but no CD or cassette player. I can't remember what the price was for a pair of shoes, but I'm sure it was less than $10.00. As for clothes, fashion is always changing, they say if you keep your clothes long enough, they will come back into style. You might like to know that we had to wear dresses every day to school. No jeans, shorts, slacks, etc. l unless it was a special day like "Play Day," when we were allowed to wear different things. The only thing I can think of that I have now, that I had as a kid is a silver identification medallion that I had to wear around my neck, during World War II. Oh, I do have my bronzed baby shoes.

Alexandra, you wanted to know what we have now that we didn't have when I was little. Well, no TV, dishwashers, electric can openers, micro-wave ovens, freezers, CD's, audio cassettes, VCR's, computers, electric blankets, plus a lot more that would fill this page. I'm so happy to hear that you are learning to play the violin, music is one of the basics everyone should try and learn. I took piano lessons for five years, so my afternoons were always filled with at least one hour of practicing, before I could do anything else. I am happy that my folds gave me this wonderful opportunity. When I was growing up we had a little terrier, her name was "Dutchess." She was really a sweet dog. When I was raising my family we had a dog named "Prince," a few cats, and some goldfish. My favorite foods are cheeseburgers, french fries, steak, fried chicken and chocolate cake. I know these aren't the greatest fro my body, but they are OK in moderation.

Alex, you asked if I was ever a Girl Scout. Yes, I was a Girl Scout until I was in 9th grade. Every summer, I was able to go to Girl Scout Camp at Camp Arbolado in the San Bernardino Mountains. Boy, that was fun, riding horseback, swimming, sitting around the campfire, singing and all the other good things you get to do. In fact, I was a Girl Scout Leader for Jenna & Cara's mother when she was in Scouts. When I was 13 I was able to join Job's Daughters, which is affiliated with the Masons and Eastern Star, it is another organization for young girls.. I was Honored Queen when I was a senior in high school. This organization really helped enrich my life. Besides the ritual teachings we went on many day trips, like to Chinatown, in Los Angeles; seeing a radio show while broadcasting, ice skating, and taking a boat to Catalina Island for the day. One of my hobbies was collecting stamps, my brother got me started in collecting. I also collected Story Book Dolls and miniature glass dogs.

When I was four years old my parents gave me tap dancing and ballet lessons, that too was fun. In the eighth grade a group of parents got together and formed a ballroom dancing class for eight boys and eight girls. That is where I really learned to dance with boys.

We didn't have "middle school" like you have now. Wwe had K-6, elementary school. 7th & 8th was Jr. High. 9th-12th grade was high school. In Jr. High, we learned how to cook and to sew. I liked both of those classes. I still like to cook but I don't do much sewing anymore. I did sew a lot when I was raising my four children. I used to make a lot of costumes for them, as well as clothing. In high school, I took baton and tennis lessons. I was also a flag twirler in high school.

Sundays were usually spent going to Sunday school and church, then going to visit one of my grandmothers. One of my grandmothers lived in Pasadena, so on New Years, I was lucky that I got to go and spend the night with her and walk down to Colorado Blvd, a block away, and watch the Rose Parade. This was always a thrill.

Working was one of the pastimes that I endured during the time that I was married and raising a family. I worked as a waitress, bank teller and accounts payable supervisor for a large company. I am also a cancer survivor, I had breast cancer in 1993. So far everything is looking good and I'm doing great. I was able to retire Christmas Eve 1993. Since that time I have been playing golf three to four times a week. This is something that I really enjoy. I am on the Women's Golf Association Board and keep busy with my duties there. My husband and I like to take weekend golfing trips and spend our vacations golfing in other parts of the U.S., like Alabama, South Carolina and any place they will let us play. Luckily, at this time I have good health and go to the gym three times a week to keep in shape.

Girls, I hope I haven't rattled on too long, but I was so pleased that all of you wrote your own letters to me, that I hope I have answered all your questions to your satisfaction.

I have had a good life and wish each and every one of you a wonderful, healthy and happy future.

Barbara Greiner
Cara and Jenna's grandmother