My parents were Lawrence Tracy Thomson and Ruth Evelyn Parker Thomson. Dad was born on June 21, 1900 in Delaware, Ohio. He was one of three sons, Ralph, Lawrence and George. My Mom was a Parker and I am not exactly sure of her birthday but she was born in 1903 in Sandusky, Ohio. She was one of five children, Virginia, Ruth, James, Watson and Lester. My parents both grew up in Ohio. My Dad, who everyone called "cotton" due to his premature white hair, lived in Delaware. My Mom grew up in Sandusky (for a good web site, see http://www.sandweb.com/) where her father was a physician. Unfortunately, I never knew Dad's father or simply don't remember him, but his mother was well known to us kids. You have to remember that in those days, grand parents generally lived closed to their offsprings and visited quite often. Our family was a bit unusual as Dad went to many cities to work in retailing but we did end up living about 180 miles from Mom's parents, an extremely lucky break for us kids as you will discover.

Mom's father was known as J.D. but to us grandkids he was always "Bampa". Bampa was sort of reserved and didn't interact with his grandkids to well which sounds a bit like me with my grandchildren Perhaps it was due to Bampa being a doctor and the image that he had to portray to the public.

I do remember that he was very strict and had rules for us grandkids when we were around him and especially in his house. Example: we could only play in certain parts of his house and then quietly. I remember sitting at his dining room table with my brothers and my parents and Bampa was telling up kids that, "You must chew your food 20 times before you swallow it." Why? Well being a doctor he knew the advantage of well chewed food, i.e. swallowing food before being chewed with the saliva from the mouth could results in a "tummy ache" as the food may not properly digest.

Bampa was a hunter, both big game and ducks. His boys all were hunters but I believe only ducks. I know Bampa was a hunter as I can remember trophies hanging on the walls of his home. I am pretty sure that he had deer and I do remember a huge moose head in the dining room, as least that is where I believe it was. But more on Bampa and my adventures while visiting him later.

Bampa's home, which was across from Sandusky's court house, had his office in the basement. Well, it was on the ground floor but it was considered as the basement as the main floor was about 8-10' up from the ground. A rather wide impressive staircase led up to the front door, which was on a large front porch with stone railings. Bampa's house was huge, including the office floor, it must have been four stores high. The top floor was the attic, which was used for storage. The 2nd floor was for sleeping and had many rooms. The most unusual thing about the house was the back staircase. The was a very narrow staircase that led down to the kitchen. We grandkids had a great time playing here as it was almost like a "secret staircase".

Mom's mother, whose name I forget but I will never forget her, was a small lady, and I use the term "lady" in the true sense. She was the kindest most generous person I knew. Well after my own Mom. She always seemed to be in the background, probably due to the nature of Bampa, a very forceful man to say the least. She was a wonderful cook and we grandkids always enjoyed going to their home as we could gather in the kitchen during meal preparation and taste her cooking before it was served. And the deserts were a wonder to us - so tasteful and licking the spoons and bowls used to make the treats was always shared by all grandkids present.

Dad's father I can not recall. I have no idea why I can't picture him as I am sure that I did spend some time with his family. His mother was a "rock". I have never have a met a person like her. She was, like my Mom's mother, a true lady but she didn't stay in the background. You will learn more about her later on.