When I was a young girl growing up I would spend my summers with my aunt Cecilia and my uncle Carl. My aunt and uncle lived in Ossineke, Michigan. Ossineke is a small community several miles outside of Alpena, Michigan. If you needed to go to a store or gas station the closest one was at least twenty minutes away at the corner store at the beginning of the community. The nearest major grocery store and mall is several miles away in Alpena, Michigan. This is also where most of the restaurants are located. Some of my best summers were spent with my aunt and uncle. When the summer was over I couldn’t wait for summer to come back so I could spend some more time with my aunt and uncle.
Early in the morning my aunt would get up and make me breakfast before when start our day picking raspberries in the raspberry patch. My aunt would make sure I wore my straw hat along with blue jean overalls and pink t-shirt. I always wore tennis shoes and socks when going out in the raspberry patches. We would then get on the golf cart to start going up and down the rows of red raspberries picking them and putting them in pints for customers who buy them from my aunt. The bright yellow sun beats down on me during the day. I can’t wait for the sunset, because when the sunsets it gets cooler, and this means we are done for the day.
On Friday nights we would my play bingo at the bingo hall in Hubbard Lake, Michigan. My aunt loved to play bingo and she would be able to catch up with her friends. I looked forward to Fridays, because after picking raspberries all day in the hot sun we got to play bingo in the air conditioned bingo hall. Saturdays were spent going in into Alpena, Michigan to spend the day. We would do some sight seeing and go shopping at the grocery store that was bigger than the corner store. We would also stop and have some lunch at one of the many restaurants around there. Sundays were always spent going to St. Catherine’s Catholic Church. After church we would go to breakfast at Marion’s a small family owned restaurant in Hubbard Lake, Michigan. This is where you could also get a fresh piece of raspberry pie that was made with fresh raspberries from my aunts raspberry patches. My aunt would sell the raspberries to everyone in town, She would have certain rows that people could come by and pick their own raspberries.
I wish my boys could have the same experiences I did as a child. My aunt passed away when my oldest son was two years old. So my sons didn’t get to experience the summers in the raspberry patches. My aunt adored my son Ricky she always enjoyed it when I would bring him a visit in the summer. This is my memories of my child hood summer that I will have always.
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