Buster & Barbara

"Bucker & Nana"

aka

" Buster & Barbara"

When my parents got on the dance floor I would always stop whatever I was doing and watch them. It was so exciting because "their jitterbug" was so original, it was smooth and sexy and all their own. My dad would twirl my mom around three times and then bring her very close to him, their bodies touching, cheek to cheek. It gave me the chills. They had wonderful rhythm. And you
could see how much they loved each other.

My mom and dad married in Miami in 1950. They both went to Miami Edison Senior High School and my mom is still on the committee of the "Miami Edison Over the Hill Gang". Every two years they have a reunion. They had so many friends and kept in touch with them all their lives, and my mom still does.

My mom, we all call her Nana now, (since that's what the grand kids call her), was always a "housewife" or "homemaker". She never had a job outside of our home, but she worked her little Irish/Italian buns off everyday taking care of my father and me and my two brothers. On many occasions my brothers and I would get home from school and she would be covered head to toe in paint, her long thick black hair covered with a scarf, cooking our supper. She'd done painted practically the whole outside of the house in one day by herself. She could and would do anything around the house. She always had a smile on her face. She is a wonderful mother and was a very good and loving wife to my father for fifty-one years. She hosted elegant parties and family reunions and her decorations were original and beautiful. She could sew anything from her own clothes to draperies. Good manners and etiquette was very important to her. She cooked wonderful meals, mostly southern comfort food, but she is known for her delicious lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs. You could very proudly say she was an all around real woman.

My father worked and supported our family his whole life. Even after his retirement he mowed lawns, and did odd jobs mostly because he couldn't be still. He had to always be doing something. If you complained to him that you had a cold, he would tell you to go out and mow the lawn to sweat it out. He was active in sports all of his life. He was tough but he was gentle and he loved kids. Our house was the one to hang out at because dad made it fun and he played with us. We played softball games, ping pong, basketball, tether ball, football , hide and seek, billiards, Simon Says, monopoly, Parcheesi, dodge ball, and we also had a tree house that we camped out in at night. He made sure everybody who came to our house had a good meal. You could very proudly say he was an all around real man.

Thanks for the memories, your daughter, Joyce