Not about my mother, but my grandmother. My brothers and I each had lionel trains. My parents hit a financial squeeze and we had to move into a different house. The trains remained boxed up. We asked about having a board and layout but that was not a priority at that time (and rightly so). Fast forward to my birthday and my grandmother has come to visit. She asks me what I would like for my birthday and I told her I would like wood so dad could build us a board for a layout. Well she grabs her pocketbook, reaches in and hands me a $20 bill? Note - this was in 1953 so $20 was a chunk of money. My dad worked nights so he was off during the day. With the $20 in hand my dad and I walked to the local lumber yard and he bought the necessary lumber, to be delivered later that day. So now my brothers and I are anxiuosly waiting for the lumber yard truck to show up. After what seemed like an eternity, the truck shows up and the driver and my dad carry the wood into the basement. Next thing we know, my dad and my uncle are in the basement sawing, hammering, etc. Just abut the time my dad had to get ready for work they had put together a board measuring 8' x 16'. It seemed huge. The next morning my brothers and I were quick to put up a couple of loops, arrange some plasticville houses, etc. As I remember I think we played with it every day, most days making a different layout. We stayed in that house for another 6 or 7 years and continued to use the layout. And each time my grandmother would visist she would ask about our trains and trek down to the basement to look at it. She would also ask if we needed anything else for it. Of course we did but we never said we did. She was a wonderful woman and the perfect grandmother.
BTW for the folks raised in Queens, NY in the 50's the lumber yard was called Kew Forest Lumber located in Forest Hills. It is long since gone.
We never lost the love of trains from those days, thanks in part to my grandmother's generous birthday present to me that year.
Ed
