ROSETTA SHARED HER BIRTHDAY YEAR WITH BUCHART GARDENS IN VICTORIA, CANADA

Buchart Gardens - Sunken Garden

Rosetta loved to travel, and in 1989 my sister Phyllice and I decided to meet in Vancouver, Canada. Phyllice traveled there from Juneau, Alaska with her young son so Mom could see her grandson and Rosetta and I flew to Vancouver from Los Angeles. 


We decided to take the hydrofoil to Victoria and stay for a few days. Going to Victoria is like being in a "mini-England" complete with a Parliament building and many British traditions including the famous high-tea at the Empress Hotel. 


The highlight of the trip was a visit to Buchart Gardens--the second most beautiful public gardens I've ever seen. The first for me will always remain Keukenhof in Holland.


We had a rental car and as we stopped at the kiosk and paid for our admissions, Phyllice spotted a sign that said, "Tell us if you were born in 1909."


Rosetta immediately said to the ticket taker, "I was born in 1909"


It was as though all of the bells and whistles in Victoria went off. The ticket taker said, "This is the 80th anniversary of Buchart Gardens. It was founded in 1909 and we are celebrating with anyone born in that year." The first thing she did was to refund our admission fees, saying, "You are our honored guests."


Then she said, "You will be treated to high tea in the teahouse and we would like to take your photo for our gallery."


The day was magical. They met us at the teahouse and Mom was treated like a celebrity. The servers catered to us and she sat there beaming. The photographer came and snapped several images and told us the best one would be hung in their gallery. 


As we finished our walk through the acres and acres of amazing gardens, Rosetta said, "It sure felt good to be Queen for a Day. Thanks so much for bringing me here."


That was a wonderful memory and she held it close for many years. It was also the day my sister and I knew she was slowing down a bit. Rosetta normally walked miles without getting tired. Near the end of the day we had almost walked the entire gardens, stopping to OOH and AAH at the beautiful displays. There was one more left. Rosetta said, "Honey, I think I'll sit on this bench while you girls look at that one." As much as we didn't want to, we had to acknowledge that when you're 80 you probably do slow down a little.


Read Rosetta's humorous and inspiring memoir, CAN WE COME IN AND LAUGH, TOO? It has been enjoyed by thousands since it's release in May 2012.

So cool I had to share it!

Rosetta at 88 years old

I have now received several emails saying they look at Rosetta's smiling face on the cover of Can We Come In and Laugh, Too? so that they can imagine her whispering her legendary message of confidence to them, "You can do it, honey!"


Everyone needs someone in their corner--someone who will encourage them to believe in themselves. This was a unique talent she had, and now she is reaching out with her message from the pages of her book and smiles at them from the cover. She's been gone since 2006 when she was nearing her 97th birthday, but she never stopped cheering people on. The cover photo was shot when she was 95, by then confined to a wheelchair because of a broken hip, but her smile and encouragement to others never faltered.


What a "feel good" project this has been!  Available in paperback and Kindle.


Thank you, everyone! MORGAN ST. JAMES

GOING TO FLORIDA IN A 1949 PONTIAC

Miami, Florida

We piled into Dad's 1949 Pontiac

In 1949, seeking a warmer climate, Rosetta and Al moved from Chicago to Miami, Florida. It was a disaster from Day One! But, being the supportive person she was, Rosetta stayed cheerful through the entire ten month ordeal--at least on the surface. We kids never saw the stress she was under. 

We got as far as Evansville, Indiana when Dad's car broke down and we were stuck in a hotel for two nights while it was being fixed. Was that an omen of what was to come? Who knows.

Morgan St. James

EXCERPT FROM "CAN WE COME IN AND LAUGH, TOO?"

It took almost a week for us to drive to Florida, and when Al pulled up in front of the address his sister Helen gave us, I thought he made a mistake. The building looked so small I couldn’t imagine how it could hold three apartments.

We quickly discovered what his sister hadn’t told us—her “apartments” were only efficiency units. In just one room the living space was combined with a kitchen space, if you can call it that. A sink with a drain board took up one wall. Under the drain board was a small refrigerator and a few cabinets overhead. We had a tiny bathroom, and as far as sleeping arrangements, closet doors on another wall in this room hid a bed on hinges known as a Murphy bed. It was built into the wall and at night you opened the doors and pulled down the bed. Once the bed was down, you barely had any space between the couch and the bed.

These efficiency units were furnished with a few sticks of furniture, and it just took one glance for us to realize they were only meant to accommodate a single person or a perhaps couple in a pinch, but certainly not four people.  Al and I were pretty upset that Helen hadn’t explained what kind of apartments she had, but we couldn’t say anything to her. She meant well. With no children of her own, she probably didn’t have a clue what it would be like to live in that one room with two kids.

Can We Come In and Laugh, Too? - Rosetta had spunk!

Rosetta still youthful at 51 - 1960

Rosetta was a small woman, but mighty. She was all of 5'-1" and weighed about 95 pounds. She wasn't a gushy woman or overly huggy-kissy, but when she was in your corner, you knew you had her support and love 100% .


A peck on the cheek from Rosetta was more endearing than anything I can imagine, because along with that peck came the transfer of confidence in your abilities and the knowledge that she would support whatever you tried. Then there was the other side. No one, and I mean no one, was exempt when it came to standing up for her own rights.


I was with her when she told off a young person twice her size and probably a third of her age after they tried to butt in line in front of her. It was something like, "Don't think you can get away with that just because I'm an old woman. Get back where you belong."


She passed away in July 0f 2006 only months away from her 97th birthday. Even when mini-strokes had stolen her short term memory, if you told her you were going to attempt something, the magic words were there: "I know you can do it, honey."

Her laughter and inspiration live on in

CAN WE COME IN AND LAUGH, TOO?

I got blamed for my brother Phil's troublemaking

EXCERPT FROM "CAN WE COME IN AND LAUGH, TOO?"

Rosetta talks about her brother Phil

Rosetta as she neared 90 with her magnetic smile still shining

Rosetta was the youngest of ten children and Phil, two years older, was next in line.

Phil was the next youngest to me. We were always pals, but he loved to get into trouble.  I had skipped a grade, so we were only one year apart in school. When I had a teacher the year after he did, they automatically thought I would be a troublemaker just like him, and I really had to try hard to show them I wasn’t like my brother.

Phil could talk his way out of most things, and like all of my brothers, had a magnetic personality. When he finally straightened out because I gave him a tongue lashing, he actually gave the main speech at our graduation. That was a magical day for him and when he was done with his talk, the whole audience stood up clapping. I always wondered if that ever would have happened if I hadn’t given him a lecture.

LESSONS I LEARNED FROM ROSETTA

EXCERPT FROM  "CAN WE COME IN AND LAUGH, TOO?"

When I was 14, my mother talked her office manager at Oregon Mutual Insurance Company into hiring me as a file clerk for a month in the summer when the regular clerk went on vacation. The job was simple enough: file the case folders and index cards back in their alphabetical drawers after they were used. There were lots of cards, lots of folders and lots of drawers. It was very boring, the room was hot and stuffy and I frequently sat on the little stool, pulled out a lower drawer and laid my head down for a nap.

Rosetta would pass by the file room on her way to the restroom and discover me nodding off.  She would duck in, shake me awake and say, “Wake up Phyllice, you’re sleeping again. I told them you were a good worker. If the boss catches you, you’ll lose your job and I’ll lose mine, too.” 

I’m sure that during that month, Rosetta must have made a hundred trips to the Ladies’ Room just to check on me.

                          f

Rosetta had a gift that is often referred to as “a keen sense of the obvious”. You could come to her with any problem—personal or academic—lay out the facts and she would cut through all the B.S. to give you the one best answer. That’s why everyone came to her for advice. She wasn’t judgmental, she didn’t over analyze, she just saw the unvarnished truth. 

PHYLLICE BRADNER, DAUGHTER

Why Rosetta's brother Sam never became a photographer

EXCERPT FROM "CAN WE COME IN AND LAUGH, TOO?"

Life in a zany family in the early 1900s

Rosetta as a young woman

Twelve people were trying to exist in our apartment and we only had one bathroom. So, what do you think? To make matters worse my brother Sam was studying photography, and after taking a picture he went into the bathroom to develop it. He drew the shade and got all ready but invariably someone would have to use the bathroom. Poor Sam.  He never did get to develop any pictures and finally gave up photography.  

Rosetta's funny memoir is available in paperback and Kindle. Get your daily dose of laughter from the book she wrote when she was 80. Rosetta nearly reached her 97th birthday when she passed away in 2006.