The Granny Episodes

Almost everyone has fond memories of a grandmother and the Marco Beach Boys and Girls are no exception. Grannies have always been special and are a true link to our past. Without granny we would not be who we are today and we would not have that unique packet of spices that makes up the recipe of our character. Without granny and grandad, and the influence and inspiration they have shared, the melting pot of Marco, Goodland, and the Isles of Capri might be lacking the charm and charisma that make the personalities of our islands special. Because our islands have so many people from so many different backgrounds and nationalities, our granny stories and episodes are nostalgia that is a pleasure to share.

The second episode in the granny series takes us to one of the great industrial complexes in the heart of the Midwest. When Henry Ford began producing automobiles in his hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, he almost at once began arguing with the accountants he hired to manage the finances of his new company. The accountants, it seemed, wanted to charge exorbitant amounts for the newfangled automobiles rolling off the assembly line, but Henry Ford did not. He wanted the folks that moved to Michigan to build cars to be able to buy one for their family. The accountants argued that this was a crazy idea and if the newly formed Ford Motor Company chose to price cars that the assembly line workers could afford, this was a business venture that would soon be out of business. Ultimately, Henry Ford ignored the accountants, his dream came true, and people from the world over began arriving in Michigan to start a new life with a family automobile that everyone could buy.  

Meanwhile, on Ellis Island in New York, Mary Stochoff was eight years old and she was waiting in line with her mother and father to enter a new country. The young immigrants were Macedonian and had just traveled from Bulgaria because they wanted a new life. On the ocean liner somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, Mary received and ate her first orange. Her parents explained in Bulgarian that the exotic fruit came from a tropical paradise called Florida. After immigration, Mary and her parents were given a new look, for a new country, as their heads were shaved to prevent the spreading of lice.

Because of the prosperity in Michigan, Mary and her family boarded a train and moved to Dearborn. When Mary was a young woman, she decided she wanted to move to Florida to chase the wonderful ideas of sunshine and oranges. When she set out walking for the train station on a snowy winter day, a handsome young man in a new Ford pulled over and asked where she was going. She instantly replied, “Florida,” and the young man who was also Bulgarian replied, “You are beautiful! I will take you!”  After driving south until dark, the young man convinced the beautiful Mary that he could no longer drive without rest. He then found a motel and rented a room. Before the young runaways were allowed to enter the room however, they were married by the local Justice of the Peace, who was also the owner of the roadside motel.

After their wedding night, Mary was convinced by her new husband to give up the idea of oranges and Florida until they had more money and could do the trip in style. Mary reluctantly agreed, and the newlyweds moved to the Detroit suburbs and opened a successful restaurant and bar. There, they raised a family and lived the next forty years until Mary’s husband died suddenly of a heart attack.

Discarding the age-old traditions of the Eastern European women, Mary decided she was a modern American widow and shockingly decided against wearing the black mourning dresses, babushkas, and the witch shoes that were the prescribed clothing for the rest of her life. She also - against all convention - decided she would soon marry again and that wearing widow clothes forever was not a good plan when searching for a new and much younger husband.   

After the funeral of the only man she had ever loved, Mary wore a bright dress, sold the restaurant, and drove a brand-new Ford to Marco Island where she bought an apartment in the newly completed Gulf View condominium. A few months later during the early 1970’s, Mary’s daughter Donna and her husband Victor were nearby. Victor worked at Ford and was working at the South Florida Testing Track where new Ford vehicles were tested in tropical weather.

During the visit, Mary convinced her daughter to buy a winter home on Marco and the migration of the Macedonian family from Bulgaria began. Many years later when Mary was 96 years-old she had back problems and ultimately surgery. During her recovery in the hospital, a nurse came into the room and found Mary not breathing and unresponsive. The nurse called for help and after several minutes of a doctor and team of nurses working away, Mary was breathing again and she opened her eyes. “Why did you bring me back?” Mary demanded harshly of the doctor, “Before you brought me back I was a young girl again and looking down at my old body on the bed. Then you brought me back. I wish you had never done that. I was so happy and young again.” 

As with most immigrant families, traditions in cooking and housekeeping remain steadfast. The Macedonians from Dearborn and ultimately Bulgaria are no exception. Unlike the Scotch and Irish descendants that settled in the Appalachian Mountains, the Bulgarian Macedonians cook with copious amounts of garlic, spicy peppers, feta cheese and lamb. The pizza from the 1960s that was so foreign and strange to the East Tennessee grannies has all the components of a foreigner’s kitchen, but to any granny from Mediterranean heritage, life in the kitchen without garlic and the comforting scent of home is not a home at all. Without the grannies from everywhere and the memories and lessons we have learned, how could anyone really create a home? 

Tom Williams is a Marco Islander and the author of two books: “Lost and Found” and “Surrounded by Thunder—the Story of Darrell Loan and the Rocket Men.” Both books are available on Kindle and Nook.