Front Lawn Garden 07/01/09

When my grandfather came to the USA (from what was then Syria and is now Lebanon) around the turn of the last century, he had little family here and no means to support himself. He earned his income by going door-to-door peddling fine linen, rugs and tapestry imported from Lebanon. Eventually he made his way to Milwaukee and settled in an area of Milwaukee near Marquette University were other Syrian immigrants from his village had come. They established a Melkite Church, which still stands today although all the Lebanese have long moved out of the area. From selling his goods he made enough money to buy some property and open up a grocery store. It was at the store that my mother, the youngest of his children, met my father.

My grandfather invited my mother and father to live with him in a house near Harley Davidson. My grandfather’s wife, my grandmother, had died when my mother was just a young girl, so he enjoyed the company of my parents and soon me, my sister and brother. Since my dad was always busy working to provide for the family my grandfather became my companion until he died when I was nine.

Although he got into other business ventures he had kept his customers from days of selling fine linen rugs and other products to rich persons. Every once and awhile my uncle and grandfather would pack their goods in a suitcase and head out to the suburbs to peddle their goods. Once in awhile, when we did not have school, they would take my cousin and me with them. Although we just sat in the car when they were in the house of the rich, I was thrilled to be part of this adventure.

Today when I packed products from the India of Mahatma Gandhi in a suitcase and headed out to the fair trade stores, I felt that my life had come full circle. Now I was the peddler, the goods were from India, not the Middle East, but I was selling handcrafted items to stores that would sell them to the general public. They say what goes around comes around. Now I was the peddler.

(Last night I promised the picture of the front lawn garden, which appears in this posting.) Tomorrow I will try to post the pictures of products from the India of Mahatma Gandhi which I peddled today.

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