Mem & Pap

This is my Mem and Pap. They lived right next door to us in a small, brick house. I saw them every day and would often spend the night there. I learned some dutch from them, and I can remember sitting on Pap's lap as he sang short songs. Mem was usually in the kitchen cooking something for "Big Mark" and "Little Mark". They were my best friends. When I was ten years old, they both passed away within a period of six months. It was rough on our entire family, especially my dad and I. They were really the only others on our side of the family that were left. However, soon after they passed away, we got little "reminders" that they were still watching us. The first came about a week after mem had passed. Now to fully tell this story, I have to go back to about a month before she died. One day, while my mom was at work, she got a phone call from mem that she could hear mice running around in the attic. My mom simply replied "I'm in Pottsville, there is nothing I can do, your son should be pulling in the driveway any minute now". Eventually my dad and I got the situation under control and we thought nothing else of it. Now to the sign... Dad and I were outside checking over our boat while mom was inside playing her piano. Over the piano, traffic, boat engine, and dog barking, we heard this blood-curdling scream. We ran inside to find my mom on top of the piano bench pointing to the piano where the mouse had retreated. After about an hour of the mouse outsmarting us, we finally got it and took it outside. I can remember hearing my mom say as I took it out, "Good one Annie". It has been a long time since I saw them last, and I miss them a lot. To this day, I will always answer to "Little Mark".