On October 10, 1933 Maryanne Miller was born in Chicago, Illinois. Today she is Maryanne Kotowski, better known to me as Granny. Granny now lives in Joppatowne Maryland.
    As a baby, Granny was known as Maryanne Miller. She was born in a hospital, which she can’t remember the name of and raised in Chicago, Illinois. When she was born she had two older siblings, a brother and a sister.  She had a wonderful childhood in Illinois where she lived in a medium sized split-level house.  It had three bedrooms upstairs for Granny and her family, a kitchen, and a dining room. It also had a family room downstairs. Granny’s mom worked in a candy factory and her dad worked as a machinist for Milky Way.
    Granny’s childhood was full of interesting events. Granny went to Stewart Grammar School, which she attended from first to eighth grade. She got mostly A’s, B’s and C’s for grades and was very fond of her science teacher.  To get to school, Granny had to walk six city blocks, even in the snow. Granny also loved sports and she played many. Softball, tennis, basketball, and track were a few of them.  She also loved to go to the movies, go to the small ice cream parlor down the street, but the best of all of these things she loved to watch The Cubs play baseball at Rigley Stadium. She went there every weekend with her best friends, Vivian Mojakowski, Mary Clark, and Marge Decoya. One time Granny and one of her friends decided to skip school to see opening day at Rigley Stadium. The next day, she and her friend were in a picture in the newspaper so everyone knew why she wasn’t at school. “I was so embarrassed I didn’t want to go to school the next day,” was something she had to say about it. Speaking of friends, Granny and her one of her best friends liked to wear the same things but in different colors. Her favorite thing to wear was a white dress with blue polka dots.
    “My friend had a red one, people thought we were sisters sometimes,” she told me. Granny’s favorite food was a Chicago Hot Dog, which only cost 50 cents, and she enjoyed eating them at hot dog stands near her house. Granny also enjoyed riding in her parents’ Chevrolet.
    Granny’s teenage years were a very interesting time for her. Granny went to the junior and senior proms, while she attended Senn High School, but there weren’t many dances at her school because it was so far away for many students. You had to walk to the bus stop, take the bus for a few blocks, get off the bus, and finally take two streetcars to the high school. After school, Granny would sometimes stop at a small store to buy penny candy, 5 cent sodas, 50 cent hot dogs, and 10 cent ice cream cones. One of Granny’s favorite things to do when she wasn’t playing sports or doing schoolwork was swimming at a place called “The Rocks” in Lake Michigan.
    Granny had many traditions at her house, but of all of them, she seems to think that this one was the best. All of Granny’s, her brother’s, and her sister’s friends would come to their house to eat dinner on the holidays. “My dad always cooked, she said, he wouldn’t let my mom!” Granny got her first car, which was a blue Chevrolet, at 16, although she didn’t get her driver’s license until she was 21. Granny didn’t have very good luck with this car though. A few weeks after she had gotten it, she took it out for a drive. When she tried to put it back in the garage without anyone noticing, she drove it into the inside wall of the garage. She didn’t even get in that much trouble though. Granny didn’t go to college, but instead immediately started working as a secretary first for Chevrolet, and then for Pontiac.
    During Granny’s adulthood, many things in her life changed. Since Granny was a teen, she has lived in Chicago IL, College Park MD, New Jersey, and finally ending up in Joppatowne, MD. She married Joseph Kotowski, and became Mrs. Maryanne Kotowski on June 21, 1954 at the age of 21. Four years later they had their first child, Michael J. Kotowski, my dad. Then, another eight years later, they had their second child, Kimberly A. Kotowski, my aunt. She believes that they are her greatest accomplishment.
    During those years Granny was very busy. She had to take my dad to all of his sports while trying to keep up with a toddler. “They always used to make me all nervous and jerky,” she told me. Now that my dad has moved out and she isn’t working anymore, Granny has more time to enjoy her life. Granny’s hobbies include bowling, crossword puzzles, and playing monopoly. She also loves to cook, watch television, and eat her favorite food, lobster tail with butter. Granny’s favorite vacation was Los Vegas Nevada, and she someday wants to go to Ireland. But, above all, Granny would love nothing more than to ride in a stretch limo for just once.
    I would finally like to tell you of my favorite memories I have had with Granny. One of them is playing Monopoly with her every time I went over to her house. It was really fun especially when it took us a long time to finish the game. The other memory is helping her to decorate the cookies she made on Christmas. She makes about fifteen different kinds of cookies on Christmas every year. Last year, I got to help decorate some of the gingerbread men. I had many memories with my wonderful and loving Granny.