My grandmother (Catherine) holding my mother (Sheila)

My grandmother and skee-ball

The truth of the matter is I have a strong emotional entanglement with skee-ball. My grandmother on my mother’s side, Catherine J. Donovan (also known as Cass or Catty) was born, raised, and lived most of her life in the city of Philadelphia, where skee-ball was invented and patented in 1909. Later in life, my grandmother along with my grandfather and six children, moved to the south Jersey suburb where I would later grow up just two miles away from her home. Here in the suburbs, with a beautiful house and yard, my grandmother and grandfather were to spend their days living the good life, easing into old age with their ever-growing family nearby. Continue reading →