Beer in the Drab Household

Memories of our family written by Michael Hansen, Sep 2007. (note: this is also posted on Louise's Legacy site)

Dear Carin,

You asked for it, here it is! (regarding request for the “beer story”)

Grandma Drab (Aloysia) was a bit of a prude. She didn't approve of drinking (although all of my uncles, after the example of their father, loved their beer. I guess it was a Bohemian trait.) When I was 16, my father gave me permission to have a glass of beer or wine with dinner, if I would promise not to drink outside the family circle. Since I didn't care for beer, (ME?), I agreed. That year, when we were at the Berry Hill Rd. domicile for our Thanksgiving celebration, Uncle Joe came into the room and asked "Who wants a beer with dinner?" Well, just to irritate Grandma, I said "I will!" Grandma right away declared, "No you won't, Michael!" And I said, "Yes I will, Grandma. My father said I can have a beer with my meals, if I want !" Grandma turned her wrath on him; "Is that true, John?" she asked, accusingly. "Yes, that's right, Momma." My father answered, sheepishly. Well, I got my beer, and regretted it. It ruined an otherwise delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I hated beer, but I made my point! Which brings me to my real story... I learned to love beer, thanks to my term as a campus chaplain at the Stephens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, where I was inducted into the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, and was FORCED to drink beer, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Grandma didn't allow Grandpa (Aloysia & Frank hereafter referred to as Momma and Poppa) to keep more than a six-pack in the refrigerator (which she always called the "Frigidaire") at any one time. So when Momma died in June of 1967, just before I was ordained, my Father decided that we should drive out the following month to see how Poppa was doing. As we pulled up in front of 124 Berry Hill Road, there was Poppa sitting in his rocker on the porch as usual. As we walked up, the first thing he said (after “Hello”) was "Do you want a beer?" (It was a hot day.) "Michael, go to the fridge and get us each a beer." I did, and opened the fridge to see the entire refrigerator stocked with bottles of beer, except for the top shelf , which held a token milk, butter, and eggs! Poppa had triumphed!

Uncle John just told me Pop's favorite brand for years was Knickerboker, which went out of business in the 50's, but has since been resurrected as a microbrewery in Brooklyn. Then Pop switched to the old stand-by, Budwiser, which he referred to as "My friend, Bud."

Additional factoid: when Pop met Momma he worked on the Cutter Estate in Oak Dale, just outside of Bayshore. Momma was an upstairs maid on another estate. John couldn't remember the name.

love, Uncle Michael

A Virgin Mary Sighting?

Memories of a family story written by Michael Hansen, Sept 2007.

Dear Carin,

Grandpa Drab (Frank Sr.) related this story to me about two years before he died. (Ask Uncle John for the name and location of the nursing home he was in at the time. I think it was East Islip, LI.) Uncle John doesn't give the story much credence, but I do, being more gullible. As you mentioned in your entry, Frank was fatherless and apprenticed to a shoe-maker. When he was about nine or ten he was walking to school early in the morning, right after dawn, between two farms. Out in the field to one side he noticed a woman standing in the middle of the field. He was puzzled because she was dressed rather formally for a farmer’s wife, so he climbed the fence and walked over to her. She looked at him with a smile and said, in a very musical voice, "I am your mother." Frank said that he immediately realized it was the Virgin Mary. She then said, "Don't be afraid or concerned. I will protect you and care for you." Then she vanished in a blur. He felt very encouraged by the vision and felt all his life that he was guided and protected by the Virgin Mary. There is no question that pop was a very devout and prayerful man and would pray the rosary every day, which leads me to believe his story. It may have been a day dream that developed into a reality for him, but that doesn't make it any less authentic.

love, Uncle Michael

Love at First Sight? The Story of Frank & Aloysia's First Encounter

A memory of a family story written by Michael Hansen Sep 2007

Dear Carin,
Here is a contribution to the site , which I should have done a long time ago. Do you have in your notes how Grandma and Grandpa Drab met? In the second decade of the twentieth century both Frank and Aloysia lived and worked in the area of Bayshore, LI. On a Sunday afternoon they would both go bike-riding in the park. Now Aloysia Vodicka was quite a looker, as is evident from period photographs. As they passed each other on the bike path, going in opposite directions, Frank's head was obviously turned. As he was gazing at this receding beauty he wasn't looking where he was going and ran headlong into a tree. Aloysia heard the sound of collision and looked back to see Frank all tangled in his bike, lying on the ground. Compassionate as she was, (and by the way, Frank wasn't exactly ugly either), she turned around to help him. And the rest, as they say, is history. (Family History) This has to a unique, if not risky, way to flirt!
love, Uncle Michael

I have been told that Michael's memory above may have been romanticized a bit, but only in the telling that it was Frank that fell off the bicycle.  Apparently according to Father John Drab (one of Aloysia & Frank's sons) the overall story is correct but that it was Aloysia who was riding the bicycle and fell off it when she saw Frank!  That makes the story a bit more interesting if you ask me.  Either way it is a story of a beginning that would put a smile on anyone's face.

About the photo...

The photo above is a scan of a small photograph (2.5 x 4.5) found in Louise's possessions. It is probably one of the earliest, if not the earliest photos of Aloysia with her in-laws (or future in-laws as they may not have been married yet). There is no date on the photo but it does state on the back that it is the Drab family and lists the names of the people as follows:

Top Left to Right:

• Mary Souhrada... not clear of the connection but she is said to be a Drab or Vodicka relative 
• Barbara (Aunt)... this is the same Aunt Barbara Drab in the Drab Portrait of 1909*
• Frank John (Uncle).... this is actually John Drab shown in the Drab Portrait of 1909, Barbara's husband*

Bottom Left to Right:

• Aloysia Vodicka
• Mary Drab... may be the same Mary Drab in the Drab Portrait of 1909
• Frank Drab... he was the first cousin to our Frank Drab that Aloysia married (they shared the same name)*

It is likely that our Frank Drab was the person taking the photo since Aloysia is appearing here with all his family.

* a cousin Frank Drab of FL who is a direct descendant of the three asterisked people in the photo confirmed their identities