Bella Leo and Fred Ware

00:01 Hi.

00:01 My name is Bella, and I'm gonna be interviewing my grandpa, Papa Do you want to introduce yourself?

00:08 Yeah. My name is Fred Ware I live in Boylston. I'm 83 years old.

00:14 Cool. Okay, so what are some of your happiest memories.

00:25 Out in the boat of Boston harbor? Sailing.

00:28 Yeah. Did you have a boat down there?

00:32 Oh, yeah. Yeah. I had a boat in Quincy Harbor. 36 foot sailboat.

00:36 Really? Did you go out every single day?

00:39 Huh?

00:40 Did you go out every single day?

00:42 Oh, no. I had to work just to pay for it, so I went out on the weekends.

00:48 Nice. Did you name it?

00:51 Bohoid. H o y d e nde.

00:55 Cool. Don't worry.

00:58 That means naughty lady.

01:02 Nice. Okay. Um. What is the most difficult decision you've ever had to make?

01:11 Wow. It's gonna take some thought.

01:13 It's okay.

01:14 I think I have had a real difficult decision.

01:17 Yeah?

01:18 Yeah. Yeah. I can't think of one anyways.

01:22 Yeah, no worries. Can you describe a typical day when you were younger?

01:31 When I was in high school, yeah, I used to walk about a mile and a half to school at a mile and a half home.

01:43 Through the snow and everything.

01:45 Through the snow, the ice, Cole. By a cemetery.

01:50 Big cemetery, yeah.

01:53 And I used to stop at the little corner store once in a while and get a snack.

01:59 What type of snack?

02:03 Maybe some cookies or a devil dog.

02:06 Mmm. Sounds good. Did you have any duties when you came home?

02:13 Did I have any deeds?

02:14 Yeah, chores. Chores?

02:18 Yeah. I used to have to feed the dogs, the cat, do my homework. Just the same kind of things that you had to do now.

02:31 Nice. Okay. What was the hardest lesson you've ever had to learn?

02:43 Flying an airplane.

02:45 Yeah.

02:46 Yeah. That was the hottest.

02:48 Do you want to elaborate?

02:51 Although it's just a lot of questions, a lot of answers, a lot of things you had to know in order to get a license.

02:59 Mm hmm. How long have you been flying or were you flying for?

03:03 Oh, I think I had about 200 hours in, but, you know, I had to go for my. I can't even think of the name of it. But you had to do the license in two steps.

03:22 How old were you? How old were you when you got it?

03:27 I was probably about 25.

03:30 Oh, that's interesting. What was the coolest place you ever flew to?

03:38 Martha's reunion.

03:40 Nice.

03:41 They had a grass field there, right by the ocean, with a little snack shop.

03:47 Yeah.

03:48 And then we used to fly down to Hyannis and have lunch once in a while, my friend and I. But the vineyard was the best place that I ever flew.

03:59 Nice. Um, did you ever take mom, like, around?

04:06 Oh, yeah, I did. I took mom down to Nantucket one time. We went ate at the pirate's den, and she didn't like it. She had to take a couple of drama to get there. And then she was falling asleep while she was eating her supper.

04:25 Yeah.

04:29 No, she never really liked the airplane.

04:36 Okay. Did you have any family traditions that you did or still do?

04:45 Christmas and Thanksgiving, New year's, birthdays. That's about it.

04:55 Okay. What about minced meat pies?

04:59 Oh, yeah. What about them? I used to like them. They were good. My wife used to make them.

05:04 What are they?

05:06 Mince meat? I don't know. A little mince. I'm not sure what's in them down. I'm really not. I just like to taste them.

05:20 Was that your favorite? Like, go to snack or food?

05:24 Oh, apple pie and ice cream would probably be the best.

05:27 So for Thanksgiving?

05:29 Yeah, yeah, whatever. Thanksgiving or Christmas. Whenever I could get a chance to get an apple pie, I always had my wife make one.

05:38 Nice.

05:38 I used to have to peel the apples.

05:40 Yeah, she makes the best apple stuff and everything.

05:45 Yeah, she makes the apple cake, too. It's very, very good.

05:49 It's my favorite.

05:50 That's your favorite?

05:51 Mm hmm. How did you meet Nana?

06:03 It was just a bunch of friends that I used to hang out with that knew her and fixed us up. She used to work at Jordan Marshead in Framingham, and I worked at the nut shop. The nut shop in the mall also. And we just grew to be friends and it just went on from there, dear. That's all.

06:30 Yeah.

06:31 Then we had six kids. And your mother was one of them.

06:35 Yep.

06:36 Yep.

06:39 Do you have any advice for your younger self?

06:43 Do I have any advice for my younger self? Not really. Just put your head down and work. Pick out a few things you like to do and do them. That's all.

06:59 I like that. Who is the most influential person in your life?

07:08 My wife's father. He was a plumber, and I learned how to plumb with him. And I worked with him for about 30 years.

07:16 Wow.

07:17 And we had a good relationship.

07:20 Yep. That's crazy. 30 years.

07:24 Yeah. Probably close to that.

07:27 Wow. Did you ever take over the business?

07:31 Yeah, I did. After he died, I took over the business and ran it almost until I retired.

07:40 Wow. That's crazy. What are you most grateful for in your life?

07:49 My wife and all you guys. You kids.

07:53 Yeah. Well, thank you, papa. I appreciated it.

07:59 Yeah. You're all set.

08:01 Should be. I hope so.

08:05 You have a nice day now. Love you.

08:07 You do too. I love you, too.

08:09 Bye.