Celebrate

 My youngest sister was born on July 5th.

This is what happened. My sister was not due for a week or so. As is normal for most women Mom was tired. Besides the exhaustion that comes near the time for a baby to be born Mom had 5 of us to take care of. Add to that she only recently had stopped having morning sickness. Having a baby was not easy for my mother.

My aunt was staying with Grandma on her yearly duty visit for two weeks. It was decided that there would be a cook-out on July 4th. My aunt and uncle would come as well as their four grown children and spouses and children. 

Daddy manned the grill. The women made everything else. It was a great meal.

When time for clean-up came Grandma announced loudly that Mom could take care of that so "the family" could visit properly! (Grandma was a real sweetheart!)

I was not quite 11 years old so I was no help. Mom was on her own.

When we got home Mom was in tears of exhaustion and immediately called the doctor. She told him she could not take any more. She needed some rest and some quiet.

The doctor told her to go the hospital right away. He kept her there all night so she could sleep. It was a small town and the doctor knew how Grandma could be.

The next day when he came to see her Mom looked much better. He suggested that as long as she was there anyway they could try to induce labor.

My sister was born that afternoon.

Years later before she started school for the first time our house was the last one toward the top of the hill. We could see forever from the very top.

The drive-in theater in town set off fireworks every year for the 4th of July. We went to the top of the hill to watch.

My baby sister thought it was so nice of them to celebrate her birthday. And it was.

Letter From My Brother

My youngest brother was so excited to learn he was going to be an uncle. In his little 5-year-old mind he was about to be a grown-up. 

I lived in Detroit and he was still in Nebraska. Phone calls were still expensive. We could not speak in person very often. We kept in touch by writing letters... often

My little brother could not write yet. I sent him letters with simple words and kept them short. At that age his attention span was short. He loved getting his own mail.

When I got letters from him I knew he had dictated them to our mother. She would write everything word for word. That way I got a letter from my brother.

One letter said, " I'm cleaning the house. Not the kitchen. Not the bathroom. Not my bedroom. The living room.

Not the tables. Not the chairs. Not the floor. I'm just cleaning the couch. Bye."

Is that fun or what?

Smile. It Makes Them Wonder

 I had a job that I really loved. The company I worked for was run by two brothers.

When I began to work there one of the brothers was not physically present. The one I worked with was a nice guy. I was treated so well; perhaps a bit better than others. I got used to it.

The other brother did not come in at all. He was in the midst of divorcing the woman in charge of the rest of us. We all got along with her. She became a friend.

Eventually she stopped working there. She had remarried and was able to stay home with her little girls. Her husband decided to work with us sometimes.

He fell in love with and married a friend of mine who also worked there. It was like a big happy family.

Then the original brother got sick. He could not run the business so the other brother took over. 

Soon I was not the ''golden child". I can live with that. It was still a great place to work.

Eventually I was given all the worst work situations. I was miserable. I thought about quitting. I hated just entering the building.

Then one day my brain kicked in. I loved my customers and the people I worked with. Why was I allowing someone else to make me feel so bad?

Each night before I reached the front door I pasted a big smile on my face. I was ready to enjoy my customers.

It took some time but eventually I really was happy going to work. It drove the people who had been working hard to make me unhappy crazy. I was even happier.

Always smile. You will feel better. Most people around you will feel happier. Those who wish to make you unhappy will be confused and eventually look for another target.

Just Like The Movies

Since I was raised in small towns and on farms I had little 'worldly' experience. My children often teased me about being so naive. 

For instance there were never any fights thar I was aware of in school. I did hear about two girls having a hair-pulling fight over a boy. I was a junior in high school. That is the only one.

So we moved to the big city after we married. We stayed with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law at first.

They had an apartment above a gay bar. I had heard whispers about gay people but never really believed them. I was fascinated. I watched from the window when they were outside. It was unreal to me.

Then we had our own apartment. The woman downstairs was so nice. She was a war bride from Germany. The man upstairs was not normal. He was an admirer of Nazis. He had recordings of Hitler's speeches that he played at the highest level of sound. 

He assumed the woman downstairs felt the same but she did not. One day he caught her and tried to kiss her. When she refused his advances and told him she would call the police he ran outside. He stood in the middle of the street until the police confronted him. We heard he was evaluated for mental problems. We never saw him again.

Our next apartment was across the street from a small hotel. I did know about street-walkers from television. The hotel was used by these women off and on all day. The women from our building would sit on the front steps to watch them. Often we would each choose one to see who took the most men into the hotel that day.

One of the prostitutes had the prettiest yellow dress with matching yellow handbag and shoes. I actually envied that outfit. I love yellow but it is a terrible color for me.

I taught art classes. One of my favorite classes was in a sewing school. I sold the necessary supplies to the women there. They were evening classes so it was dark when I was finished. Everyone knew that I had large amounts of money then.

The women from the classes took good care of me because I was too foolish to be afraid. They walked me to my car and waited until I was safely on my way.

My husband was a truck driver. The truck he drove was owned by a man who owned a bar. I was pregnant and did not drink but we went to the bar on Friday night to pick up his pay.

One Friday my brother-in-law and sister-in-law went with us. My brother-in-law went to use the bathroom. The rest of us were sitting at our table talking. Suddenly a man came running up and over our table. I was shocked. Then another man went over the table right after the first. My husband recognized the second man as his brother and joined in the chase.

My sister-in-law joined others up against the wall. I sat at my table watching. It was like watching a movie. Seeing that I did not have the sense to move to safety my sister-in-law came over and dragged me with her. I am still grateful.

I am less naive than I used to be. I am back where I can be oblivious. The difference is wonderful.

To Know

In elementary school there were three grades to a room. For instance Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades were together. 

You may think that lessened the learning process. Not so. We all learned; every child in town and from the country.

If the teacher called the 2nd grade to the front the rest of us would work on our lessons. Then the 1st grade had their turn. And so on. We took turns all day.

Beginning in Kindergarten the teacher stood in front of the class to lead the pledge of allegiance. Then she turned and read a list of numbers from her list. The numbers were a mixture one, two, and three digits. We added them in our heads as she read them off. Then we raised our hands when she finished to give her the total. We were seldom wrong and not by much.

In 1st grade we learned multiplication and division. The reading book we used was a 3rd grade reader. I know that because I went to a different school and we used the same book in 3rd grade. 

The real point is that these were small town schools. There were not many children. We were all in the grades appropriate to our ages. And we all learned.

Children's minds are open to learning. They are waiting to have their minds filled with information. 

There I Sit Again

In the 1950's when I was a child automobiles were different than the ones today. Almost all cars had bench seats. Today bucket seats are the norm. 

At that time cars did not have seat belts, air bags, or many of the other safety features required today. Often one child would sit between Mom and Dad on the front seat while Mom held the baby. The other children were in the back seat. Often while in the back the children would stand. Sometimes it was to see where they were going and sometimes it was because the seat was full.

One Christmas or Thanksgiving (I cannot remember which) the back seat was full of pumpkin pies. We had to stand.

Unfortunately Daddy had to step on the brakes suddenly. Guess who lost her balance and sat down, Right into a pie. 

Another year Daddy was just too tired to get up and go with us to the farm for Thanksgiving. He had worked a double shift the day before. Mom would go back and pick him up later. 

We had baby chicks in brooders in the house to keep them warm. Mom got home to Daddy snoring in a house full of chicks running everywhere. Dinner was delayed because they had to gather chicks and put them back into brooders,

Then there was the day I had been a pain in the necks of my uncles. I am sure I was driving them crazy.

The cows needed to be milked. All my uncles had to work with Grandpa to do the job. After that all the buckets of milk were taken to the kitchen. The milk would be poured into the separator to separate the cream from the milk. Grandpa sold the milk and the cream. It was one of the ways a farmer could make money.

Milking was done. The buckets of milk were in the kitchen. I went back to teasing my uncles.

I was finished. I think I knew I had pushed too far. I went in to watch the separator. 

Suddenly one of my uncles slammed his way into the kitchen. He was so angry I could almost see smoke coming from his ears. And I knew he was after me.

I began to slowly back up as he came for me in a menacing way. I went back; he advanced. I kept going back as he kept coming at me. Of course I backed into a bucket of milk and sat in it.

It is the only time I can remember Grandpa being mad at me. That milk was ruined and could not be sold. I was no longer allowed near the new buckets of milk.

Clean It Up

I worked at a retail store similar to Walmart. I really liked working there and held some desirable positions. 

I worked the midnight shift. Usually we only had a store manager to oversee us. One cashier would assign tasks, breaks, and troubleshoot.

One night two young-ish men came in. I was putting merchandise into bags for the cashier to save her some work.

 The men bought some trash bags and a vacuum cleaner. It was unusual to be thinking of cleaning at 3:00 in the morning but we were trained not to comment on purchases.

The next day the police came to the store. A young woman had been killed. She was found in garbage bags. Other bags were also there filled with trash from the scene of where she was killed. Inside one bag was the receipt from the purchase of the bags and a vacuum cleaner.

As you have guessed the receipt showed the store, time, and cashier who sold them. She had to testify against the men at their trials.

I will tell more tales of retail another time.