You know the hardest part of this question/ answer once a
week blog post, is sticking to the question. Maybe I will get better as time
goes. But don’t hold your breath.
This week’s question: Tell us about your siblings and early
memories of your family live.
Rose:
When I was born, I joined two older brothers. Frank was born
on Nov. 6 1936 and Cash Jr. was born on July 9, 1934. Later I was joined by two
younger brothers, John born Oct. 25, 1945 and Ron born Jan. 18, 1948.
We lived in a small, four bedroom house. Later we were
joined by Gramma Mona, my dad’s mom. She lived with us till her health failed
and she moved to a nursing home. Nursing homes have come a long way since that
time. I can vaguely going to visit her. It was a big, old house converted to a
home for the aging. I remember the house to be very dark and smelly. Thank
goodness, Long term care facilities have come a long way since then.
Most people assume that being the only girl in a family of
four boys would make for person child. That might have been true in the early
years but it definitely wasn’t true of years that I can remember. My dad was
always sick and there was no government assistance in those days, so mom had to
go to work to help support a family seven. My older brothers had jobs and
helped out, too. That left me to care for the two younger boys. Let me tell
you, no spoiling going on in my family. There were no boy/girl jobs. Everyone
had to do their share. If the house needed painting, you grabbed a brush and
helped. Yard work, grab the dandelion digger or push mower. No one left the
house till the dishes were washed (we took turns being the dishwasher), floor
swept and garbage taken out after supper.
A lot of nights, supper was my responsibility. In fact, that is what I
was doing when I caught myself on fire. I was wearing my dad’s white shirt with
long tails, fad of the 50’s. Our kitchen was so small you couldn’t eat in it
but we had a table by the stove mainly for morning coffee and much needed
counter space when getting a meal. Well,
I was leaning against it, polishing my nails while I watched supper cook and
Yep, the tails of the shirt caught fire. And you know what, you panic or at
least I did. I not only didn’t remember to drop and roll, I ran through the
house yelling for my mom. She was lying down, resting from a long day at the
hospital with my dad. Thank God, she was thinking. She threw the blanket she
had over her around me and managed to save my long hair from going up in flames
and probably me. The Doctor came (they still made house calls back then) and
said I didn’t need to go to the hospital. But I can remember being very upset
because I had to cancel my date for the night. And I missed a few days of
school. And to this day, I can’t stand to watch kids playing around bonfires,
or lighting fireworks. Makes me very uneasy.
Hubby hasn’t gotten to his respond to this question, yet.
Maybe I can pin him down today before the “game” starts. Will post if and when
he does.
Have a great Sunday. Enjoy the Super Bowl.
Rose
Another great post, Mom. I didn't know your dad's mom lived with you. Looking forward to Dad's post, too! :)
ReplyDeleteThat would have been so scary getting caught on fire like that! Yikes! I'm glad everything was ok though. Sounds like you had a lot of responsibility growing up.
ReplyDelete