Oh, Those Movies

I think I must join the crowd, but the movies I know aren't the latest. I belong to the past, I guess where women were ladylike and men were--what were they?

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
The one with Alystair Sims. The part I would want is his housekeeper. I guess that's what she was. I loved the way she talked and laughed.

GONE WITH THE WIND
Any of these roles would be great. Aunt Pitypat, Melanie, Butterfly or whatever the slave girl's name was, and the black Mammy. Even Scarlet, I guess.

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING
Any one of the aunts or sisters of the bride. (She did have sisters, didn't she or sisters-in-law?
Or the mother of the bride would be better.

I could go back farther, but it would leave you wondering what I was talking about. One of the movies that scared me the most was back during the silent films. Someone local playing the organ set the mood of what was happening on the screen. Good old days? Not a chance!

Taste of Heaven

Luana told me some time ago to write memories about raising kids, but those stories are all old. All of you know them backward and forward. Maybe a few times having to do with grandkids....I don't know now if I was tending Sam and Jeremy on a regular basis or just as needed. But one morning they arrived in their sleepers, and Sam as usual followed me wherever I went to bring me up to date on all hiis doings. I forgot we had set a mousetrap in the freezer room and went in to get meat out for dinner. SNAP!! And loud cries from Sam. His big toe was caught. We rocked for awhile until it felt better. One afternoon they pulled chairs up, one on each side of me, to "help" stir up a cake. Jeremy hovered by the stove all during the baking because he was afraid it wouldn't be done before his Mommy came after them. "And all we have to eat at our house is carrots." he mourned. It was out of the oven and sampled before Mommy arrived. Another time the two were brought over in the evening and learned that there were no goodies here. Jeremy was very concerned about the situation. "But what are you going to do, Grandma?" It struck Grandpa's funny bone a good one so he and the boys went to the store right then to load up on candy and cookies. That reminds me of a time when Sue was about 5 years old and at her Grandma's. "I wrote you a grocery list, Grandma. Cookies, candy, and ice cream, and what else do you need from the store?" Grandma gave her a dime and sent her off to buy herself some candy.
But what does that have to do with heaven? Not a thing. I got sidetracked. When I was very young and we lived in the country, but I think I'll write about that next time around. Taste of Heaven coming up later--One more memory about Sam and Jeremy. They liked to sit on either side of me when I was crocheting so they could "hold the rope." Often I just did chains for them to play with. Several of them that they took home one evening had to be taped to their living room wall as Christmas decorations! Debbie did it to make them happy.

Summer I was 15, 1935

Soon after school was out that spring, I developed an infection in both eyes. It put me out of the line of fun for about six weeks. That's because it kept getting worse and worse, and the eye doctor couldn't find any way to bring it to an end. I didn't know, but he told my mom that he was afraid I was going to be blind. I had to see him every morning, and because my eyes were to dilated I couldn't see anything but blurs, my mom had to take me. Even the city bus driver was asking her each day how it was going. Mom kept the shades down in the house, and since they were a dark green, every room was shadowy. My best friend, Doris, was over every day to hang out with me and also to read magazine stories to me. The women's magazines at that time had loads of fiction and not quite so much about housekeeping and mothering. Doris was hooked, but I only read books--till she got me hooked too. Also I listened every day to the soaps on the radio. Backstage Wife, Stella Dallas, Ma Perkins, Mary Marlin, Vic and Sade and many others. I still remember the tune to "Rinso white, Rinso bright, happy little washday soap." The doctor tried something different each day, and one medication burned my eyes--made them worse. That ended that one. Another made one eye feel like a stickery burr was in it but only when I closed it! Mom washed it out over and over but no go. I worried about how I'd be able to sleep, but found I could lie on my left side and do okay. Finally, I guess my own good health and whatever the doctor tried did the job. I got well.
Later that summer Doris's mother suggested that Doris and I go visit her dad in Pickerell, Nebraska--about 75 miles from Lincoln. Population of about 150. Doris's sister was there for the summer to keep house and cook for her grandpa. The train we had to take was more like a Toonerville Trolley! Just one car that had engine and all in it. And one man to drive it along the track and a conductor. It was fun. We went on a Thursday morning and Doris's mom, dad, and little brother came for us on Sunday. The Grandpa had a nice little house on a country road and no plumbing. We followed a brick path through a flower garden to reach the potty house. Smells were kept down as much as possible by all the flowers. One evening we went to a ball game but sat with a few kids our age in back of the bleachers and didn't see even one pitch. On Sunday
we walked down the gravel road to a small church and went to Sunday School. That "vacation" is a very happy memory.

My Best Summer of All, 1936

The first week-end after school was out, a Music Camp for all high school kids in Nebraska got underway. This was with the Uni. of Nebr. music department. Orchestra, which included all instruments and not just strings, and a chorus of mixed voices (boy/girl). I was in the chorus so I'll say no more about the orchestra except that each member had the same stuff the singers had. Voices were quickly tried out by several teachers, and I was put with the high sopranos. We had chorus practices twice a day at the university's Temple theater. Also each day, but only once, we had singing section practices. Twice a week each of us had a private voice lesson from one of the uni.'s teachers. And each of us had a practice hour in one of the practice rooms at the School of Music building. Now all that kept us very busy, but even so a group of us from Lincoln High managed to hang out in the ladie's lounge in the School of Music basement. And our practice hours were more of a fun time when we gabbed and played all the nameless duets on the piano. There was a piano in each practice room on all floors. The out of town kids stayed and had meals at the dorms. Town kids were on their own for lunch. A group of us usually headed for Woolworth's lunch counter. This was 5 days a week from, I think 8:30 to 5:00. And it was fun, fun, fun! We memorized several songs that were of a variety and really great. I only remember a part of one of them--about a farmer who lived in the west country and had daughters one, two, and three, bow down, bow down. Etc. That took care of my daylight hours and now for the evenings.

I was 16, my friend Jerry Nelson had hit 17 the Feb. before. And we were mixed up with our NAVAM girls plus kids of both sexes from the Lutheran church. We got together every evening at Jerry's house because her mom made us welcome. They had a big basement room with a phonograph and lots of records of dance music, so we learned ballroom dancing that summer. And sometimes we gathered on the front porch (with the porch light on and the bugs thick) and sang songs or just talked. Mrs. Nelson or Mr. Nelson kept pretty close tabs on us. And Mrs. Nelson handed out root beer floats at the end of each evening. Sometimes my dad and Mr. Nelson hauled us to Capitol Beach, the amusement park, where we would go on the rides (such as they were then) and have picnic suppers. There came one night when my folks said I had to stay home and visit with them--and my sister and her husband who were living with us at the time. I was horrified and then surprised about how much fun I had with just my family!

At the end of the music camp--8 or 9 weeks--we put on a concert at the coliseium, and had a huge crowd to cheer for us. All those town parents and all those from all over Nebraska who had to come and collect their kids.

I finished off the summer by visiting a friend, Elizabeth, who lived in Talmadge, Nebraska--population of 500. I met her when we both played in the piano carnival during the spring. My folks took me there on Thursday afternoon and came for me on Sunday. We were on the go every minute, but the most fun was the County Fair. We enjoyed every ride and looked at all the exhibits. Richt after that bit of vacation it was school time again. I can hardly believe it all took place 72 years ago! Now I expect comments since I am a VIP!!!

The hurting

When Sue was still a new baby, I read in something about a woman who gave birth at home by herself to a baby she definitely didn't want. She got rid of it by putting a towel around it and sticking it up in her icy attic. Left it to die. I thought of that baby when Sue had finished nursing (at night) and that tiny face lay, sleeping, against my still bare boob. She was warm and cuddled and dearly loved.

When she got older and had all the little kid bumps and bruises and hurts that mamas can make well with a kiss and maybe a bandaid, it was all acceptable. All but that broken collar bone when she was about 6. She was so scared when she swallowed a dime and asked me if it would hurt very much when the doctor had to cut it out of her. Her relief was great when I told her how it would get out on its own! And when fevers caused her to hallucinate creatures that terrified her, being on my lap kept her safe.

Then came the day she clung to me, both of us crying because she had cancer of the lung. And a world of love from a mama couldn't help. I could only hold her hand when she died.

Bedtime Entertainments

Every night when my bedroom light goes out, I get to watch a "show" on my ceiling. Sometimes I see wind-blown mounds and piles of snow, and usually there's a house or country type school house toward the background. It's never nighttime there for there often are rays of pink on the snow--as of sunrise or sunset. Once I felt a little concern because the house I was seeing had such a huge amount of snow on its flat roof I was sure the weight would cave the roof in. The picture changed before that happened however. Some people had started trying to clear the snow off with shovels. I never did get back there to find out if they did okay.

This is for real. I'm not kidding. And I see these things with my eyes open or shut. Sometimes I'm moving along a country road, and the scenery is beautiful. (I'm just me and not in a car). And sometimes there's a car a little way ahead of me on the road. When I see that I always try to catch up with it. I want to pass it so I can see who is driving and if anyone else is in the car. I've come close at times but never have made it. Sometimes the car will turn off on a side road, and I can't manage to make the turn. There are other kinds of roads too. Sometimes long straight stretches with fields or farms along the way. Sometimes it's hills, steep ones occasionally. A few times I've been riding in a train. Last time that happened we went through a forest of trees all leafed out. Sometimes it's winter with just skeletal branches sort of jammed together.

The most interesting though is when I'm on a downtown sidewalk and watching cars going by--moving in both directions and NOT in a steady stream. I'm always able to see the different store fronts across the street, but I can't ever make out the names of the stores or exactly what's in the window displays. I watch people walking by and going in or out of the stores too.

This all started in the last many months--as my eye problem got worse. Next time I see Dr. Lawless I'll try to remember to ask him about it. I've always had hurting eyes on my mind every time so I forget about the "movies." For a long, long time I've seen words on walls but they keep changing before I can read more than one or two of them. No messages. I've lots of times seen music too. The words and music are in the daytime. Now, I'm also seeing huge flowering bushes on the walls. Lots prettier than the white walls with people's pictures. The colors are so beautiful. And so there it is. Do you envy me my entertainment?

Mary needs--

Sandy did her own needs and then did mine.
Here's what I need--

1. Attention on my feet.

2. Numbers

3. More take cover alarms!

4. Overtime to tame Gonzaga

5. To schedule appearances6

6. A time-out

7. Shadows