Humble Beginnings

7/28/2020

Today would have been my parents 75th wedding anniversary. My dad died almost 9 years ago which means they made it to 66 years of marriage. When they married they hadn’t known each other very long but they really grew to love each other. It was very difficult when my dad was sick and they had to be apart. They always kissed when they saw each other and again when they parted company. This wasn’t always an easy maneuver with my dad in a wheel chair or on a gurney and my mom with a walker. When my dad died, my mom wanted a closed casket so she didn’t have to see him and could pretend that he was at Manor Care or the hospital instead of being gone for always.

My dad was a veteran of World War II, he actually landed on Utah beach on D day. My parents married while my dad was still in the army. He told so many great stories about being in the army. The men he served with, the cooking he did, the many days in the army hospital after a burst appendix, and being in the different countries. He was also awarded a purple heart.

My mom was at home with us while we were growing up. She had worked in a department store and had been an employee of Motorola. She also had a beautiful singing voice and had performed in school musicals, choirs and took voice lessons for a while. She told us when we were growing up that if she hadn’t had us she would have been famous.

I grew up in a three bedroom, one bathroom ranch in Arlington Heights. My parents bought it in 1954. At that time, they had my two brothers and my sister was a newborn. I was born four years later and my younger sister another four years after me. And my dad’s mother lived with us as well. Doing the math, that was eight of us in a six room house.

• 

To say the least, we were a bit crowded but we certainly managed. As a matter of fact, we did better than manage. We learned very early, how to share, take turns, be considerate of others, be quiet when others were sleeping, and playing well together. Needless to say, but I’m going to say it anyway, from very early on we had jobs to do around the house.

My mom was an excellent teacher of manners, morals and values. Even though we weren’t church attendees, we were brought up to be good people. We didn’t need church to teach us good behavior or integrity, we were taught at home. My mom made sure we knew how important family was and how we were to watch out for each other. We learned early that it was just as important to give as to receive when it came to Christmas and birthdays. We made or bought presents at Christmas for everyone in the family including grandma and my favorite aunt.

Of course with our large family, handy me downs were necessary, not an option, and received with gratitude. Shoes weren’t handed down because they were usually worn out. We had our play shoes and our “bye, bye” shoes. Our “bye, bye” shoes were “patent leather” and for special occasions only. Once in school, we got our new school shoes every fall.

My parents cooked in quantity and left overs were never wasted, ever!!! Sometimes we had clean out the fridge night. We often had breakfast supper, you should have seen the size of the pan of eggs they cooked. My dad liked to cook and was a great cook.

My mom planned meals to make sure that it included a vegetable that everyone liked. Even if that meant we had three different vegetables at a meal. We ate what was served and we are all here to talk about it. Hahahaha Our kitchen wasn’t a restaurant and we knew it from the start.

I believe my mom invented the time out. We would get in trouble and my dad believed in spanking but my mom would speak up saying over and over “put ’em on a chair” and we sat there, no toys, no entertainment until we were told we could get up. Often being made fun of by the siblings. Sometimes we were forgotten and got in a good nap. LOL

My dad was a YELLER, oh man sometimes that was difficult to deal with. I don’t know that I ever got over him yelling at me. Even as I grew older, it still hurt my feelings so much. Unfortunately, WE sometimes do what WE know and my kids would tell you, I was a YELLER too. And I know a couple of my siblings can share that same guilt as me. But like my mom I didn’t spank my kids and I never called them stupid, idiot, or dummy. I still tell myself I’m stupid or an idiot when I screw up the smallest of things.

You might be asking yourself, where is she going with this. Now I want to give you an idea of where I plan to take you by writing my blog. I want to share what I have experienced because of how I was raised and other stories about those people that are so important to me. I’m willing to admit to mistakes that I have made and hopefully be able to give you ideas on avoiding some of those same mistakes. I am going to tell you about two of the illnesses that I have and where that has and will be taking me. I’m hoping to enlighten, entertain, inspire and receive feedback. I want to share what I feel to be true in my life and possibly help you set a better course for yours. Maybe I can encourage some of you to share your story by being a guest blogger on my site. My mind is full of ideas and maybe some of it might be useful to you or someone you know.

I hope you will join me for future posts!!!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Some of my posts may contain affiliate links. That means if you buy something after clicking one of my links, I may receive a commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my site.