Week 40 of 2017 - Halloween on Fritz Drive

We had a neighbor lady, Miss Collins, who never married and lived alone accept for a small dog that she had...a little ankle biter and the breed of the dog now escapes my memory. It was a barker I remember! She was an avid gardener and her yard was the best yard in the neighborhood to hide in for Hide and Seek but her dog often gave you away or she did did when she yelled at you to get out of the yard because you were making her dog bark.....but all that is for a different blog. 

Miss Collins seemed to like the neighborhood children and we liked her too. We often visited her on weekends...several Saturdays afternoons before Halloween, she would invite all the neighborhood kids over and we would make our own Halloween treats. Not all of the kids came but each year six or eight of us did! The first Saturday we would arrive promptly. She would have the taffy all made and it would be ready to pull. “Go wash your hands! “ she would remind us. So we all lined up at the kitchen sink and while standing on a stool we washed our hands. She divided the taffy into child size balls and gave each of us one. “Be Careful, it's still warm but we need to start pulling it." she would tell us.  It was a bit like playing with Stretch Armstrong (who came along many years later). We pulled and pulled until the taffy cooled and changed from a rather transparent color to a cloudy one...As you pulled it, it became harder and harder to pull as it cooled. Miss Collins knew when the taffy was perfect and with one last pull we would hand over our strings of taffy and she would get to work cutting the taffy into bite size pieces on a butcher block! Sometimes taffy would shoot across the room as she cut it. The kids would burst into laughter as we scrambled to find the piece. She had wax paper cut into squares so we could wrap the taffy pieces as she cut them. Looking back on it she had a fairly small kitchen for all the neighborhood kids to pack into... For never having children of her own she sure was patience with us all! She would put the wrapped taffy in a bowl. We could hardly wait til the next Saturday when we would come to see her again!

The next Saturday, she would have a couple of roasting pans over flowing with pop corn and a large pot of taffy like candy cooking on the stove. After we arrived and washed our hands, she instructed us to get some butter from the butter dish and rubbed it all over our hands. And as kids always do, we teasing each other with our greasy hands! Next she would pour the hot candy liquid over the pop corn filled roasters. She stirred it up a bit trying to coat all the pop corn and let the candy cool some with six or eight kids with greasy hands who can't wait to dig into the pop corn mixture. When it was cool enough we all gathered around her table grabbing a hand full of pop corn at a time and making balls out of them. As is always tempting with kids, you just wanted to throw that pop corn ball when you got done shaping it but we would wrap each ball in wax paper instead. We would make enough pop corn balls for all the kids in the neighborhood. She allows us to pick our favorite and she marked them so that we were sure to get the right one.

On the final Saturday before Halloween, Miss Collins would have us come over again. This time we were to help her stuff the Halloween bags that she would hand out to the neighborhood kids on Halloween. When we arrived, she would have lunch size bags open on her kitchen table all ready for us to stuff. Each bag got a pop corn ball, taffy, chewing gum, a sucker and a plastic Halloween spider ring or wax vampire teeth or a similar Halloween themed item. The kids who participated wrote their name on the bag that they wanted and then we wrote names on the rest of the bags for each of the kids in the neighborhood!

Now we patiently or not so patiently waited for Halloween. There was still lots to do. If we had not gotten our new mask, it was time to do that. We did not get new costumes each year. We did get a new plastic mask and found clothes that we had in our dresser draw which completed the costume. A black cat mask with black pants and a black turtle neck sweater was my favorite costume when I was six or seven. I was a clown several times too. Mom had a tendency to steer us away from scary costumes and toward the happy fun ones. 

Matt and Mark - Halloween 1966

And then there were the pumpkins. On the Sunday afternoon before Halloween, my Dad would pile all the kids in the station wagon and take us to a local farmer or fruit stand that had pumpkins. We would pick out the biggest one we could carry!!! That was the key...we had to be able to carry it.

Mark trying valiantly to carry his own pumpkin and Sharon helping Matt - 1966

  

Keeping a close eye on their pumpkins while waiting to pay for them - 1966

After we selected and purchased our pumpkins, we took them home to carve them. Dad supervised the carving and gave us ideas when we had none. He was extremely creative!  

Jan, Sue, Matt, Mark and Sharon all carving pumpkins on newspapers on the Family room floor - 1966

We all had Halloween parties at school during elementary school so we took our costume to school and got to put it on for a Halloween parade and a party. It was not a very productive day at school since every kid wanted to get home to go trick-or-treating.

When we arrive home on the school bus and all we could think about was trick-or-treating. We only went in our neighborhood of about twenty houses and only to the houses who had the porch light on (and of course they all did). There were no street lights but we had to patiently wait for it to get dark before we could head out. And everyone had to eat a good dinner or you could not eat your candy! While we waited we decorated a brown grocery bag to use for collecting our candy. You made sure you put your name on it so everyone knew it was your bag of candy!

Eventually, Mom could not take anymore “Can we go now? Can we go now?” and she would send us on our way. We ran across the lawns from house to house yelling “Trick-or-Treat!!!!” impatiently waiting as Theresa Randall or Dee Hughes or Dee Jacobsen to give candy to each kid standing at their door! The amazing thing was that they knew each child so if you pushed to the front of the line you would be in trouble! Miss Collins was usually one of our last stops since we knew what we would get from her! and then it was on up the hill to Ludkey's house. 

After an hour or so we would go home and dump our candy on the living room floor to see what we had. We often tried to barter with each other...for our favorite candy....I'll trade you a black jack for a bit of honey or sucker for a tootsie roll! I remember the year that Sweet Tarts came out because we all wanted them.   It was often a losing battle because we all like the same candy and no one was about to give up their favorite candy. Almost no one handed out chocolate when I was a kid.

So I hope this blog gets you thinking about your fondest Halloween Memories. Happy Halloween!

Love, Jan

Week 36 of 2017 - Angel on my Shoulder.

It is Week 36 already...wow...

This week I have been very busy with the garden. We have had a cool summer this year but we had rain on a regular basis. So as you can see the garden is flourishing! I purposely planted later in the spring so all the produce in the garden would not be ready during our late August vacation this year. Now that it is the first week of September the coolness of fall is in the air. My beans are just starting and the tomatoes are getting red but very slowly. 

The tomato plants are weighted down with lots of green and light orange fruit. The fruit is so heavy that sometimes they fall off too soon and drop to the straw covered ground beneath the plants. So my patio table is full of tomatoes in all stages from green, light orange, dark orange and red with green spots! I place them there for a few more days of sunshine hoping that they will ripen just a bit more.

We, the tomatoes and I, are hoping for some more summer warmth and sunshine. My gardening skills I got when I was a strong young woman in my twenties. I had a neighbor who had an acre of land between my house and his. He grew a large garden on it and one year invited me to help him. Looking back, the things I learned that summer were life altering lessons....that is for a different blog. My garden is smaller and I am older. That is good.

I have to try to rein myself in when planting time arrives. I see all the empty space between the rows and I try to convince myself that I can fit one more row or one more squash mound!  I try to plant too much in my small space. I have plenty of room but I need to use it wisely. 

So this week I am preserving all the produce from my little patch of heaven. Some of you probably think I am crazy because it is a lot of work but it is rewarding. Each year as the fruits of my labor appear, it take me back to a time when my Mother canned everything she could get her hands on and made jam that we would eat all winter.

In the 1950 and 1960's it was not easy to feed a household of eight. So you learned how to buy, barter or just obtain the extra (or as in my case, grow...) bushels of fruit and produce that you in some way would preserved. I remember sitting at the table licking the spoon of foam that was carefully scraped off the top of the strawberry jam when Mom made it. When we got older, we were recruited to go pick berries with her for her jam making adventures. We were instructed that we could not just pick and eat!

Later in the summer she would buy bushels of fruit. We especially loved that time of the year because we would sneak fruit from the baskets as they waited to be canned. I vividly remember a year where someone ate so many plums that they ended up spending the next day on the toilet. Ops...learned that lesson. That was also the year when Mom figured out that we were snitching from her baskets! Plums were a favorite along with peaches and pears. For years she threw the peach pits and the peels on the same spot in our side yard and before we knew it we had our own peach tree. She did not realize it but all the fruit and vegetable waste she put on that pile made for a perfect place for that peach tree to grow. Mom was not a gardener but she knew how to put thing up for the winter.

Fast forward to the 1975...alright, you don't have to go too fast...I have my first little cracker box of a house and a wonderful neighbor who, as I said, had this big garden. I am helping him...really he is teaching me. I have two children and all the produce I could handle and now what do I do? My Mother came to my rescue! We collected jars, lids and rings from every source that we could find but especially garage sales and estate sales. She helped me find the tools I needed; a water bath canner, jar lifters and a canning funnel. In the spring, she showed me how to make jam, her famous strawberry, after we picked the berries ourselves. I saved up enough money to buy a second hand freezer so that we could freeze what we could not preserve by canning.

Raspberry Jam

By midsummer, the neighbors raspberries were ready and we made jam again. I had never eaten raspberry jam before and it soon became my favorite. We never had enough peas to freeze because my children ate them fresh out of the garden before I could get them to the house. Once the beans started, Mom showed me how to blanch them and freeze them. Then we went on to the tomatoes....lots and lots of tomatoes. We had so many tomatoes that we bartered tomatoes with the neighbor to our south for pears from her pear tree. We each did up a bushel. Mom had not canned much since our moved to Imlay City. Her family was shrinking as the older three girls married and move out. Now they were a family of five. We found peaches at a good price so we did some of those too. I think we had that water bath canner boiling for about 5 or 6 weeks canning everything we could get our hands on. 

Pickled Beets

 Stewed Tomatoes

At this time of the year as I am canning things from my garden, I hear my Mom telling me how to do it...”don't forget a little salt...” she would say when we canned tomatoes. “Get all that air out of that jar.... clean off that rim before you put the lid on...make sure the lids and jars are hot...be sure to let them cool on the counter ...make sure the hot jars don't touch...” 

 All through the process, I have a little Angel sitting on my shoulder, who reminds me of all the things I learned from her and all the fun we had that year.  So just maybe that explains why I do this every summer and fall. I certainly can afford to go to the store and buy jelly, tomatoes, fruit and vegetables but I would miss the visit that I get from my Mom! And the store bought goods do not taste as good as my preserved items!

Love you Mom...we are at it again this year!

Love, Jan

Week 32 of 2016 - Shooting Stars and Meteor Showers

We lived on 29 Mile Road and Mound Road from the time I was an infant until 1968 when we moved to Imlay City. We played out doors a lot...all the usual day time and night time games; Hide and seek, Red Rover, Touch the porch, Tag....and many others. Back then 29 Mile Road was a dirt road...I have picture of when they paved it... On hot summer nights like tonight, Mom would let us stay outside a little longer. I suppose that was because it was hot in the house and we would probably just complain about it. If you were lucky you had a big box fan that you put in a window and sucked the cool air in after the sun when down.

Often on these kinds of hot summer nights, you could only run around and play so much tag and hide and seek before you were sweaty and exhausted. So we would plop our hot sweaty bodies down in the grass and look up at the stars...This is when my love of star gazing began. We found that the ditch across the street from our house was just deep enough to support our backs just like a recliner. It would be dry as a bone by August. We never thought of how critters and bugs were joining us...We just mashed down the talk grass and laid on it! There were no street lights so nothing to interfere with the stars. It was not unusual for six or eight kids (Smith girls, Randall kids, Trombley kids, Hughes girls) to be laying in the ditch along side of the road watching for shooting stars. We would get so disappointed if a car came along which would mess up our eyes for a while.

I did not know then that it was a meteor shower that we were watching. I can not remember that I specifically watched them on my birthday. It was just an often occurrence in the summer when Mom would let us stay out long enough. Eventually she would flip on the porch light and we would have to come in. I was always so disappointed!

I remember being disappointed after we had moved in town in Imlay City to find that I could not see the stars most nights because there were just too many lights. By then I was more boy crazy than anything and star gazing got put on the back burner. 

 So about twenty five years later, I am living in Arizona. I am newly divorced and it is my 38^th Birthday. All over the news they are talking about this Perseid Meteor shower which was suppose to be at storm level. I had ordered a made “special for me” cute Ford Ranger pickup, on Memorial day. Low and behold, it got delivered and was ready for pickup a couple of days before my birthday. My best friend, Miriam and I were looking for something to do to celebrate our birthdays which were a couple of weeks apart. My children are headed to spent time with their father so we headed for the desert north of Phoenix to see if we could see a Meteor shower. We found a dark location off of Happy Valley Road. (which today is totally built up!) It was a perfect location because there was a small ridge of hills that block the bright lights from Phoenix. We loaded the cooler with a couple of beers each and a couple of blankets to lay on... (lay on the desert floor at night? What were we thinking?) We found our little piece of desert and parked the truck. Brought down the tail gate and sat in the dark night letting out eye adjust. We both had to work in the morning so we could not make it too late a night but we had to have it be dark enough to see the stars too. 

It was about eleven o'clock or so when we saw our first shooting start. SO we laid back in the bed of the truck on the blankets and let “Mother Nature's” show begin. We literally saw hundreds and neither one of us wanted the night to end. We kept saying “ Just want to see one more big one streak across the sky and then we go! ” To this day when I talk about that night I get goosebumps. I had never seen anything like it.

I have chased this meteor show all over the country, from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, to Haleakala Crater on the island of Maui to my sisters driveway in Harbor Beach and it has become the best birthday present I could ever have. I have experienced it with all the most special people of my life.

So I hope you find time to slow down and enjoy the show sometime this week! The Meteor shower begin in late July, builds to the peak on the night of August 11/ morning of August 12, and unwinds again until about the 24^th of August. So there is lots of time to view it!

Making more memories!

Love, Jan

Week 17 of 2016 - Moments in Life that Define You...56

I have a couple of "moments" that come to mind, both involving very special people in my life...my dad and mom at the end of their worldly lives.  My dad, Harold, died on August 30, 1996, one day after his 68th birthday. Full of life, loving his occupation with small town retail stores and cherishing his faith, family and friends, Dad was the picture of health.  He died instantly of a massive heart attack on Friday of Labor Day weekend, as the town was already filling with visitors and family for the last holiday gathering of the summer.  The weather forecast was perfect, the parks full and there was excitement in the air.

 Everything came to a complete stop for the Smith family as we stumbled around in grief, trying to understand how our Dad could be gone.  Our two businesses, Harbor Beach Variety and The Corner Store were shuttered and marked with black ribbons and signs of explanation.  We would be closed until further notice.  As word spread quickly through our small lakeside community of Harbor Beach, Michigan, condolences, tears and stories of remembrance began immediately.  I just could not pull myself together that first day, until a family friend pulled into the driveway with her sister.  Judy had a flower shop in town next to our Variety Store, and Dad and Judy often worked together on projects, her family became special friends to Mom and Dad and it was not surprising that they were bringing us food gifts and words of love and reassurance.  I don't remember what I said, but I'm sure I was a total mess.  Her words of love to me are something I have never forgotten, have used numerous times since and were perfect for me at that time and still this year, which will be the 20th anniversary of Dad's death.  She simply said, "Please remember that you are not alone in this journey.  There is no way anyone on this Earth..never in all of time, not years before, not today and not in the future...can anyone live life without losing someone...many someones...that they love.  Please know that others love you, can help you through this and in time you will help others when they feel the way you feel today.  God's love through others will comfort and heal you."  It meant the world to me then and still does today.  I hope that Judy Sweet and her sister, Nancy Krueger know how much they helped me on the day my dear Dad passed from this life to the next.  I will never forget it.

My defining moment with my sweet Mom, Leah Smith, happened 11 years later.  Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in May of 2007, we Smith kids had our world rocked by another realization that life as we knew it was going to change.  My sister commented through her tears, "We are going to be orphans."  While I remembered what I always preached about not being alone in this part of life...everyone loses people that they love...I could not come to grips with the challenge that presented itself.  We needed to care for our dying mother with no experience...medically, emotionally, mentally, physically...it was going to be an on the job training of the most difficult kind.

Our days were immediately filled with all kinds of appointments, all of which were happening 2 hours away in a larger city hospital and clinic where we could receive the specialized care of a gynecological oncologist. The Corner Store, which my Mom and I ran, was put into the hands of our very competent staff and I went on auto-pilot most days...and nights.  Our three sons were concerned, not only for Grandma, but for me, their mom, who seemed to be losing her own life in grief and despair.  I'm not sure if the three boys consulted on a plan of action, but our oldest, Brad, then 34 years of age and with a family of his own,  made a call that would change my whole attitude forever.

"How's it going, Mom," he'd ask, knowing full well that I was a disaster.  He'd let me try to explain, ask another question and then hear me plead again..."Why, just why?  Why God?  Please....?"  So, finally, my wise son asked if I would just listen and think this through with him.  "Just hear me out, Mom.  If this isn't something you can work with and question what God's plan is, that means you are taking it into your own hands.  This also means that you get to decide how your mother will die...what will be her final journey into eternity.  What do you choose?"  I was stunned, and stammered out loud.."Well...uh...I can't do that!"  Brad continued, "Of course you can...you do not want your Mom or my Grandma to have ovarian cancer.  You pick what she should have."  I continued to ponder his statement feeling totally frustrated and even angrier.  Finally, in desperation, I answered.  "I guess I'd have her go quickly...just like Dad did.  That was awful, but I don't think he suffered."  Brad replied, "Great. Perfect!  Now...you pick the time, Mom.  When is this going to happen?"  I was speechless....for a long time.  My comment...finally...was, "Okay, Brad.  I understand.  This is God's timing and perfect plan, not mine or anyone else's.  I am not capable to handle what God does so well for us and with everlasting love."  I don't remember much else about the conversation after that.  I have remembered it with distinct clarity ever since, however.

My oldest son, reversing the roles and becoming the parent at age 34 to help his Mother get back on track with a beautiful "defining moment."  Love you, Brad!

Week13 of 2016...Accidents and the Lessons Learned

ACCIDENT....me?  I can't believe my sister would pick such a topic and then assign me such a task. What does she want....a volume?  or a Blog Post?  There are people that have accidents and then there are folks that are an accident waiting to happen most of the time.  I'm not that bad, but I've had my share and yes, there are lessons to be learned.  Isn't that how we learn?  Of course it is!  The only problem we have is when we repeat the accidents and don't learn on the first...or second...or third time.

Let's make a list...

A.  Food
B.  People
C.  Automobiles
D.  Others

Food was always a topic of discussion in the Smith Family...and the Semps are no different.  SO..do we want to talk about the triple batch of cherry finger jello that Brad pulled out of the refrigerator to see if it was done.  NOPE, it wasn't...and my carpeted kitchen floor was never the same.
LESSON:  ALWAYS position a pan of liquid jello on a high shelf when you have little ones!

Have you ever spilled anything in your car?  Like a crockpot of Nacho Cheese or Goulash Soup? Wouldn't one think that after having a horrible mess like spilled cheese, I'd always put a crock pot in a box or suitable, stable spot?  NOPE...I do it several times before I figure it out.  The only way to clean cheese out of a van is to open both sliding doors on the van and take it to the carwash that has a hand nozzle to get in all the cracks and crevices.  And you know, we finally had to inject odor neutralizer with a syringe into the carpet.  Every time the van was warmed by the sun, it smelled like sour milk. LESSON:  ALWAYS put soupy or liquid foods in a box, please.

Ever seen a bottle of red pop dropped by a youngster explode and spin in circles with the spray coating the grocery store aisle with red, sticky pop?  LESSON:  Hopefully, the adult will put the pop in the cart from now on.

Raising three boys was a circus from time to time...well, most of the time.  Moms of all boys should understand going into the experience that there will be rough housing, wrestling, breakage and tears...usually in that order. It didn't matter who was chasing, but at one time or another, the chasee got hurt.  We had pressure bandages on huge goose eggs to the head, black eyes, broken nose, collarbones (yes, more than once), many bags of ice in washcloths, skinned knees, legs and arms. Did one incident teach me how to prevent the next....hmmm...probably not.  LESSON:  Some accidents just happen when you have kids no matter how you try and prevent them.

Automobiles and other machinery help us in daily life...accidents happen and the damage can be repaired or replaced...at a cost.  My parents always said "better a thing to fix/replace, rather than a person!"  However, some of life's biggest and earliest lessons are with automobiles that do not belong to us...but are on loan from our parents.  Totaling our family station wagon at 17 was devastating to me, and my family's mode of transportation for a few weeks.  I swore I would never drive again, but my wise father said that my best therapy was to drive the car back home from the repair shop. One moment of not paying attention, resulted in rear end damage to the car ahead of me, pushing that car into the back of a brand new car being driven home from the sales lot....all on M53 with the Eastern Michigan Fair on my left and McDonalds on the right...witnesses all over the place gaping at the chain collision AND my folks green Ford station wagon was totaled because the frame was bent.  A ride home in a police car was the culmination of that days lesson.  Costly, but a very effective LESSON for life!  However...not the only accident I have had!

If you could ask my father, Harold, he'd have a couple of additional stories along with a huge grin and laughter...now...but not then. One of the best ones involved the Harbor Beach Post Office which in years past had two postal boxes out front...one for local mail and one for out of town mail. On a rainy day and not wanting to get out of Dad's famous big blue van, I pulled in just so, getting the oversized side mirror of the van, caught right between the two boxes. I could not get the van out, and so I went inside and explained to the Postmaster that I was stuck and would just pull away, likely pulling the mirror off, but in that attempt was not trying to damage " US Postal property."  That's exactly what happened.  Dad was not so understanding and made me drive him back to the Post Office and show him exactly how I could have accomplished such a thing.  LESSON:  While the design and engineering is horrible for the drive up box in Harbor Beach, (its on the wrong side of the road for the driver of a vehicle to use it) one should just get out of the vehicle and put the mail in the box in any kind of weather.

Did you ever roller blade?  If so, you know that just a pebble or a twig can cause you problems if you aren't paying attention while on roller blades.  I was very fortunate in all my years of roller skating and rollerblading to enjoy the exercise with relatively few accidents.  I wore protective gear, controlled my speed and was careful at corners and crosswalks.  However, one day I skated through fresh asphalt...or tried to.  It does not work and no amount of compensation can correct it.  I was down for the count.  LESSON:   Make sure the city hasn't repaired a water main break where you are skating...it messes up your skates, bruises your ego and maybe your derriere.

And one more, not of my doing...some of you reading our blog posts know of my sister's love of nature, animals and such.  Susie had quietly collected a full coffee can of tree toads..(tiny little toads about as big as your little fingernail) one Sunday, while we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Smith.  Our Sundays usually included a car ride and maybe stopping to visit other relatives.  With a two door sedan packed with 4 girls, Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, the entire back seat was packed with the "women."  Susie's toad collection in the covered coffee can was on the floor of the car, but only a mile into the ride, Grandma Smith, promptly took the top off to see what was in the can.  Before Susie could even respond, the back seat was filled with dozens..maybe hundreds of little toads hopping everywhere. With squeals, giggling and maybe a few tears from Susie,  Dad stopped the car and he and his Dad had a great laugh from the front seat, while Susie tried to gather as many as she could and put them back in the can.  LESSON:  In our family, make sure you carefully open a container that Susie has had in her possession..or don't touch it in the first place.

So...our life lessons are many...difficult, easy, sad, happy...but all are a part of the learning process. May you never stop learning and be blessed with an abundance of laughter with your lessons!

Week 18 of 2016 - Collaboration Between Siblings....

When my sister Jan and I talked about blogging, I enthusiastically agreed we need to document the stories of our life to keep for our grandchildren and even great grandchildren.  I guess I didn't think about how much "I" would learn.  As the oldest, I assumed I had a good grasp on things...you know, "looking at it from the eldest point of view" and "being around longer than all the others..."  WELL, there is much to be learned, while I still have the opportunity.  Jan's account of collaboration in this weeks blog was very much NEW NEWS to me.

I collaborated with my two younger sisters very effectively, but most often it was to my benefit, if you know what I mean.  I organized chores on the weekends to make sure it was all accomplished and sometimes there were a few bribes.  Yes, I did my share, but I made sure they were on task and completed as I wanted it. I'd get one of the girls helping me and then convinced the other to do something for both of us.  Collaboration?  Or control?  Clothes were also a topic.  With three girls, if we shared we had that many more outfits.  Working with Sue, then Jan would fall in line with it, too.

Neighborhood games?  I was the oldest...a position of control then...(now they never let me FORGET it).  In our growing up years, we had a small neighborhood of maybe 15 homes involving 50 kids of all ages.  Days and summer evenings were filled with games of all kinds but I wanted to be run with the older kids and be selected for the boys baseball and kickball teams.  If Sue would hold back with Jan and keep her happy, I was free to play to my hearts content.  Sometimes, magic had to be performed to convince them they didn't have to tag after big sister or keep up with her.

This is all well and normal for families of our 1950-60s era...except when it came back to haunt me on a beautiful, summer day.  Sister Sue was a huge animal lover...of all kinds of creatures. She's always loved furry pets, even big furry animals, like cows.  I remember the day our Mom looked out the window to see cows loose in the field next to our house and no one other than daughter/sister Sue herding them up with a big stick.  She couldn't have been very old, could have easily been stepped on or trampled, but she had them on the move.  We were at a pig farm one day with my dad...another good story for another time....I was scared to death.  Not Sue...she'd been right out there with them if Dad would have let her.  She also liked bugs, rodents and reptiles.  That's where I draw the line..especially, the slithery kind.

 The story goes that she...and now I find out Jan was involved...gathered up the s kind and kept them in an old mailbox, which had been sitting on the seat of our homemade sandbox.  We used to play there and use the mailbox as an oven for mudpies, a refrigerator for sand "sundaes" or just a cupboard for our sand toys.  One day, she decided to trick her big sister and surprise her with the new collection she had gathered.  I was sent to get something out of the mailbox and when I opened the door, dozens of  the creatures poured out and went in all directions.  Now, one can only imagine with that many in one rural road mailbox, how quickly they would try to escape.  ONE S was bad enough for me...let alone a couple of dozen s's.   I was one terrified older sister...flying to the house calling for retribution on those horrible sisters.  I really can't remember what Mom thought, or what she told Dad when he got home from work.  WHAT I CAN TELL YOU...still to this day, I have a fear of s... that I probably need professional help for.  I have also "collaborated" with my baby sister, Sharon. She has the same fear. I have always blamed Sue for my issues...I had no idea that Jan AND Sue were involved with that "collaboration"...one that affects me to this day.   Hmmmm...I just wonder what else is out there that I never knew about our growing up years.  Probably plenty to be discovered through the Smith Family Memories...to be continued and I hope you are enjoying our chatter!

Week 18 of 2016 - Collaboration Between Siblings

There is this really awesome benefit to having a lot of siblings.  The first and foremost, there was always someone to play with.  In Romeo, we lived in a small neighborhood full of young families with small kids so there were many playmates.....Everyday was a play day... Times were different.
My sister Sue and I were very close!  

When my mother got pregnant with Matt, it became obvious that our small house was bursting at the seams.  So my Dad, planned an addition which would add a large family room, increase the size of the one bedroom that all four of the "girls" were in and give him the garage he always wanted. No more digging out the car so you could go to work in the winter or scrapping frost or ice off the windshield.

So he got the plans going and before we knew it we were breaking ground for the footings.  The day they dug the footings, my sister Sue and I rescued a salamander which the crew dug up in the process. We named it and put it in a cage and were bound and determined that we were going to keep it. I believe it was that day that we decided that cold blooded creatures were not so bad after all. That evening, Dad convinced us that we should let our new pet go after he asked us, "What will you feed Sandy( the salamander's new name)?" Of course we did not know. "You don't want it to die do you? You would have to feed it .... and your mom will never let it come in the house.  It will freeze in that cage outside...." his list of reason why we should not keep it grew.  He convinced us that it was OK for us to have played with him all day but now it was time to let it go.  So very reluctantly we did. I am sure that "Sandy" was happy to be free once again after being played with all day!

I can not remember if the footings  and concrete slab were pour in the fall of 1963 and the building was set to start in the spring or if they poured the cement early in the spring and then we had a snow storm...but in either case...Here is the tiny house on Fritz drive ..... footings poured, slab in, 2x4 delivered, rafters....

Snow to hamper progress...



The garage and the family room going up...

The next spring and summer, Sue and I, along with many of the boys in the neighborhood, discovered a swampy woods to the east of our neighborhood to play in.  We found the swamp had a very large population of cold blooded reptiles which we decided would make great pets.  So we started to adopt them.  The boys in the neighborhood made catching them look really easy so we gave it a go.  After all, if you are playing with boys...you need to learn how to do what they do and you can not act like a girl!   At first we tried stepping on them just behind their head... before we tried picking them up... Occasionally it worked but most times they slithered quickly away. Then the boys showed us how to use a forked stick to catch them and then it got really interesting and much more successful! 

At first we brought our new pets home one at a time...One in her pocket and one in mine!   The next time we went to the swamp, we took a brown lunch paper bag.  Then a brown grocery bag... Then it was a shoe box.....All the while we are filling old hamster cages, old aquariums, boxes and old mailboxes... I don't remember whether we clued mom in on our new rescue mission or not.  They were outdoors not in the garage.. Often in the morning we would go to see how our pets were doing and they would have all escaped...but we had become really good reptile hunters so we would head back to the swamp and do it all over again. 

One day we decided to put some of our newest pets in our mailbox for the mailman to find.  As you can well imaging we did not think this thru very well....Then we got this hair brained idea to have Pam go check to see if the mail had come.......Oh now that was a truly bad move.  To this day she is traumatized by this event.

She went flying into the house screaming and in seconds flat Mom came flying out the door.  "Janet Lou and Susan Lynn, get in this house!"  she yelled.  Funny how you always knew you were in big  trouble when Mom and Dad used your whole name when they called you! We could feel it...It was going to be bad. " Go to your room and stay there!" she commanded.  "Just wait til I tell your father about this!" she scolded.  This was the first times that I remember Mom saying,  "Just wait for your Dad to get home..."

Well, we went to our room and waited... and waited and commiserated as we awaited our fate....Before long I am telling Sue ..."it's your fault cause it was your idea."  She said, " well you thought it was a good idea too..."   The truth is both of us knew better....We knew not everyone in the neighborhood liked garter snakes like we did. 

Dad finally came home.  We stood in front of him and neither one of us ratted the other out.  We both equally took the blame and the punishment for our little stunt.  Go tell your sister you are sorry and you better mean it!  We were instructed to go let out all of our pets and never bring one home again.  Ever! 

It is my belief that this is the first time, that we learned what being a sibling was all about...I could have blamed her for it but I didn't, she could have blamed me for it but she didn't... There would be  times as we became teenagers that one of us did something we probably should not have and thought that it would slide by and no one would be the wiser...Dent or scratch in the paint of the car...taking the car when you were not suppose to....going someplace that was off limits when you were suppose to be at your friends house....I am sure that you all have little infractions from when you were  a teenager too....  Times that we could have blamed each other for or someone else but...we never did.  Dad would line us up  and say who did this?  And we would not rat on each other...We all got punished...  The innocent ones were not very happy with the guilty party but that was a good system of checks and balances.  It did not happen often but when it did we stood by each other.

We have many story of sibling collaboration to share so until the next time.....

Enjoy,

Jan

Week 17 of 2016 - Moments in life that define you...

The first time I was asked to be a bridesmaid was for my sister Pam's wedding.  I was 15 years old. She asked my sister Sue and I, two friends, Janet (a friend from college) and Bianca (a friend from high school), Carrie (Mike's sister) and Julie Jacobsen (a friend of the family) as the flower girl. Pam and Mom made all our dresses. They were made of a beautiful blue Taffeta with a pretty flower trim at the empire waist and a puff sleeve.

All the activities that lead up to the wedding were fun.  It was at the rehearsal that I realized that I was really going to have to do something here ...all by myself.  Up to that point, I do not think that I thought about the fact that I would be walking down the aisle of the church...by myself.  I do not remember ever going to a formal wedding before this, so I just did not know!  

As the minister instructed us, I had this wave of giddy nervousness take over.  " You want me to do what?", I thought..."all by myself?"  I had never stood up in front of a group and done anything alone before.  I was the third child of six kids.  I had never done anything alone before in my life and this time their would be an audience. I did not like it when I got singled out in school to answer a question ....and heaven forbid if I did not know the answer.

Rehearsal at the church

So we went through the rehearsal of the ceremony and I had to walk by myself down the aisle.  There were maybe 20 people there, all family, really close friends and people in the wedding.  As we girls stood out side the sanctuary door in line, my stomach started to knot.  I kept trying to tell myself I was just hungry.  My brother, Matt, was the ring bearer and at rehearsal it became apparent that he may not want to perform his role either. Everyone else seemed to relaxed...it was rehearsal after all..when it was my turn, I was a bundle of nerves... thinking "How would I ever walk down the aisle tomorrow in my new shoes...".  After completed the rehearsal and I was a bit relieved to learn that I would be escorted to the back of the church at the end of the ceremony by one of the groomsmen.

Dinner at Vanoff's

During the rehearsal dinner, the tension was relieved a bit.  It was at Vanoff's Restaurant.  The food was great and the two families and the wedding party blended well.  We, "the Smith's" made our way to Imlay City and the reality began to set in once again. When we arrived home I went to bed but tossed and turned all night long.  I worried I would trip and fall in my new shoes or that the dress was too long or I would walk too fast or slow or I would stand in the wrong place...or I would faint! I had weird dreams once I did fall asleep.

Lunch before the wedding

The wedding day arrived and things did not get better.  Mom made open-faced ham and cheese sandwiches on hamburger buns...you broiled them in the oven so the ham would heat and the cheese would melt. I think she saw it in the Better Homes and Garden Magazine or Family Circle Magazine.  They were all the rage at the time.  I remember they were made often for church events by all the ladies.  I could hardly eat. I felt certain I would throw up. I had never felt like this before. I remember Mom asking me if I was OK, "Yes"  I said and I went off to my room.

In the mean time, Matt has had several melt downs.  He is six years old. He wanted to wear the tuxedo that was rented for him but Mom says, "If you are not going to walk down the aisle with Julie, you can not wear it!"  "Are you going to walk with Julie",  Mom kept asking..."NO",  Matt  exclaimed.  "Then you are not wearing the Tux!", Mom told him. "But Mom!"  he cried! Mom quickly found Matt something else to where. All the while I am upstairs wanting to get out of my own responsibilities.  Knowing that I have to do this, I am old enough, I must be brave....but the knot in my stomach got tighter.

Janet and Pam as we are leaving for the Church

 I remember all of us getting in the cars for the ride to the church in Romeo.  But I honestly do not remember the ride or the "getting ready at the church".  We took our dresses...we have pictures of all the other girls with curlers in their hair but I don't remember if I did that too..I do remember trying to walk up the stairs in new shoes (stubby 2 inch heels...not spikes like the girls wear today!) once we were all ready.  I was so frightened.  I remember being beside myself with fear as I waited for my turn to walk down the aisle watching the others who went before me.

Jan's "deer in the headlights look"

When it was my turn, I was numb, frozen " like a deer in headlights... " Go ahead..." Dad told me. It was at that moment that he realized, for the first time, that I was afraid. I took a step and another.... the walk down the aisle felt like I was walking the length of a football field.  I could tell the church was full of people.  I knew the faces but they were a blur....All I could think was, "Where am I suppose to stand?  Keep looking forward!  Don't look at anyone...Just keep walking and don't trip!" I found my place at the front of the church and the first person I looked at was my Grandpa Smith. He winked at me and silently said "Good job!" with a huge smile!  "Wow" I thought, "I did it".

the ceremony...

I remember thinking during the ceremony, "Who thought of this? Why do they do this?"  Not that I question marriage...I do not..Just the production and pageantry of it all. It was on this day that I decided that I was more comfortable being  "a person of the crowd" and "the middle child of six children".  I fit perfectly where I was at.

I have been in several weddings since then and two of my own which were both very low scale and perfect for me! During high school, I performed on the forensics team which helped me to conquer the "stomach knotting" fear.  During my career, I was called upon on several occasion to speak in front of an audience and eventually I felt comfortable with it as long as I was well prepared.  To this day...I am more comfortable if I am not the center of attention. I am still the middle child.

Enjoy,

Jan
 

Week 13 of 2016 - Accidents and the Lessons Learned

In 1975, Gary, my kid's Dad and I had a 1972 Green Lemans 2 door coupe. It was by far my favorite car that we ever owned...It looked just like the one pictured below. Ok, so I am a girl...a woman and I know nothing about car engines but I can tell you that this one had a lot of “get up and go” and I suppose I thought I was pretty hot stuff cruising town in it. It had a green vinyl landau roof. 

By Crwpitman - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34959491

Gary worked for his Father, Howard and Uncle, Harold at Tietz's Family Restaurant in Imlay City. We only had one car so if I needed to go some where during the day, he would come home after the morning breakfast rush and we would load up the kids and I would take him back to work.

Gary's Uncle and Aunt, Harold and Mary, had two boys; Roy was 2 years older and Jason was 2 years younger than our son, Shawn. All the boys were very close pals when they were growing up and Mary and I were close friends too. I would baby sit for her kids and she would babysit for mine. I can not remember what Mary was doing for the day but I was watching all the boys. I piled all the kids in the car and off we went. Jason was strapped into his car seat, he was a one year old. Shawn would stand on the hump and Roy would stand on the passengers side in the back seat. (I cringe when I think of this today) I was just making a quick trip to my Dad's store one mile away and then to the restaurant a mile further down the road before returning home so the boys could play.

Dad's store was a challenge with three boys. He had the bulk candy counter which the kids could  easily slip into.  You could not see them unless you went behind the counter to look for them.  It did not take them long to figure out how they could fill their little faces of 10 different kinds of candy at once.  If I turned my back on them for a second, they made a beeline to the candy counter. We had to work really hard to keep them away from that area of the store. And if that was not bad enough, he also had the usual full rack of candy bars conveniently located at the front of the store next to the cash registers. Since it was a Ben Franklin Store, he had toys too!

Every trip to the store started out with “Mom, can we have.....” the moment we walked into the door. Dad and I had a routine. If it was OK with me, he would offer the kids some candy but he always asked me first.  We had this little eye trick we would do. He would look at me, if I nodded yes, then he offered. If for some reason, we did not make eye contact he would say, Jan, “Have the kids been good today?” If I said no, then there would be no candy.  After a 20 or 30 minute visit with Grandpa, we piled back into the car with a small bag of candy in hand for a trip to the restaurant.

When we got there, I would park on the west side of the restaurant. The boys could not get out of the car fast enough! We would go in the back service entry and I would be yelling at them the whole length of the hall, “OK boys, no running!” It was the same routine every time we went. They would be laughing and the employees always knew we had arrived. They would be dodging kids. The kids  had their favorite food. They loved pickles the best. They would get them off the prep table by the handfuls. Next was french fries, of course.... and then they would go just outside of the kitchen to the soda fountain for pop. Their OWN pop with ice and a straw!

The employees always greeted us warmly. I often wondered why because for the next 30 minutes or so chaos would ensue in the kitchen. As they did their prep work for the next meal rush, they knew they would be dodging kids playing in the kitchen. I usually pulled up a stool in the corner to watch the activity and often Uncle Harold would join me. In those days, I smoked and so did Harold so it was a good excuse for a break. Their Dad did a pretty good job of trying to keep them in line. After about 30 minutes, he would give me the “look” and I knew it was time to leave.

We piled back into the car, Jason in his car seat and Shawn and Roy at their positions in the back seat, with paper cups full of pop and ice. I was just going 2 mile to get home so I did not put on my seat belt or Roy and Shawn's. I negotiate a left onto old M-21 driving a ¼ mile west to Almont Ave where I put my blinker on and stopped to waited for the traffic coming towards me to clear so I could turn left. I probably had the radio blaring. I never looked in my rear view mirror again. I did not see it coming....

There were three cars coming towards us in the east bound lanes, when a full size pickup truck traveling at the speed limit rear ended me. Everything went into slow motion. I could see my son's pop and ice as it flew out of the cup and drenched the inside of the car. I am hanging onto the steering wheel and standing on the brake pedal when I see the first eastbound car go by me on my right. We are spinning and suddenly I am looking eastbound back at the restaurant which I had just left with a second car about ready to hit me from behind. The driver of the second car did a great job of avoiding us by entering Almont Ave. As we continued to spin, I see that Roy has hit the back of the front seat so hard that the back of the seat collapsed forward sending him tumbling like a rag doll onto the floor of the front seat under the glove box with my son Shawn following right behind him. My chest was driven into the steering column which collapses and my knees are smashed hard on the dash. I looked up and see the third cars as the driver reacts in time and narrowly miss us. We come to a stop in the east bound lane headed westbound. I am in shock. I had never been in an accident before and I think...this was a bad one!

The kids start to try to untangle them selves from one another. I ask them if they are all right...They say they think so. They remain pretty calm and are not crying. I look in the back seat at Jason who is safely in his child safety seat. Aside from the fact that he has shattered glass from the back window all over him, he has not moved at all. Snug as a bug and even smiles at me as if to say, “that was fun, can we do it again?” I try to open my door and it won't open, so I sit there not sure what to do next. One of the drivers of the eastbound cars come to ask me if we are OK. I tell him I think that we are. Before I knew it the police are there and my husband. News travels fast in a small town.

He looked at me in the window and said “ Did you have your blinker on?” At first I think, is that what he said? I looked at him in almost disbelief...Really, is that your first thought? “Did I have my blinker on?” What about “are you and the kids alright, is anyone hurt?” I glared at him and said “Yes, of course I did!”

Once the fire department got there, they were able to get us out of the car. None of us was hurt other than a few bruises and a couple of personal disappointments! .... My favorite car, which we had only owned for six months, was totaled. God was watching over us that day!

From that day forward, I have faithfully used my seat belt, all children are buckled in before the car moves and all adults are strongly encouraged no matter how short or long the trip is. I learned that in moments of extreme stress, people's words and actions are not always what you think they should be. While I know that I can not control other, I made a “mental note to self” that day so that when I am on the other side of this coin, I chose my responses carefully so as not to hurt someone with a careless response. I also learned that a car (even your favorite) is just that...a car and can always be replaced. I can not imagine how I would have felt if Shawn or Roy had been ejected from that car and they easily could have and they would have been killed and my life would have forever been changed.

Please remember to always buckle up!

Jan

Week 12 of 2016 - Easter Sewing and How It All Began...

After reading how the Smith sister's sewing skills developed....via sister Jan wanting an expensive dress from Mitzelfeld's Department Store in Rochester, Michigan, I need to expand on that theme. Being the oldest, I was sewing first...even received a red cast iron sewing machine...child size...for Christmas one year.  Enjoying embroidery (initially taught by Grandma Smith), knitting (learned in fourth grade in Mrs. Liggett's room...another blog another time!) and anything artsy...I guess sewing was a natural progression when we saw Mom creating some of our clothes as we grew up.

In our Easter Finery, 1960, made by Mom with Love! 

I think Mom was motivated by lack of funds, and needing dresses for 3 of us..holidays were the primary focus. Mom and Dad purchased the new patent leather shoes, gloves, flower headbands and sometimes new crinolines, a slip that made your full skirt stand out. Watch out when you sit down, though...(see Jan in photo).  That left only the most expensive part...the dress...for Mom to make.  Sometimes, we had matching or coordinating coats.  When a new trend came along, like the "wrap around" skirt, we lucked out. We could have a new skirt or two pretty quickly and at a fraction of the cost of the store bought variety. It was very cool to have a new skirt within 24 hours and be a style setter at school!   Of course, with Dad working at dry goods stores, we had access to fabric, patterns and notions.  Dad's offer to keep us supplied with the "goods" was all that was needed to have his 3, and eventually 4 daughters making two sewing machines hum.

Janet Johnson, Carrie Semp, Bianca Banash, Janet Smith and Sue Smith
in the "homemade" Bridesmaid dresses...April 17, 1971

1967 J-Hop Romeo High School

 I never had a "store bought" prom or homecoming dress and we made my wedding gown and all the bridesmaids dresses, which were gifts from Mike and I for standing up in our wedding. My sewing talents were never used for a daughter...but my three sons all had handmade clothes at one time or another.  It didn't last very long, but the baby sleepers turned into coveralls, tee shirts, suits and pajamas....and suddenly, they were too "grown up" for anything Mom was making them.
 

I still love to sew, but as times change, there isn't much apparel sewing going on.  "Grandma Pam" gets a few opportunities to sew for the grandchildren and mend for the grownup kids, but most of the projects are now quilting or home decor items.  I will always be glad that I was able to learn to sew.  I was thrilled to receive my first sewing machine as a gift from Grandma Vanoff as a Christmas present in 1971...my first Christmas as a Semp.  It is a Kenmore and I'm still using it today, and have no plans to ever replace it.  I have added a couple more...a Singer serger, a vintage Singer 1951 variety in a cabinet (perfect for in front of the window while working on quilting projects), another vintage Singer in a beautiful, dome shaped wooden carrying case, and a very special Singer Featherweight that works well for transporting to classes.  I hope I can pass the love for sewing on to someone in our family.  Until then, I just continue to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the "sport"and also the satisfaction of "making it myself."

Week 11 of 2016 - Night Owl or Lark - Your Internal Clock

I'm sure there are exceptions to each individuals sleep patterns, but when you look at what's normal for  yourself, it's pretty easy to figure out which group you belong to.  For me, I don't like getting up and feeling I have wasted a morning.  Suddenly, it's noon and the day is half gone! I'm more satisfied with having a good portion of my "to do" list accomplished by noon.

 While some people enjoy the early mornings of summer, birds singing, beautiful sunrises and summer breezes that feel like velvet, I'm even happy with the dark, quiet mornings of winter.  When my schedule forced me to walk early in the day....working 10-12 hour retail days...there was solitude in the early, dark mornings.  Armed with a reflective vest and warm clothing, it was interesting to see who was moving around between 5-7am.  Some make the coffee klatch a priority.  In our little community, we have a fabulous community building.  In the basement is a meeting room with a pool table, card tables, kitchenette and lots of "larks"...some of the card games start at 5am!  While I am happy to be up and "at 'em", cards at 5am has no appeal for me.  Others are walking, like me, or running, biking and making the last minute dash to work. I would see a stready stream of cars just before 6am and 7am, with workers barely making it to the time clock, there are others that can be seen at the very same time every morning on their way to somewhere...the laundry truck heading west, the county trucks out on stormy mornings, the early morning pickups pulling boats for the sunrise fishing expedition or the 6:40am school buses beginning their routes.

So, I would guess the ratio of Larks to Night Owls is probably 50/50...don't we all know some of both?

Week 12 of 2016 - Easter, Sewing and How It All Began...

It is 1962 and my Dad was the manager for a department store in Rochester called Mitzelfeld's.   It was owned by William (Bill) Mitzelfeld.  My Dad was responsible for many things at the store. It was not unusual for him to spend Sunday afternoon at a card table in the family room with a yellow legal pad, planning what needed to be done at the store the next week.  

Stock Photo saved from C&G Newspapers

One of his responsibilities was the store windows and displays.   In the 1960's, most businesses had huge front windows where they proudly displayed all their finest new inventory, creatively arranged in the windows to entice customers into the store to see what else they might have to offer.  A store's front windows might be the only advertising that the business could afford so a business used this space wisely. My Dad loved this part of his job and he was really good at it.  He took a great deal of pride in his work.  The Mitzelfeld's had installed black and white striped awnings over the front windows to protect the merchandise from fading as the sun's rays brightly filtered through the glass on sunny day.  In the winter, it was most often too gray and the sun too low in the sky to effect the displays. As spring approached, the sun rose higher in the sky each day, it would once again become a concern for my Dad. So Dad would take a drive to work to open the awnings to protect the merchandise in the windows.

 Sidewalk Sales at Mitzelfeld's 1967 - looking south -  note the lowered awnings.

Sidewalk Sales at Mitzelfeld's in 1967 looking north

In the weeks just before Easter in 1962, one bright sunny Sunday afternoon, Dad bundled up the the three oldest girls and off to Rochester we went to open the awnings.  While we were at the store, Dad instructed us to go look at a specific rack of dresses and pick one dress out for Easter.  He would buy them for us the next day when he came to work.  Mom usually made our dresses for Easter but with the new baby, Mark and now four girls to make dresses for, she just did not have the time this year. This was likely the first time that I got to pick out something for myself...and my last, for that matter, at least for a while.  As Pam and Sue were looking at "the rack" of dresses, I drifted to a different rack. And  as you have probably guess, I found a dress that I absolutely loved. I am excited beyond measure, I have the dress in hand and hurry off to show Dad the most beautiful dress in the world.

"I want this one, Dad! It is so beautiful, it is my favorite!", I proclaim to him as he reenters the store after lowering the awnings

"Did you get it off the rack I told you to get it from?"  he asked with a look of doubt in his eye.

"I think so.." I said

He gave me the look and said,  "Go put it back and find one off the rack that your sisters are looking at"

"BUT DAD!"  I cried "I have to have this dress!"

I carried on for the next ten or fifteen minutes about the dress I wanted and eventually, someone else picked out a dress for me. I cried and pouted the whole trip home. I just could not understand why I could not have that dress.  As we pulled into the driveway and Dad put the car in park, he turned and looked at me sternly as I sat in the back seat.

 " Janet, I just can not afford to buy you a dress that costs that much.  If I buy you one then I have to buy your sister's one so that means four dresses and I just do not have the money for it.  I can afford to buy you dresses from the other rack. I am sorry.", he said.

 ( This is the first and only time in my life that I remember my Dad ever talking about what we could or could not afford.)

"I want you to sit down with your Mother and learn how to sew.  If you do that, you will be able to make a dress that pretty for yourself!"  He told me.

"And I will buy you the fabric." He  added  "... all the fabric, that you want..."  And he did until the day he died...34 years later.

I did sit down with Mom and learn to sew.  So did all of my sisters.  Before he knew it he was scrambling to find sewing machines so we would stop fighting over whose turn it was to sew on Mom's machine...It was a good thing that the boys came along when they did because Mom no longer had much time to sew.  We would not let her anyway.  Mom's machine and Grandma Smith's machine were being used almost constantly by three teenagers. Sharon learned to sew about the time that the second sewing machine showed up so then four of us shared two machines.

I sew every week on something or another...when I do, I fondly think of my Dad for encouraging me to learn to sew and of my Mom for patiently teaching me! 

Love you Dad and Mom. Happy Easter...

Jan