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