Description
Mom kept a diary. When we were little, she was pretty good about writing in it every day. I realize that the stories for the Alice’s Embrace patterns are always about a specific story about Mom, but this time I am just going to share some of her funny and sometimes not so funny little anecdotes. I think you will get to know her even better after reading this. She was a special lady.
This first entry is when Mom has four children – Julie (4), Mikey (2), Diane (1) and Mary Beth (AKA Betsy – less than a month)!
6/24/1963 “Barry put the sand box out. A great attraction for one and all. Most of the sand is outside the box already – and in the kids’ hair.”
9/25/1963 “Mary Beth is such a cute baby – has such a personality already – smiles so easily.”
10/7/1963 “Julie caught a caterpillar today and put it in a jar. Her first real nature interest – besides the bean that she planted which is growing in the back yard. She does certainly have an inquiring mind.”
10/8/1963 “Julie is quite enthralled with her caterpillar – has named him Fuzzy. She talks to him & pets him. Mikey decided to catch something too – so he put 2 big old snails in a jar with some dirt. Ugh!”
10/30/1963 “I baked about 15 to 20 dozen cookies today – anticipating trick or treaters.”
12/19/1963 “Diane is “the wrecker” just goes from one thing to another.”
1/13/1964 “Busy day – had a lot of housecleaning & some ironing. The kids have been so restless lately – had them all playing with Julie’s alphabet blocks. I’ll be so glad when they can play out most of the time. If I can get Mikey out, that is. He is so afraid of dogs.”
2/28/1964 “Had a nice rain today – was welcome for a change. Julie & Diane had long naps. Mikey couldn’t sleep. They were going to blow bubble pipes while I vacuumed but Mikey sucked in & got a mouthful of soap. What a nut!”
3/1/1964 “Mary Beth is 9 months old now and I’m not pregnant!”
3/18/1964 “Julie got mad today & said she was going to run away from home. Said she was going to take a Greyhound bus to South Dakota & stay with Grandma Foltz and sleep with her in her bed.”
4/9/1964 “The kids & I planted flower seeds & Julie’s beans. Diane was trying to take them out as fast as we put them in.”
4/23/1964 “Diane fell in Julie’s room & cut her lip – is all swollen. She just plunges headlong into things. She stands way up on the crossbar of the swing set.”
4/29/1964 “Ironed all day & cleaned up Diane half a dozen times. She plays in the dirt then gets in the water. What a girl!”
5/6/1964 “While I was working in the back yard this morning Diane flushed the toilet with a diaper in it. It stuck & when I came in the whole bathroom floor was flooded. Then when I put her to bed tonight I gave her 2 aspirin (runny nose) she sat up to take the aspirin & tried to lay down to drink the water! Soaked Everything. Why mothers get grey.”
8/5/1964 “Went to the Community Center with Gwen this afternoon. Took all the kids in the wading pool. They had such a good time. Mary Beth loved it. Kept putting her face in the water. Was relaxing for me too.”
3/9/1966 “My camellia is blooming! Have had it about 3 years – first time it’s bloomed. What a green thumb!”
3/13/1970 “Mrs. Baker – band teacher called this morning to tell me how well Julie is doing. She said in the 6 years of her teaching – she has never found a student who accomplished so much – so quickly. She said she is a very talented girl.”
6/6/1993 (Hawaii trip going to Mass in Kapalua) “It was a very nice small church in a beautiful setting. The priest & most of the choir are Hawaiian & most of the music was Hawaiian. The church was full. It was such a beautiful morning & lovely surroundings. It is such a nice feeling to be at home in a Catholic church wherever you go. The Mass is the same & sharing it with people who have the same faith is very comforting and inspiring.”
9/27/1995 (45th High School Reunion in South Dakota) “We were so happy to see each other & just picked up like it hadn’t been 40 years ago since we had seen each other. We kept telling each other how good we looked – and it was especially true of Mary, Kathy & Berdie.” “I was going to ride on the class float but it started to pour down rain so I decided not to. I felt like Barry wouldn’t know what to do by himself so we watched the parade together. There was a lot of thunder & lightning. He didn’t like that a bit – I kind of liked it.”
6/27/1996 (Mom & Dad visited the Oklahoma City bomb site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building) “My husband & I visited relatives in Oklahoma City in 1996 & went to see the bomb site. There was a chain link fence all around the area – it was covered with mementos from all around the world – toys – baby clothes – stuffed animals – pictures of victims – poems – letters and banners. It was impossible to walk around there with dry eyes.” “It is so important for us to live every moment with the knowledge that God is present in what is happening in our lives today & to cherish every minute.”
3/7/1999 (Rome trip with daughter Betsy and granddaughter Jamie) “When we arrived in the Square we heard beautiful singing coming over the loud speakers from St. Peter’s Basilica and the Pope speaking.” (Next day) “Then we went looking for dinner. It was 8:00 p.m. by then and some places were closed. So we went to another Italian/pizza restaurant – a nice sit down one – had cheese pizza and fancy desserts. We were dining at 9:00 – very continental of us.”
We are so thankful for these diaries. They help us remember that Mom loved being a mom to us four children. She truly was one of a kind and we were the lucky ones to have had her in our lives.
Click here if you would like to learn more about In Her Words, including pictures of finished shawls.
