THANKSGIVING DAY

Thanksgiving has always been a fun, family-time day. Over the years our traditions have had to make changes due to families being apart, deaths in the family, etc. Today was a totally new experience again. Linda was in Texas helping with her new Grandson, Robert Fox. That left her hubby, Dan, and her other son, Tim alone in Albuquerque. Thank goodness for good church families who look after people who are alone on special days, they had a great meal with friends.

For me, I felt alone here in Carlsbad, N.M. and was not sure how the day would go, but it turned out to be a good day. A friend invited me to her home for dinner, and she asked another 14 people too, so the meal was huge, and everything was good, including the company.

I think the one most memorable Thanksgiving I can remember was one in Juneau, Alaska many years ago. We had two dear lady friends there that invited us to dinner. My Mother was also invited that time, and another family of 4. The winds decided to howl that day, and the rain did come down. Finally, the wind took out the power lines and we were without power to finish cooking the turkey. The 10 of us sat around wondering if we were going to get to eat at all. After a long time, we gave up on the idea of getting that turkey cooked. Louise went hunting for a small camp stove and made cheese sandwiches to cook. We had delicious toasted cheese sandwiches, after which we had pumpkin pie, which had been baked ahead of time. It just goes to show that you don't need turkey and all the trimmings to be thankful.

The next day we were invited to come eat turkey, since they were finally able to get it cooked . We have joked over the years about being invited for Thanksgiving, only to eat toasted cheese sandwiches.

We have so much in our lives that we sometimes forget to be thankful for the bountiful blessings that we all have each and every day. Few of us have ever been starving, and don't know what it would be like. Let's pray that we never do .

My wish for you is that your life will be blessed with many good things, and that we will all remember to be thankful to our God for looking after us in such wonderful fashion.

May 19

It seems that May 19 has been in my life over many years. When I graduated from grade school it was on May 19, 1940. My highschool graduation was on May 19, 1944. On May 19, 1946 Bob and I were married, which was the highlight of my life. These dates were not planned, but just happened to be on the same date.

I also remember an important Memorial Day in 1948. Our best friends Liz and Glenn Gibbens wanted to pack a picnic and go to Cannon Beach, Oregon, we fried chicken and made potato salad and headed out for the beach. Both Liz and I were pregnant, and excited about being Moms.

While at the beach, we rented horses and went horse back riding. I'd never ridden a horse before, and thought it would be fun. About all it did for me was to give me a very sore rump the next day. I did not have the art of riding a horse so that I was not bounching all over the place.

We did not spend the night because in those days we did not have the money to have such luxuries in our life. We got home late that night, so did not hear the news until the next day. In the morning the news was telling us about the big flood in the Vanport area of Portland, Oregon, where many people lived. The housing in that area was erected during the war time to house people who came to the area to work in the shipyards. A local dyke broke and that area was totally flooded and most of it was washed away. People lost everything, including their cars and some lost their lives.

I was working in the office of the gas company in Hillsboro when one of the ladies in the office got a phone call. She knew a person who had a small plane and he was taking people up to see the flooded area from the sky. She asked if I wanted to go because it would be cheaper if she could get 4 passengers. I jumped at the chance, and later wished I had not. After work we headed for the airport and up we went. I had only been in a small plane one time before that, so it was quite a thrill. As we got over the flooded homes and businesses the pilot started dipping the plane from one side to another so that we could take pictures. That took about one minute for me to get sick. I was so sick I wished I had not taken the ride. Being pregnant did not help this situation very much. I just tolerated the rest of the trip and somehow or other managed to keep my stomach from turning inside out. When I got on the ground I rushed home and Bob was being sweet to have dinner ready for me when I got back. He was cooking red beans, and the aroma hit me as I walked into the house. That did it for me.....I was so sick that I could not eat anythng. What a day that turned out to be.

May has always held some memorable events for me, and each year I find myself thinking of some of those things that were special in my life. Today I am sharing them with anyone who might care to read about it.

MAY 19, 1946

May 19 came again this year, and although I am alone now, with my beloved spouse gone on ahead of me, it would have been 63 years since we were married. The past 12 years have been very lonely ones, but I have so many good memories to keep me going. Not everyone has a husband as good as I had. When he passed on I could remember so many little things we had done together, and how we laughed and cried together.

The day we were married in Hillsboro, Oregon was a very hot day. We were being married in my folks home, and there was no such thing as air conditioning at that time, so we knew everyone was going to suffer with the heat. At the last minute we decided that since they had a lovely front yard, with two large trees, we would move the wedding outside where people could be more comfortable. Bob was surprised when he arrived to find we were having an outside wedding. My cousin Margaret Clemens and her husband Kenneth did the flowers for us, and we had beautiful large baskets of flowers to decorate the area.

After the wedding we loaded up my little 1930 Model-A Ford and tooled on down the road for our honeymoon. We went down the Oregon Coast. We kept seeing signs that read "Stop at Hotel Newport, the newest and best on the Coast". So, we decided that was where we were going. About two hours later we arrived at the Hotel that was so widely advertised on billboards all along our trip. As we walked into the lobby to sign the register, Bob told them we had two bags to carry up. They promptly told us where the stairs were, and that there was no bell-hop service. That should have been a clue to us. We also had to pay in advance. (another clue)

We walked the stairs and found our room. I gasped when we walked in because it was so small we could barely get in and put the luggage down. There was an old iron bedstead, a 3 drawer chest, and a chair which was on top of the chest because there was no place to put it on the floor.
We were timid kids, and didn't know how to handle this situation. Oh, yes, I forgot....the bathroom was down the hall. We picked up our bags and carried them down the stairs and outside to our car. We could not sleep there. We drove a few miles down the road to Toledo where they had an old hotel, which was a palace compared to the Newport hotel.

Our new home was going to be in Walla Walla, Washington where both of us would be employed by The Birds Eye Snyder frozen food company. This was quite a few miles from the Oregon Cost, and we had to stop every few miles to let the Model-A cool down. Those cars didn't use much gas, but they got hot very easily, and one had to take care to let them cool down every once in awhile. We finally got to Walla Walla, and were happy to get to the end of our journey.

Do you know that right after World War-2 it was practically impossible to buy a car? I was going to school at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. I had begged to be able to drive my Dad's car, but that was one thing he would allow no one to do. He took pride in his car, and would let no other hands steer it down the road, not even me, whom he loved dearly. No way !

I had sung in a quartet on campus for a May day competition, and we won the cup for that year. I was so excited because I was only a Freshman and was singing the lead in this group. After the competition there were many activities going on at the University. My only problem was that I lived about 10 miles from the school and had to catch the bus to get home. I felt totally "down" because I wanted to stay on campus and be part of the celebration. When I did get home, my bad temper showed up and I cried and cried, then stomped my feet to let my Mom and Dad know that next year I would not live at home while going to school. Dad felt pretty bad, I guess because he said we would start looking to find me a car. He wanted me to live at home, not on the campus.

We looked at many cars, but most were pieces of junk, and Dad would not have me be on the road in a junker. I would have grasped at the first car we saw, but he was not easily swayed when he was thinking of my safety. We finally found it ! Now, remember this was 1945 and the car we were looking at was a 1930 Model A Ford. It was beautiful, well cared for, and I fell in love with it. Dad paid a whole $275 for my car, and needless to say, my Mom hit the roof. She thought that was terrible for a car that old.

I drove that car many miles, and always felt proud in it. In case you don't know, after dark the lights on a Model A shine depending on how fast you were driving. So, if you were out on a dark, rainy night, you had to drive fast in order to see the road. My night vision was not the best, but I ignored that and drove fast enough to see.

Dad had the same rules about anyone driving my car, as he had for his own. No one could drive my car. Dad insured it in my name only, and he meant what he said. When Bob came home from the service we starting dating regularly. He could not drive my car, and did not have one of his own, so I had to pick him up and deliver him back home at the end of every evening. I am sure Bob was not too fond of thar idea, but we lived through it.

In 1946 Bob and I got married and moved to Walla Walla, Washington where we both worked for what was then the largest frozen food plant in the U.S. It was a new Birds Eye Snyder food plant. I worked in the office and Bob worked in the warehouse. He got rather tired of always driving in my Model A, which now carried both our names on the insurance, so he could drive it. So we started hunting for a used vehicle to buy. They were all junk cars, and he found one owned by a local butcher and Bob thought we would like it. I nearly choked when I saw it. It was a 1937 Chevrolet sedan, hand painted in a nauseating green color, and there was even straw all over the back seat. It was some gem, but Bob wanted it, and we came up with the $640 to buy it. We both worked at the same location, but I drove my own car, and he drove his. I could fill my tank up for $1 a week, with gas costing 10cents per gallon. Many mornings I would have to go out and push his Chevrolet to get it running.

On Labor Day we decided to drive to Hillsboro, Oregon to visit his folks. There was no super highway in those days, so it was a long drive. Before we got to Arlington, Washington, which was about 100 miles from Walla Walla, we had 3 flat tires. The ones on the car were practically rags. We kept buying old, used ones along the way, and paying top dollar for them, and after a few miles they would go flat, or blow out. After the third blow-out, we were in the dark trying to fix a tire. A kindly gentleman came along and parked behind us with his lights on so that we could see to change the tire. He noted that we had two jacks in the trunk, and said he was headed for Death Valley and would sure like to have one of those jacks. Bob was so thankful to him for stopping that he gave one to the man. I'll bet you guessed it already....there were no rooms in Arlington, and we were only about half way to our destination, so we decided to turn around and go back to Walla Walla. Yep, on our first blow out our jack would not work. Bob's brother, Harry was with us on this trip, and they literally lifted the car to get the tire off and back on. The fellows worked, and I sat in the car and cried.

Before we left Walla Walla we had both cashed our week's checks. When we got home, after 2 more blow outs, we were broke. This was a nightmare of a trip for us, and I always equate it with that moster green chevrolet.

Shortly after that, we sold the little Model A, and I was always sorry that we did that. That was a special little car, that served me well, and I loved it.

MISSING ME ?

It has been so long since I added to this blog that I almost forgot how to do it. April 5 I got up at 4 a.m. to visit the bathroom, and somehow or other, I fell backward very hard. I knew I was hurt, but could not get off the floor. I thought I had broken my hip. Finally, after a horrendous struggle I managed to get up and struggle back to the bed where I had a phone. I was afraid to call 911 because I thought they would not have a front door key, and would break the door to get in. My next alternative was to call my neighbor, Pat and ask him to come over, since my back door key was there. I didn't want to wake him t 4 a.m. so waited until 5 a.m. before I called him. Later I was scolded for that decision and was told that in an emergency I could call any time I needed help.

After a painful ambulance trip, and a visit to the Emergency Room for X-rays I was told that I had broken my pelvis. Everyone said that of all the bones one can break, the pelvis is the most painful, and would take a good 9 weeks to heal. I was in the hospital for several days before being transferred to the Lakeview Nursing Home. All in all I was there for about 9 weeks. While there I got the gout, which was very painful, and had to go through daily therapy to get myself able to move around with a walker.

My birthday was June 11, and I was finally able to go home a couple of days before my 82nd birthday. With the help of Home Health, I managed to stay here by myself . It has been a long haul, and only this last day or so have I been able to walk some without the aid of a walker. I still need to work on getting steady so that I don't fall again.

I got so many beautiful cards and letters, and had many visitors. I am thankful that I have so many good friends and neighbors. Now that I made it back to the computer, I will try to stay in contact.

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

Have you ever had a true friend? I've had lots of friends over the years, but when I think back about one that stands out, it is Evelyn B. I was living in Portland, Oregon when my husband, Bob had to go back into the Navy Aircorps during the Korean war. Our little girl was only about 2-1/2 then, and it was pretty traumatic for each of us.

First of all Bob reported to Seattle, Washington for some training for the job. He did not have time off, so there was no thought of our going there to visit him. Evelyn took over, acting like a grandmother to my little Linda, while I went out to search for work. I finally found a pretty good job and started working at Transport Clearings. In the evening, I would drive from my house to Evelyn's to pick up Linda. Evelyn always had an early dinner at her house, and she would have fed Linda already. That was wonderful for me, but then I would go home and eat a bowl of cereal, or a peanut butter sandwich. Soon I was getting thinner and thinner, and I was never fat to begin with. Sweet Evelyn noticed and feared I was going to get sick. At that time we cooked on an old wood stove, so her oven was always warm, and she would put a dish of food in there for me to have when I reached her house. How wonderful it did taste.

After about 6 weeks, Bob finished his training and was going to be shipped out somewhere. We had no clue yet where he would be sent. He would have a few days off and wanted us to come to Seattle so he could see Linda and me once more before he was trasnported elsewhere. Those of you who were military wives know that the allotment money took quite awhile to start showing up in our mailbox. My job only paid once a month, and I had no money to get to Seattle. When I arrived to pick up Linda and told Evelyn that I had no choice but to tell Bob that I could not come, she quietly slipped money into my hand and said , "you get a train ticket, and get up there to see Linda's daddy. "

We did take the train to Seattle where I had a cousin living, and we could stay with her family for the few days that we would be there. What a good reunion we had, and a sad farewell when it was time to go home.

Another time, some years later, Bob was home and we had purchased our first new (used) home. Because we were applying for a GI loan, it took quite a little while for the approval to come through. Here we were homeless until the loan was approved, and again Evelyn and her husband Wilson saved our lives. They had two teen age girls and they all lived in a two bedroom home. The girls gave up their bedroom so that we could stay with them. They slept in the front room on a hide-a-bed. This was one cozy group, and it went on much longer than any of us visualized it would, but they made us feel welcome and wanted. I am sure both of the girls were tickled to death when we finally got our own beds to sleep in and they could get back to their bedrooom.

True hospitality is almost a thing of the past now. I am glad that I have these memories of real friends who did so much for me.

In the bible, 1st Peter 4:8-9 tells us "Above all hold unfailing to your love for one another. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another.

FASHION STATEMENT

Isn't it funny how clothing fashions go "in and out" with the times? When I was young, ladies never wore slacks. I remember my family was making a trip from Oregon to California, and I begged to have some pants to wear on the trip. I was about 10 years old then. It took a lot of begging, but my Mom finally allowed me to have a pair of pants. What a thrill that was for me. By the time I was 12 years old, many young ladies were wearing slacks, and they just got more and more popular. No one looked at us as doing something shameful because we were wearing trousers.

I can also remember when my little brother wore short pants to school when he was in the first grade. Those were not what we think of as shorts today, but were pretty little one piece, with a bib, and often even made with velvet. He was practicing for a school play one day, and came home from school crying. He told Mom that he was not going to be in the play if he had to wear the short pants. She asked him why, and he said, "one of the boys said he would pinch my butt if I wore those pants." That was the end of the short pants for him. But many boys still wore them.

When I was in high school, the fad was that boys wore corduroy pants, and NEVER washed them. That's right, I said never! They were usually a beige color, and by the time the school year was over the pants could stand by themselves if you put them in the corner, and they looked greasy, but the girls seemed to love them. Girls began wearing skirts that came above the knee, but my Mom insisted my skirts be below the knee. After I got to school I would roll the top of the skirt so that it was short like the other girls. Before I went home, I unrolled it so I didn't get into trouble.

In 1968 I worked in the Alaska Governor's office, and always dresssed stylish. Skirts were very short then, and I kept up with the working girls. If you were thin, they looked OK, but if you had excess weight on your body, they were truly bad. Modesty went out the door with those short skirts. The major thing I can remember at that time was that ladies did not wear slacks to work. That was unheard of and was not acceptable. One winter when the temperatures dipped down below zero one brave lady wore a very nice pant suit to work. She worked in the Department of Administration Commissioneer's office. When the boss came in , he took one look at her, and promptly told her to go home and put on a dress before she came back to work.

That news swept all the offices rapidly, and there were partitions passed in most all the State offices saying that men could wear pants on their legs to be warm, but ladies had to let it all hang out and freeze. Shortly after that, a memo was issued saying that in the cold weather, pant suits would be accepted, but we were never to wear jeans or regular slacks with a blouse or sweater. It had to be a pant suit.

Remember when you went to the doctor's office and the lovely nurses were always wearing their starched white uniforms and caps, and a doctor looked like a doctor in his starchy white coat?

Today you can't tell a nurse from a patient. You can't even find anyone in the hospitals that look like a nurse. There are not identifying pins, or caps, and many of them look like they slept in their work clothes. Men teachers always wore a suit and tie, and the ladies wore a practical dress or suit with heels and hose. Today? They don't even shave before they go to work, and their clothes do not present a dignified position.

No wonder our kids of today are wearing those horrible "low rise" pants that hang so low that you see their underwear, and sometimes lack of underwear. The crotch is so low that it must rub their knees raw. They have no one to look up to that they admire or aspire to be like.

I recall the day when ladies would never go to church without a hat, heels and their best Sunday dress. Men were always in their best clothes too. I guess our respect for the Lord has even disappeared with the ages.

I assume that I am showing my age with this story, but I do miss the decorum that used to exist when we were proud of our appearance, and in school we were taught how to dress to apply for a job, or when going to a wedding or a funeral where we wanted to show respect. I am sure those days are gone forever, and I wonder how much farther will things go.