After John’s surgery the August heat kept the children in and it was one of those “good thing, bad thing” kind of deals. They didn’t “catch” anything from other children as they had in early Spring when Suzie and Sammy came down with chicken pox and George and Becky came down with it two weeks later. I had them piled up on opposite ends of the couch while they recuperated. Naturally two weeks later John came down with them. Being so young he had a couple of spots in the diaper area and a couple on his chest…one on his face. It had been a long recovery time for as you know….children become bored really fast.

Becky became angry about something she was being hindered with one day and we were at a stalemate. She was unrelenting and I was busy. I asked if she would like to be adopted by someone who would treat her better…….and to my amazement she said, “YES.” I told her to pack her suitcase and I would take her where she wanted to go. She decided to be Gloria Bahr’s little girl. Gloria and her husband had moved into the apartment next to us and had only been married a few months. We had visited some so I thought this would be a good choice to make my point.

She packed her little doll suitcase and came out to the living room with that and her favorite doll. I looked in the suitcase and she had only put in some toys and a couple of knit tee-shirts. I looked for an early return.

I took Becky by the hand and John in my other arm out the front door. We walked around the partition on the front entrance of our apartments and I knocked on Gloria’s door. She looked a little surprised at our presence ( because of the suitcase I’m assuming) and invited us in. I told her I couldn’t stay but Becky would like to come and be her little girl (big wink !!) I explained that she didn’t want to live with us anymore because we were too mean. Gloria took the big wink in and agreed to have Becky come in side. Becky hesitated for an instant and then went in. I thanked Gloria for adopting Becky and left.

Of course I had taken a big chance. By now my plan wasn’t looking so good, but like Becky, I decided to go forward and see how it played out. I didn’t have to wait long. I was dusting in the living room which had one wall connected to Gloria’s living room. In about 15 minutes I heard a long loud wail that erupted into a full blown crying jag. I prepared myself for the inevitable return. Sure enough….in a few minutes Gloria and Becky were at the door and Gloria asked if Becky could come back and live with us. I feigned thinking it over for a few seconds……”well… I don’t….know…? Do you think you can be a good girl?” She only nodded her head affirmatively and I didn’t throw another pitch for a verbal answer. I figured she had enough of a lesson.

After Gloria went home I took Becky in my arms and hugged her. “I’m so glad you came back. What would I do without my little Becky? I love you and I always want you to be my little girl. We won’t ever let this happen again, will we?” With her little arms around me and her head on my shoulder I knew I didn’t need to say more. I suggested she unpack her little suitcase and go get Georgie. I fixed them some Kool-Aid and cookies and in a few minutes the whole affair was history. I’ve been thinking…..if that scenario were duplicated in this day and time, Gloria would report me for child neglect, abuse and illegal adopting. Becky would sue me for being an abusive mother. Some things are just in the right time period to work.

The summer passed and our friends, Eldon and Evelyn, called us about a house just two blocks from them that was for sale. It had the same floor plan as theirs and was a block and a half away. We decided to go see it and find out if we could come up with enough money to buy it. We were cramped in the apartment and yearned for a house with a yard so the children could grow up in a real neighborhood…..and have a dog. Our dream was about to be realized…..

Until tomorrow,

Essentially Esther