Sunday, June 13, 2004
THE END OF 1962....
I got the bright idea to decorate the boy’s room and wanted something totally boyish. I had some left over paint that I picked up here and there and decided on a parade of clowns. I worked hard to make it ‘real’ looking with three large figures holding balloons. It served as a headboard for the two twin beds that set “head first” into the wall. They loved it and I loved doing it……..my juices were still perking so I decided to put one on the dining room wall.
We had gone to a lot of old mills in south Missouri where the mill, stream and trees were tantamount to the area we once lived in. The quaint pictorial scene was hard for me to bring to life on the wall. I labored several days and just couldn’t quite get it the way I wanted. Finally I quit fussing with it and put the paint away. I have pictures of it as well as the clowns and they still look pretty good. The dining room scene was a mill with the water-wheel and small rivulet disappearing behind a large fully- leafed oak tree. The hutch (that belonged to mom and dad as a wedding gift) took up the rest of the wall. I got a lot of ribbing about the water disappearing behind the tree and hutch. I always said when I was old and retired I would take painting lessons but I am old and retired and the only pictures I seem to paint are with words. I guess it’s OK…….one day I may wake up and start painting again. … as Robert Frost once wrote…… “I have miles to go before I sleep.”
Dining Room Mural, John holding Spooky
October brought my uncle Roger, aunt Phyllis, my grandmother Stricklett and Phyllis’ mother, Mrs. Petersen; along with my three cousins, Roger Phillip, Julie and Joy. They were on their way through Kansas City and stopped to visit and have a meal with us. We were always happy to have family come and being half-way between Blair and Willow Springs we usually were the stopping off place on family trips.
After our Thanksgiving trip to our grandparents we came home and put up our tree. It always set the stage for our Christmas season. Becky and John had Christmas programs to go to and I had a Christmas party for the Bluebirds the day they were let out of school for vacation. We had finished with everything and I had all the girls sit around the tree in a circle….I had a small gift for each one and when I told them to stand up so I could hug them goodbye until they came back in January, they all stood up singing, “We wish you a merry Christmas….we wish you a merry Christmas….we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” They had gone together and presented ME with an unexpected gift. When I opened it a small gold-tone angel carrying a Christmas tree (pin) was in the box….. I was totally overwhelmed. I have it to this day and consider it a token of the 15-little angels I had for six years.
George Jr. was 12 that December and had the supper of his choice along with a 3-layer birthday cake. He was getting a little “old” for a dog or cat cake. He always managed to get his candles out even though it was getting more difficult every year.
George and I got new bikes for George Jr. and Becky that year. They rode them even as cold as it was……John got his heart’s desire as well. We always celebrated Christmas with the Fowlers, Bryant’s and Granny and Barclay Bond, individually. They were our family away from home. The Bond’s have passed on some year’s ago, the Bryant’s have retired and moved to the Lake of the Ozarks, and the Fowler’s moved away also after retirement to their hometown of Emporia, Kansas.
Friends are people who never let distance make a difference. We have all lived apart for many years now but we still have regular contact with each other as well as deep affection. Acquaintances come and go but friends are friends forever.
All in all, 1962 was a good year and we had no complaints. George had been working part-time at Wonder Bakery along with his mail route. The kids were well and healthy and I was the monitor to get everyone where they needed to go. Life was picking up speed but so far we were keeping up and the future looked bright. A week later we would wake up to a New Year and the hope of things to come. We could not have imagined the events that would follow……..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
We had gone to a lot of old mills in south Missouri where the mill, stream and trees were tantamount to the area we once lived in. The quaint pictorial scene was hard for me to bring to life on the wall. I labored several days and just couldn’t quite get it the way I wanted. Finally I quit fussing with it and put the paint away. I have pictures of it as well as the clowns and they still look pretty good. The dining room scene was a mill with the water-wheel and small rivulet disappearing behind a large fully- leafed oak tree. The hutch (that belonged to mom and dad as a wedding gift) took up the rest of the wall. I got a lot of ribbing about the water disappearing behind the tree and hutch. I always said when I was old and retired I would take painting lessons but I am old and retired and the only pictures I seem to paint are with words. I guess it’s OK…….one day I may wake up and start painting again. … as Robert Frost once wrote…… “I have miles to go before I sleep.”
Dining Room Mural, John holding Spooky
October brought my uncle Roger, aunt Phyllis, my grandmother Stricklett and Phyllis’ mother, Mrs. Petersen; along with my three cousins, Roger Phillip, Julie and Joy. They were on their way through Kansas City and stopped to visit and have a meal with us. We were always happy to have family come and being half-way between Blair and Willow Springs we usually were the stopping off place on family trips.
After our Thanksgiving trip to our grandparents we came home and put up our tree. It always set the stage for our Christmas season. Becky and John had Christmas programs to go to and I had a Christmas party for the Bluebirds the day they were let out of school for vacation. We had finished with everything and I had all the girls sit around the tree in a circle….I had a small gift for each one and when I told them to stand up so I could hug them goodbye until they came back in January, they all stood up singing, “We wish you a merry Christmas….we wish you a merry Christmas….we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” They had gone together and presented ME with an unexpected gift. When I opened it a small gold-tone angel carrying a Christmas tree (pin) was in the box….. I was totally overwhelmed. I have it to this day and consider it a token of the 15-little angels I had for six years.
George Jr. was 12 that December and had the supper of his choice along with a 3-layer birthday cake. He was getting a little “old” for a dog or cat cake. He always managed to get his candles out even though it was getting more difficult every year.
George and I got new bikes for George Jr. and Becky that year. They rode them even as cold as it was……John got his heart’s desire as well. We always celebrated Christmas with the Fowlers, Bryant’s and Granny and Barclay Bond, individually. They were our family away from home. The Bond’s have passed on some year’s ago, the Bryant’s have retired and moved to the Lake of the Ozarks, and the Fowler’s moved away also after retirement to their hometown of Emporia, Kansas.
Friends are people who never let distance make a difference. We have all lived apart for many years now but we still have regular contact with each other as well as deep affection. Acquaintances come and go but friends are friends forever.
All in all, 1962 was a good year and we had no complaints. George had been working part-time at Wonder Bakery along with his mail route. The kids were well and healthy and I was the monitor to get everyone where they needed to go. Life was picking up speed but so far we were keeping up and the future looked bright. A week later we would wake up to a New Year and the hope of things to come. We could not have imagined the events that would follow……..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
