Friday, June 04, 2004
WELCOME TO THE SIXTIES
I have written a good deal about the children but today I will write a little about me. I was undergoing a metamorphosis of my own. March of the year, 1960, George and I were married 10-years. We had come a long way in those years. Almost instantly we were thrust into parenting which neither of us had expected and I was more a mother than a wife. With 10-years under our belts, George Jr. was nine, Becky was six and John was three. They absorbed most of my time and energy. By the time George had finished work every day he was ‘spent’ as well. There was seldom any money to spend on entertainment or to go out for a nice dinner. In short, we had very little ‘together time.’
I don’t think either of us realized the long-term effect this would have on each of us. I had good friends that were my outlet through the day. A phone call or someone dropping in for coffee became my time to unwind and start ticking again. George had his buddies at work that provided the same for him. My needs were never spoken to him nor his to me. We were on a road that we thought would become familiar again when we “had time.” Instead, we became more involved with the children’s activities over the next years because we felt “now is the time to pack all we could into them.” It was a labor of love because we both loved our children above all else.
It was a turbulent time. The sixties brought changes to our country that were mind-boggling. Everything we took for granted was uprooted and in a state of flux. We fought for values in our children that seemed threatened every day. President Kennedy won the election that year and with a wave of popularity across the land we hoped for better times……..but it was not to be. The way of life we had known would never come back to square A.
In my personal journey I was feeling a need to grow. I felt stagnated mentally but didn’t have any means of developing myself. I settled on the Library as I had in the past and began checking books out that inspired and ignited my energy once more. Pat Boone wrote a book that called us to “bloom where we are planted.” I decided I was where I was at that particular time because I was supposed to be. I couldn’t change circumstances but I could change me, my outlook, my attitude. “Learning” was a way for me to look at the stars while my hands were in the dishwater.
I gardened and canned. I sewed for the family, I painted and cleaned. I continually worked to improve our home. I threw myself into constant activity and was always ‘there’ for the neighbor’s who had become our extended family. I gave Toni’s, cut hair, dug up flowers to share and tried to make or save money any way I could. A nice man at church, Mr. Meyers, asked if I would like to demonstrate milk products for him in grocery stores. He and his family lived behind some friends of ours so I was acquainted with him. It was only on Friday’s and Saturday’s of the week so I decided to give it a try.
I was picked up at home and driven down in the heart of Kansas City. I was “set up” in a Millgram’s Supermarket by the dairy products. I had a card-table with the milk and cottage cheese I was to offer samples of, some napkins, cups and small spoons. My “boss” bid me farewell and said he would pick me up at closing time. This is so common-place now it seems funny to tell how uneasy I felt. I was miles from home and stuck there till I could be picked up at store closing time. It was such an oddity at the time that people looked at me rather suspiciously and walked around me as if expecting me to throw it at them. My main problem was that it was a new product………also common-place now. It was skim milk which had been fortified with dry milk making it taste like whole milk. The product was called, Trim, and the cottage cheese was also low fat with less calories. Believe me, I was in an area that could have cared less about any of the above. Becky and I were laughing about the manner of dress. I wore one of my best dresses with heels and stood on my poor feet all day. That was the norm of the times….we were all Donna Reed “look-a-likes.” I worked for Mr. Myers for some time and continued selling Avon because it enabled me to get extras for the family without being gone too much.
At the time there was a company offering a free up-right freezer if you signed a contract to buy their frozen food products. I had been warned by friends and acquaintances that the plan didn’t work but I was convinced it could. I don’t remember how long you had to buy their products but I signed on and was delighted to receive a huge freezer stocked with food. George was less enthusiastic but had given in to my determination. My order went in every so often (it seems like I ordered every so many months) and it was easy for me. I planned my meals and worked out the foods I had more of so that it all came out even as planned. I must have been one of the few that was successful which was only what I had anticipated in the beginning. It is just one of the memories that comes to mind when I think back to life on 65th Street.
Tomorrow I shall write about the rest of 1960.……
Until then,
Essentially Esther
I don’t think either of us realized the long-term effect this would have on each of us. I had good friends that were my outlet through the day. A phone call or someone dropping in for coffee became my time to unwind and start ticking again. George had his buddies at work that provided the same for him. My needs were never spoken to him nor his to me. We were on a road that we thought would become familiar again when we “had time.” Instead, we became more involved with the children’s activities over the next years because we felt “now is the time to pack all we could into them.” It was a labor of love because we both loved our children above all else.
It was a turbulent time. The sixties brought changes to our country that were mind-boggling. Everything we took for granted was uprooted and in a state of flux. We fought for values in our children that seemed threatened every day. President Kennedy won the election that year and with a wave of popularity across the land we hoped for better times……..but it was not to be. The way of life we had known would never come back to square A.
In my personal journey I was feeling a need to grow. I felt stagnated mentally but didn’t have any means of developing myself. I settled on the Library as I had in the past and began checking books out that inspired and ignited my energy once more. Pat Boone wrote a book that called us to “bloom where we are planted.” I decided I was where I was at that particular time because I was supposed to be. I couldn’t change circumstances but I could change me, my outlook, my attitude. “Learning” was a way for me to look at the stars while my hands were in the dishwater.
I gardened and canned. I sewed for the family, I painted and cleaned. I continually worked to improve our home. I threw myself into constant activity and was always ‘there’ for the neighbor’s who had become our extended family. I gave Toni’s, cut hair, dug up flowers to share and tried to make or save money any way I could. A nice man at church, Mr. Meyers, asked if I would like to demonstrate milk products for him in grocery stores. He and his family lived behind some friends of ours so I was acquainted with him. It was only on Friday’s and Saturday’s of the week so I decided to give it a try.
I was picked up at home and driven down in the heart of Kansas City. I was “set up” in a Millgram’s Supermarket by the dairy products. I had a card-table with the milk and cottage cheese I was to offer samples of, some napkins, cups and small spoons. My “boss” bid me farewell and said he would pick me up at closing time. This is so common-place now it seems funny to tell how uneasy I felt. I was miles from home and stuck there till I could be picked up at store closing time. It was such an oddity at the time that people looked at me rather suspiciously and walked around me as if expecting me to throw it at them. My main problem was that it was a new product………also common-place now. It was skim milk which had been fortified with dry milk making it taste like whole milk. The product was called, Trim, and the cottage cheese was also low fat with less calories. Believe me, I was in an area that could have cared less about any of the above. Becky and I were laughing about the manner of dress. I wore one of my best dresses with heels and stood on my poor feet all day. That was the norm of the times….we were all Donna Reed “look-a-likes.” I worked for Mr. Myers for some time and continued selling Avon because it enabled me to get extras for the family without being gone too much.
At the time there was a company offering a free up-right freezer if you signed a contract to buy their frozen food products. I had been warned by friends and acquaintances that the plan didn’t work but I was convinced it could. I don’t remember how long you had to buy their products but I signed on and was delighted to receive a huge freezer stocked with food. George was less enthusiastic but had given in to my determination. My order went in every so often (it seems like I ordered every so many months) and it was easy for me. I planned my meals and worked out the foods I had more of so that it all came out even as planned. I must have been one of the few that was successful which was only what I had anticipated in the beginning. It is just one of the memories that comes to mind when I think back to life on 65th Street.
Tomorrow I shall write about the rest of 1960.……
Until then,
Essentially Esther
