Tuesday, April 23, 2019
My mother has always been cheerful. I almost never recall my parents, Soph & Del, disagreeing over anything. However my mother did have her own way of making a point!
My father was a brilliant man, but my mother was always the more practical one that kept our family humming along.
Growing up in the 1950’s, there were four of us – Cynthia, Dale, John and George aka Googer. Ours was the typical family with my father working in New York City and commuting on the Long Island Rail Road and my mother home full time with us.
Our nightly routine was for me to take some of the younger ones and walk towards the train station to meet my father. Next we would go home and dinner would be served. The table was always set with my father sitting at one end, my mother at the other and me and my sister on one side and John and George in a high chair on the other. The kitchen wasn’t big, but it was big enough for week night dinners.
As we sat down one night, my father said to my mother. “Gee Soph, you could have at least changed out of your gardening clothes!” My mother said nothing, but as the oldest I think I saw her shoot him a look. Mom was dressed ok with shorts and a sleeveless white blouse. I didn’t see any dirt on her hands or clothes and her black hair was neatly combed. I wasn’t exactly sure what my father was complaining about…
However, the next night as we were preparing to go to the train station, as I rounded the corner from the back yard with my sister and brothers, there was a crowd standing on our front lawn - including a police officer and his cop car; Uncle Billy Bones, our next door neighbor, the local undertaker, standing there in his bib overalls; Mrs. Goetz, another neighbor, was taking a picture; and some of the neighborhood kids were at the curb on their bikes. We inched our way through the crowd and when we got to the center there stood OUR MOTHER on the front lawn in a full length light blue satin dress raking the leaves!!! There she stood raking and raking. She wasn’t saying anything - just smiling and raking, raking, raking the leaves.
As we watched in bewilderment, my father came down the block in suit and tie and carrying his attaché case. As he got closer he began to take notice of the crowd and he picked up his pace. As he got even closer to our house, he began to crane his neck to see over people’s heads - past the policeman, the neighbors, the neighborhood kids and the four of us. Then he saw my mother in her blue satin evening dress in the middle of the crowd still smiling and raking. I don’t remember him saying anything – not a word.
But I don’t think I ever heard my father criticize my mother again. And he never said anything about her clothing either – not unless it was to pay a compliment – like marrying my mother had been the best thing that ever happened to him and they were married forever!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM – This story isn’t quite as good as Dad trying to use the Electrolux vacuum to suck out the gasoline to come see James (his 1st grandson) at Overlook Hospital, but it’s close… And by the way - Where did you get that dress???
Love, Cynthia, Aimee and James
