Molly
was welcomed into our home with open arms. At Christmas both Molly and I
received the same gifts in our stockings and under the tree which we all had
decorated with homemade ornaments and chains strung with popcorn. We all went
out to a sick neighbor's house carolling Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning Pa
read the Christmas story from the Bible while the smell of the turkey, cookies, peppermint sticks and cider made our mouths water. Molly and I helped with the firewood and
woodstoves during the winter. When we weren't at school, and it was too cold to
go outside we read, played, or knitted inside. At school which was poorly heated
we wore coats inside. My favorite subject was sewing. My Ma taught me to sew,
but at school my teacher taught me additional sewing skills. Molly took violin
lessons. The school provided a violin on loan which was shared by three
students. And we both loved the drawing class every Friday. Molly was younger
than me, but she was just as smart. We both made "E's" top grade. Every Sunday
all of us went to Sunday School and church. I hated the hard benches and long
revivals. Molly and I chewed gum and passed notes during the service. But
something got through to us. Molly was baptised, and I read the whole New
Testament except for the last book which I couldn't understand. Every Sunday
after church Ma, Pa, Aunt Mary, Molly and me went to Grandma's house for fried
chicken, green beans, biscuits, mashed potatoes, and apple or custard pie. We
sat around and talked about our world. I said, "I want a Studebaker." Molly said,
"I want a Chevrolet or a Buick." Molly said, "I don't like Duke Ellington." I
replied, "I don't like jazz at all either. And I don't like those dance
marathons; they get girls in big trouble." "Oh, those flapper dresses are
outrageous," said Molly. "Molly, did you see the new styles in McCall's? Bobbed
hair, feathered headbands, hemlines to the knees...shocking don't you think?"
"Well, yes I agree," she replied, "but don't you think Clara Bow is pretty?"
"Yes, she is pretty. And I just adore John Barrymore, he is so handsome; I hope
I can marry someone like him someday when I am older." "Alcohol is utterly
disgusting," Molly commented. "And tobacco stinks," I said, "It's a waste of
fifteen cents. Did you know women are smoking in public in New York City? And
did you hear about this? Pa said some teacher in Tennessee is teaching evolution
in a school, and for us not to read any books about that trash."
Winter
passed; spring came and got us outdoors more. We worked with the animals and in
the corn fields. We sold and delivered the Grit newspaper and made seventyfive
cents a week. Pa gave each of us fifty cents a week for doing chores. But it was
also a fun time. We all went fishing on the river bank. We had picnics and tea
parties in the yard. We made candy and ice cream. We played cards; "fish" was
our favorite card game. We made a playhouse in one corner of the barn, and the
dogs were our children. We played alot of "pretend" games. The front porch swing
and swing in the tree were our car or train that took us to other places. And
when the weather was raining, we played board games inside.
Summer came and
we both fell in love...in love with LeRoy Shook. LeRoy, a fifteen year old
chubby redheaded boy who was a neighbor from a rich family. He came over and
played cards with us. We played hide and seek, and went fishing and hunting
together. Molly didn't like hunting, but always came with us. LeRoy liked me the
best. He brought me flowers and wrote me a love note which I gave right back to
him. "LeRoy, don't you ever again say you want to kiss me. Pa says I can't have
a boyfriend until I'm seventeen, but he says we can be regular-like friends."
LeRoy loved to tease Molly calling her "Woodpecker" and making her mad. "You are
more a woodpecker than I am," she would shout back. Molly and I used to hide in
the cornfields and talked in private about marrying LeRoy when we grew up. We
didn't fight over him, but we each thought he would be our husband.
--->
"M" is for the million things she gave me,
---> "O" means only that
she's growing old,
---> "T" is for the tears were shed to save
me,
---> "H" is for her heart of purest gold,
---> "E"
is for her eyes with lovelight shining,
---> "R" means right and
right she'll always be,
---> Put them all together they spell
mother,
---> A word that means the world to
me."
------->lyrics by Howard Johnson
The corn grew tall. We were cornhusker girls. We
walked everday half a mile down the dirt road to my Grandma's house surrounded
by large Elm and Walnut trees. She always had treats to eat for us. And we loved
to play with her small white dog, Tippy, that would stand on her hind legs and
dance in a circle for us when we sang to her. Then we would go into the apple
orchid or the woods and climb up into a tree and read. Granny Thorpe called me
"Little Bee." "Come here, Little Bee," I can still hear her call me. Grandpa
always had a joke or tale of the old days to tell us.
Molly and I became
"real" sisters. Then one day late in the summer Ma became sick. Molly said to
her, "Mother, I will pluck the chicken for you. Becky and I can fix supper." It
was the first time that Molly had called Ma "Mother." Tears filled Ma's eyes.
**continue**
