Black and White Throwback Thursday

Scraps of More Black and White Memories:

From 1958 to 1961, we attended a pre-fab school and, except when the weather was extreme, we walked there each day crossing a creek, two fields and a railroad track. There was an adult at the RR tracks to watch for trains and make sure no child was standing on the railroad tracks! I remember walking to and from school carrying my clarinet case in the winter with my hand freezing because I couldn't put it in my pocket. Carrying that case was pretty much a waste of time since I never did much with the clarinet except to make it squeak!

At hint of a storm coming on or heaven forbid, a tornado, Daddy was super cautious and would have us all hiding in the bathroom. Our little house had one little bathroom, so believe me, it was a cozy time in there when there was a threat of tornadoes. It was most disturbing to me when we would be at school and had to hide under the desk or go in the hall as I thought about being separated from my family if a tornado really happened or, even worse, if the Russians bombed us! My teacher had put the fear in me over the bomb and the Russians. Daddy at work, us at school, Mom at home. Please God, protect us, was always my prayer!

Momma let me have a birthday party when I was 12 and her idea about it was to have a tacky party! (My sister and her little friend decided a really tacky thing to do would be to take bobby pins and scrape my only lipstick all over their faces. Consequences came for them when they tried to wash it off with some cleanser like 409!) Two of my favorite gifts that day were the book Heidi and a box of chocolate covered cherries. Being a chocoholic from a very young age, I was absolutely in heaven with a book and candy.

We always helped Momma bring in clothes off the clothesline, summer and winter. Those clothes froze up fast out there on the line. Remember how you took a cloth and cleaned the clothesline before hanging the clothes? Birds liked to rest on the lines! She did the laundry on a wringer washer in the tiny utility room attached to the house and in winter hung diapers and baby clothes on a rack over the floor furnace. That floor furnace was pretty pleasant on a cold winter morning when you would stand with your feet on either side and let the warm air flow up your nightgown! 

Many good times were had make believing we were the Boxcar Children in our back yard with my very pretty friend Cassandra who lived a few blocks away. So much pretending there that we were the orphans who lived in a boxcar with our siblings and digging up dirt, washing pretend dishes with sand, and sending our pretend brother off to earn a living for four kids under 12. Haha! We loved that book!

Sunday School, Church and the Bible have always been a major part of my life and here I am on my seventh birthday wearing a pretty pink dress my Granny gave me and holding my first real Bible. 

I was so very proud of it and over the years, I have to say my love for God's Word has never changed, nor has my love for different study Bibles. I also still have that first Bible. When we lived in the little white house and yellow house, we attended a small church a few blocks away. I can't remember whether we walked or Daddy took us, but what I do remember is it was a church that was quite strict in the way ladies dressed and wore their hair and no make-up! This made an impression on me because when we attended Vacation Bible School at another church in our neighborhood, I remember staring in wonderment at my teacher because she was … drum roll … wearing bright red lipstick!!!!! Wow! Isn't it strange how we think and what we notice as young children? And I do have a vivid memory of going with Momma to ladies prayer meetings! Those ladies were down on their knees praying their hearts out … and truly calling out loud to God!

Sunday School was a weekly delight I always looked forward to and always had prepared for it in the quarterly the church provided with lessons to read and questions to answer. That is something I still enjoy in Bible Study Fellowship. I don't remember ever not wanting to go unless you count the one year that January 1 fell on Sunday and it was frigid outside. Momma insisted that would not keep us from church that day to make sure we started our year out right! Oh dear, on the way our car broke down but fortunately, it broke down in front of a house where fellow church members lived and they took us on to church. You see, God does work in mysterious ways and He certainly provides for us!

One Sunday School teacher in particular stands out to me because of her hospitality to us young girls and she would have parties at her home with cake and ice cream … no special occasion … she just loved us! Although I really don't like this pic, I am posting it because of the special cake she had made for this party. It was a huge Bible cake and we all had to have our pictures made with it.

My hair!!!! Scary from another of Momma's perms

and maybe pin curls the night before!

What a wonderful woman Sister Murphy was and really, all my Sunday School teachers over the years I thank God for what they invested in me. It is my hope that the children I have worked with in church over the years will have appreciation for the people who taught them.

Many times were spent sitting in the yard patiently weaving together clover necklaces ... going to Cassandra's house to play and draw on her giant chalkboard and in the playhouse her Dad built for her ... Cassandra and her mom were both artists and they drew beautifully, but when it came to more important matters, such as sports and outdoor fun, they weren’t quite as interested. And in other practical matters such as being on time when weather was bad and Momma would take them to school with us, it was hard for me to understand because we were always so punctual! Visiting my friend Jackie who had a horse which bucked me off right away, Jackie said the horse knew I was afraid … my best friend Melba and I staying over at each other's house … and a thousand other little snippets of those times.

In 6th grade, I started a record club with friends and I remember the shock of seeing one of my friends dance to the song On the Wings of a Snow White Dove ... one of the older girls playing the boogie woogie on the piano … the night my sister and I stayed awake all night out of excitement over her having learned to ride her bike. We couldn't wait for the next day to come so we could ride … going to my friend Cassandra's house to watch Peter Pan in color on their TV, and seeing The Wizard of Oz for the first time … we were terrified of the witch and those monkeys!

I'm guessing this period of time in my parents' lives were very busy and they worked hard to stretch a dollar because very few pictures were taken. That is sad because those were my little brother's toddler years and my little sister in first through third grades and face it! Those are some of the cutest years. 

Mine were the awkward years, being tall, having to wear glasses and also suffering with a chipped front tooth did not help with my self-esteem. Oh gee, but how did I happen to get a chipped front tooth, you may or may not ask? Twirling around on the sidewalk showing off for my little boyfriend! I fell flat on my face and broke my front tooth! Pride! Showing off! Consequences, yes.

That's all for now, folks!