The Shafer siblings : Roena, Cliff and Lois This is the only picture I have of Momma with her brother and sister -- proof positive that there is a Shafer "look" and strong Shafer genes in all of us. I think that Don and I look more Shafer-ish than the other siblings. Mom told me many times that when I was born, Doc Hamilton told her she "finally got one who looked like her." That's a definite compliment, but I'm sure she often wished I would act more like her, too!
I try to imagine them as children, with Mom as the oldest child watching over her little brother and baby sister. Momma said many times that none of them ever fought or even raised their voices, so they must have been happy children. Grammie and Gramp, their parents, were always easy to get along with, and I think maybe they were all a little bit spoiled.
Since Mom outlived both Cliff and Lois, I imagine she was a little lonely without any of her growing-up family around. Maybe I didn't listen to her as well as I should, but I only remember a couple of stories she told.
One was about the time she and Cliff were playing in Chauncey where they grew up, and they saw the ragman coming. Mom was really scared of the ragman, and she grabbed her little brother's hand and ran pell-mell for home! Now, I've never seen a ragman, but there used to be men who went around with wagons full of rags and other "recyclables," selling what they could to earn a little money. The word "ragman" sounds an awful lot like "bogeyman," and I think that's what Mom thought he was.
Mom told us that she wasn't made to do chores or other housework, and I'm pretty sure that was uncommon in the early twentieth century. Her Aunt Elsie reputedly said, "It's a poor house that can't afford two maids." Momma told me once that she was lax with her children too, knowing that "soon enough" we would find out what housework was all about. That woman surely deserved two maids, but she kept a clean and organized house, despite our best efforts to thwart her.
When "Queen for a Day" was popular on television, I always thought no one on earth deserved to be a queen for a day more than our mother, but I can't claim that I ever did my share of work. She was right: Soon enough, I learned what housework was all about, but try as I might, I can never live up to her example.
5 comments:
I'd never heard the story about Aunt Bessie saying it was a poor house that couldn't afford two maids. Oh, dear. Mom sure didn't get the life she was lead to expect, did she???
P.S. I've never seen that photo before! Momma looks so happy. :)
It is a wonderful picture, and I haven't seen it either!
Nan how about sending it to me!
Nan, sorry - it was not Aunt Bessie, it was Aunt Elsie, Gram's sister. Aunt Bessie was UNcle Earl's wife.
I'll make the change to Aunt Elsie. Bessie didn't sound right to me, but as I said, I didn't always listen too well. I'll send the picture. She does look happy, doesn't she?
That is a great photo of Grandma and her siblings. I know she did miss them a lot after they were gone. I find I have little Grandma-isms throughout my house, especially in the kitchen and I bet if we looked at all our kitchens we'd find that we all share some of the same ones!
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