Dating (1954)

The year before we married...1949 Ford , that was my Father's, ...he gave the car to us , when we married...Irvin kept that car washed and shined , til it looked like a new car...

Korea - 1953

Irvin at his post in Korea (1953)

To My Readers

I need to take a short break....will continue this journey of our life with you in a few days, ...thanks for reading this far...will be back soon...love you all

February 11, 1955-OUR WEDDING DAY

Our Wedding Day started out sunny, and cold...I woke up early, as there was so much to do, and 7:30 p.m. , would be there, before I knew it...Mother and Daddy with help had moved all of the Living Room furniture out to the porch, that my Daddy had built on our house and put outside blinds that opened and closed .. the washer at one end of the room, with a table for drinking tea, coffee (kind of like a sun-room), but in the winter got very cold...we had hardwood floors thoughtout the house, with a wool rug on the Living Room floor...well, folding chairs , and if I remember , we borrowed these from the Church..Our Living Room as fairly small, but they got a lot of chairs in that room...now, there was a sort of "wide archway , between the Living Room and the very small dining room (in those days, it was so small, they called it dinette) and with 3 doorways in it, there were barely enought room for a table and chairs, with the kitchen going from the small dining rm. and the doorway to living room, and doorway to the hallway with a bedroom on each end of the hallway, the front bedroom at the time, mine... with a 1 bath in between the 2 bedrooms...(in those days, that was the usual size of a home)..First thing on my list to do was to , wash my hair...which brings me back to another very DUMB thing I did...my hair length was to my shoulders..well, in those days, the style was curly..and we all put "pincurls" in our hair every night to have that curl...no hair spray, no hairdryer, no curling irons ..the only place you found that was at the "Beauty Shops"...well, someone decided that I needed to get a "perm", the day before the wedding, BAD IDEA!, at that time, the shops all had these hugh machines with the curler extentions that they put on your hair, that heated up, and therefore gave you curl, and saved a lot of pincurling at night...It was just as horrible as it sounds, it took hours to get a perm...and to do something like that right before your wedding is CRAZY...I was sorry I even considered it before I got out of that beauty shop, which was a shop miles from our home, as there were no shops near our house, as everyone did their own hair, unless there was a special event going on...well, this WAS special, but I wished a thousand times, I have left well enough alone...well, the operator finally took those things off my head..and combed my hair out...she had cut it, and of course the curl made it look shorter ...it WAS curly, and although it wasn't too short, I thought it looked horrible...thinking back, if I had got the perm another time, it would not have seemed so dramatic, but that seemed like such a terrible thing at that time, to deal with..now. I was not supposed to wash it for a few days, NO WAY, I went home and washed it, and toweled dried it as much as I could..I had to do a lot of combing to finally get it halfway the way I wanted it, then I still pincurled it that night to see what would happen, but the next morning, I decided to wash it again, towel dry it and see..well, I still had to pincurl it ..It seems I spent the whole morning on my hair, and was so scared about it ..I thought Thank God for the hat...even tho, it was a small hat, it covered a lot of "that stuff"....I got stuck in the bathroom, as Irvin and if I remember, Oscar came over later in the morning, I guess to help with the chairs, etc, ..but i could hear them talking , and decided they were at the table, having coffee with my Mother, and Daddy was probably working, as he never took off from work...and he got home, about 3:30 or so...well, I worked with my hair, and cried  ...I couldn't go out of the bathroom, as everyone would see me, as anyone sitting at the table was in full sight of the bathroom door, which I locked..I did everything that I could do in the bathroom, like doing my nails again, still fussing over the hair, finally getting it under a little control, then I cleaned the bathroom up , it was shining, when I finally heard them go into the Living Room...I dashed out to my room , and closed my door, and waited until they laft to come out, which was early afternnon, and still so much to do...well, my Daddy came home, and it seems in no time at all, it was getting time, for me and Mother and Daddy to get dressed, as we were sure that everyone would start coming early, and we were right.. they did...My Daddy and I were to come from my room, down the small hallway,(which could not be seen from the living room)...Irvin and I had picked out our music...it was a LP of Perry Como singing Because..A beautiful song, and one of our favorites, and just right for our Wedding...someone was assigned to stop the record at a certain point,...we started it as it was in my room , just inside of the doorway, when we left my room...My Daddy had tears in his eyes, and had me almost crying when we started down that hallway into the dining room to stand in the wide doorway, which we had put Crepe Paper Wedding Bells over, by the way,..Mother had bought a lace table cloth for the table, which held the Wedding Cake, punch bowl, etc...(on those days, that was what was served; cake, punch, coffee) well, Irvin, his Best Man, Neta, and Frances Gail, (my flowergirl), she was about 6 years old, and I wanted her in my Wedding, so, a flowergirl seemed the best way to do that..She had on a little pink dress, and looked so darling..She walked in front of My Father and I and went and stood by Neta ...The music was stopped, and our Pastor(Brother David Boston) started the cememony....we had a simple ceremony, repeating the vowels, and puting on each others rings, (back then, that was the usual ceremony...) The Pastor reading from the Bible in first Corh....I can remember looking and seeing so many people there, and thinking , that it seemed impossible to get that many people into that small room...We were So Happy!...Mother and some of the Ladies, went into the kitchen, and started getting the coffee, and plates together for the cake, punch, coffee...We cut the cake, and I don't even remember eating any that night.., Irvin had gone and lit our bathroom heater in our apt. , earlier that day, It was a built in heater...which to be was really "uptown", and our apt was toasty warm, when we got there...It was a very cold night, and I put on my short whilte coat when we got ready to leave...this was the same coat I wore on our first date...well, we said "goodbye" and hugged our Parents, (all of Irvin's family were there, even his Father) like I said, it was a full house that night..we left with everyone coming out to wave at us and the boys shouted (did the guy thing)..and we were on our way.....

Countdown

The weeks before our Wedding was so busy and rushed...most nights after I got home from work, and Irvin came over, we either would take something over to our apt., or sit and plan...I remember one night,we were both so tired,..we just sit down on the couch, with the television on, and it was cold, ..my Mother and Father had a wall furnish installed in our hall way wall, the latest thing at that time, up until then, we had used a space heater in the Living Room, and everyone would stand in front of that heater to "warm -up"...well, this wall furnish was sort of like what we have now as central heat, except, actually, it didn't exactly warn the entire house, and it is a good thing, our house was small..the living room was always "toasty warm" on cold nights..anyway, on that night, I think it was turned up on high as we sit there, watching the t.v...(we usually didnt watch much television), too much to do, and too many places to go, but I think that night, we were just too tired to move...we both fell asleep...and Mother said, she kept thinking, we were still watching some show, and thought, that it was getting so hot, til finally she got up, put her robe on, and come in to turn down the furnace, and there we sit, sound asleep in the wee hours of the morning..she woke us up, and Irvin jumped up and still sleepy, seeing the time, said he better be on his way home, he was sure, his Mother would be worried , it being so late or rather early in the morning.....one Saturday, my Mother and I went downtown to buy last minute things, one being my Wedding shoes...I had my Wedding dress made, I was still what we called "skinny", at 89 lbs...It was a sky-blue Taffeta with a "Peter Pan" collar, 3/4 sleeves, small covered buttons to the waist, with a V gathered full skirt, and was what was called then, "Ballerina Length", a popular length those days...now I had decided to wear pink shoes, with a pink hat (the hat, I had already found earlier in the month of January, and back then, your hat and shoes and handbag , we thought had to "match") and I had bought pink gloves to match...another accessory that we wore then, gloves...just watch any movie, made in the 50's and you will see the style of that decade..well, we looked in every store, downtown, and finally we thought, one store left...now, this store was very "high -end", not one we would usually shop at , at all...we went into it, and headed for the shoe department, and in those days, there were many people on the floor, to "wait" on you, " asking , "May I help you", ....we sit down, and I told the salesman, I was looking for pink high heels, and he said , "I have one pair of pink heels", (another thing, in those days, if you couldn't find a color , you wanted in a shoe, you could have a white pair dyed , the color you wanted, which a lot of women did for wedding, especially for Bridesmaids shoes..), which i thought I was going to have to do, but really didn't want to , as there was usually just the 'pumps" ..the only style then , you could dye...he brought out the box of shoes in my size...they were a bit higher than I usually wore, as I wore heels every day to work, and usually on our dates, unless we were just going to the drive-in, etc...but, I loved these shoes, they were BEAUTIFUL, and I was SO tired of looking for shoes...I thought, this is a good sign..my poor Mother was so tired too, and about to just give up,...we were both tired and hungry, as we didn't even stop to have lunch, just a coke , in between looking for those pink shoes.,...the shoes were a perfect match for the hat(which had tiny, little flowers around the front, (looked so much like a Wedding hat), I was so happy, to finally complete my Wedding clothes...when we finally got home, it was early evening...and my Daddy and Irvin were sitting waiting, and having coffee, about to go and look for us..of course, (being men), they thought we should just be able to go into the first store, and find those shoes...
         In the last few days before our wedding, we moved our clothes over to the apt.., and everything else that we needed..I just kept what I needed for work, etc, and slept on the couch in the living room , and Irvin did the same , taking his clothes , except what he would need...we were on the Countdown, counting every day, hour and minute...
                    

Planning Our Wedding

After Christmas, and New Years..We got down to the business of planning our wedding..We decided on Friday, February 11th at 7:30PM ... and we wanted to be married at my Parents house,..my Mother and Father seemed very pleased to hear that...that didn't leave a lot of time to get everything planned, and gather up furniture, etc...and get a place to live...well, the place to live kind of fell right into place...my father had worked with a very nice man about his age, for years..he and his wife had no children, and Mother and I had met them, in fact, when they lived in Jacinto City..well, they had bought a large house nearer to his work, and on the lot was a garage apt..which they wanted to rent out...as of yet , they had not done so, ..when he heard that we were getting married soon, ...he told Daddy, to ask us if we would like to see the apt, and think about it...that was perfect...there was 1 bedroom, living room, kitchen and bath..that was it, but all that we needed..i thought it was the cutest apt...we went and looked and it, and told them to save it for us...well, they were the sweetest couple, and kind of "adopted" us...Mrs Rogers waited on her husband hand and foot, and I think she would have gladly done the same for us...well, we liked them very much, and respected them, but we wanted to do for ourselves, our own way., ..having rented the apt..we started thinking about furniture...at the time, we had to furnish the kitchen completely...the only new furniture that we moved in with was a red dining room table and 4 chairs to match...Mother and Daddy give us a couch, that they had for years, but was still in good shape, and clean, ...I took my bedroom suite with me, ..also my hope chest, and by the time different ones in the family gave us furniture that they didn't use, or could spare, we had everything we needed...it was a "Family Project"  to gather up "Irvin and Ann's stuff for their apt"...Mary Frances gave us a wedding shower a couple of weeks before the Wedding, and we got all of the towels, sheets, cooking sets, dishes, etc..that we needed,...I had gone down to Kress's and bought a iron (I used that iron for at least 30 years until it "died" on it...we finally got around to picking out ones to stand up with us..I asked my Cousin, Neta to be my Matron of Honor( she had lost her husbanf of nine months a couple of years earlier), we wer the same age, and always have been close., in fact, she came after Marvin passed away, and stayed with us the biggest part of a year..I was working, and had just started writing to Irvin while she was with us..she looked for work, but had no luck, and finally, My Uncle and Aunt in Texas City asked her to come and take care of their Children, while Dorothy worked......Irvin asked his friend, Oscar...now Oscar was a bachelor, and not dating...since the two, (Neta and Oscar have never met, we thought it would be good if we got together, and took them to a drive-in  theatre to see a movie with us...WE play Match Maker that night, not really meaning to do so...but Oscar called Neta the nest day, and they were married in April after we married in February of 1955..

Christmas-1954

The weeks before Christmas were really busy for us both, and I often noticed my Mother and Irvin whispering together, so I thought o.k., He is probably trying to find out what I want for Christmas or something like that...well, in those days, it seems like everyone bought things that people really needed, like clothes, etc...(to go back , a bit), when I was a child, I always wanted a pretty "Baby Doll", as we called them, ..as my friend, Donnie always got one every year...I would shamelessly sneak and find my present, and unwrap it enought to be able to see if I had finally got that "pretty baby doll", I think my Mother thought I was too old, even at the age or 7 or 8 to have a doll, well, I always got PJ's , as we girls called them, houseshoes, and then one year a PJ , doll...now this was a fuzzy , soft  , pink pillow like with a zipper on it , with a dolls head on it, to hold my PJ's was my Christmas present...this one year, I didn't try to find out what my present was, thinking, o.k., maybe I will get my Doll...of course, Donnie got a beautiful doll, with "hair", really "uptown" in those days...we would always get together after opening our gifts..now , her family opened theirs , Christmas mornings, and my family Christmas Eve...so after Breakfast, we would meet at one of our houses to compare our presents.. I know this sounds sad, ..but , times were different then, and most everyone had to do the best they could...now, Donnie's Mother  , as I said before worked, and her Father also worked at the "Ship Yard" . , her Mother didn't work but , during the war, but had managed to put money back, and even having 4 Children, she went "all out" on Christmas..and she was almost "Child like" during the holidays, enjoying them so much....I know I am going on and on about this doll thing, but to this day, I love Dolls..       O.K., back to Christmas 1954, It was a exciting time for me , and the days just flew by, and we enjoyed driving around "looking at the Christmas Lights", and every year, downtown was always lit up so beautifully..the Foley's window always had a Beautiful  Tree, and a different scene put out each year...people would come into downtown Houston from miles around, just to walk around downtown, and look in the store display windows at Christmas...My Father always cut down our tree..and up until I was almost grown, we always had a pine tree...after, Irvin and I married, we bought a cedar tree, (a LARGE tree)...well, in 54, my Daddy cut down a larger tree than usual for us..he would go up toward East Texas to cut our tree, and Mother and I went with him, the last 2 or 3 years that I was at home, I didn't go, ..He and Mother went, I usually had other things I wanted to do or places to go...Irvin and I decorated the tree together that year at my parents home..I was at a loss to what to get him for Christmas, and finally decided on a jacket...now, as I think back, I don't really know why I didn't get something more "exciting", but thought that would be "useful" for him..I had no idea what size he wore...he was and still is a slim, trim, man..and my Brother being slim also, I got the dumb idea, that I would ask him to meet me downtown at one of the Men's stores and try on a jacket and help me pick out one for Irvin on our lunch hour..now , he worked at one of the buildings downtown, as a Draftsman...my Brother was at least 6 ft tall, long arms..and he and Irvin were built up completely different...a jacket that fit my Brother, was in NO way going to fit , Irvin...I was 23 years old, but very dumb about buying Men's clothes, as I think back now, that WAS a dumb thing ...anyway, I bought a tan(even the color was drab) jacket, and remember , thinking , "What a good gift", this will keep him warm, he will like this..I don't think , I would have liked it...it is strang how you think, when you are young....well, Christmas Eve finally came, and Irvin came over early that evening, we had supper, helped with the dishes, and got our coffee, or they got theirs, and I got my coke, and went into the living room to open our gifts...I had bought my Mother a 'Shawl", very popular that year, and my Daddy, (I try to remember, but some reason, it won't come back to me", but am sure, it was something I thought would be "useful", also, I try to remember if my Brother and Mary Frances, and Frances Gail were there, and I think they were, because, everyone seemed to be acting what I thought was "Strange", well, all the gifts were opened, and  everyone was trying on and thanking each other., and Mother , said, "OH, I think there is something in a box, up in the tree", It was hidden well, in the tree, and i was told to get it, well, by that time, It struck me!, I was SO excited, and opened that box, and there was MY RING!, The best Christmas Present, I have EVER got!...It was BEAUTIFUL!, and I remember that night, laying in bed, with my hand up in the air, looking at my ring almost all night..I think after we settled down, Daddy got his egg nog out, and we all drank some...A Special Night...

Fall and New Beginnings

We got back to going out every night, ..either walking and talking or to a movie , to visit some of our families or going to our hangout, the Corral, and getting a coke...Irvin after much thought decided to go and enroll in Massey's Business College, now this was downtown..a couple of blocks from where I worked..he was interested in taking an Accounting Course...I had gone there before I started working for the Gas Company for a few months, and took a typing class, along with English, Shorthand(which , I droppped after a few classes)..I loved the typing, and the English , and Spelling(I need a refresher on that one, badly)..Mainly these courses were just a extention of High School courses., but I learned so much more in the typing class, and was able to apply to get my job at Houston Natural Gas...We met almost every day for lunch at Steve's Barbeque , which was right next to Massey's Business College..A lot of the people from the Gas Company went there to eat..A small place, with almost like school desks around the walls to sit at, you put in your order at counter, got it, and went and sit down, the way I remember it, they served mostly barbeque, and it was good..there were not many places to eat in that area at that time, so that was pretty much it...i worked from 8:00 to 5:00 with two, 15 min. breaks,..we usually went up to 6th floor to the workers "lounge"..where we could get either coffee, hot tea, or cokes..a lot of the time, I got hot tea..we had an hour for lunch...sometimes , since Kress Store (a popular store at that time, which at least in Texas has gone out) was only a few blocks from where I worked , I would go down and shop very quickly..I remember buying a lot of things for my "Hope Chest" there in the "basement" of Kress"es..it was a earlier version of Walmart, with cheaper prices than the High End stores like Foley's, etc...to get back to Business College, ... Irvin would come over and use my Typewriter (which, by the way was a Remington Manual ) to practice ....Daddy had bought this for me, when I enrolled at Massey's...at that time, we were taught to type, by covering up the keys with tape(white tape) , as we couldn't see the letters, and  therefore were supposed to be able to type without looking and build up our speed...well, as I had a lot of the books that he needed, I gave him mine..Now, he is very good in Math(which I never could master that subject ), so he did really well in that and typing..well,...Fall came with the cool weather, and thoughts of the Holidays just ahead...I started my Christmas , shopping , I think that year in early November..I would go on my lunch hour a lot of times , to Foley', walking as fast as possible (which in high heels was not all that easy, but at the age I was then, It was normal to me to have to walk fast almost every place I went during the day) I would grab a pkg. of chips, and a coke on the way back to the office, and gulp them down in maybe the five minutes I would have left in my lunch hour.. then back to work..our lunch hour was from 12:00 to 1:00...My best friend at work , was a woman about 14 years my senior, she was what we call now "a single Mom"..she had been married to a Lawyer, and had a young Daughter..her husband just came home one day and told her, that he was leaving to marry his secretary...Helen(my friend) had worked and helped him pay for his Law education..she was a hard working woman...and such a good person.. her family came from Germany, and she had a accent, that pretty much stayed with her...she was heartbroken, and after he left,..she and her daughter moved to a small apt. (now at that time, there were apt. buildings mostly, and there were small apts. in these buildings...she lived in the "Heights)..one of Houston's oldest Neighborhoods now, ..this was a lovely part of Houston then, with large trees, sidewalks, and pretty homes, etc...Her and I would go to Lunch together, well, at least before Irvin..then sometimes she would sit with us at Steve's at Lunch time..she liked him, and they became friends also......Thanksgiving came and we had Dinner   actually at my house, and I think , we went to his house also to eat...now , my Mother never made Turkey in those days..she baked  Chicken, made dressing, and veggies, and the trimmings..with my Brother not liking Chicken, I often wondered why she made that instead of Turkey, ..but I finally decided it was probably the cost  of the turkey , being much more , that made the difference..she had to watch the money so carefully,..everyone did...needless , to say, we had a busy Thanksgiving, and 4 days off from work, college, and we enjoyed being together and being with our families....

Our Families

Before going on, I want to tell more about our Families...Irvin came from a large family, His Mother gave Birth to 8 children  ...two died young...She married when she was very young, and kind of "grew up" with her Children...Irvin's Father followed the Oilfield drilling operations, so they were often transferred from town to town...this was all in East Texas...times were hard in those days..and families stuck together...Irvin's Mother instilled in her Children a Faith, that she truly lived every day..she helped everyone she knew whatever way she could..and made sure her Children went to Church every Service..Irvin tells that a lot of time, they got tired and wanted to go with their friends , but it was a very strick rule, that they went with her to Church whatever else was going on...she worked very hard keeping everything going in her home, and most of the time, her Mother lived with the family, as her Father had been gone several years, he, like so many others in the time, died what we would now call young.....at that time 30 was considered "old", and sometimes even like middle-age..women , and men worked hard to keep their families fed, clothed, and still teach them right from wrong. ...His Mother had one Brother, ..she was the big sister..and in the last few years of her life, ..she took care of him, in his last years, staying at his house, to care for him...she was a "good woman", taking no nonsense from anyone, and very outspoken...Now, I knew Irvin's 3 brothers that were still at home at the time when we started writing to each other...a lot of the time, on Friday nights, my Mother would ask them over to watch wrestling on the television, as the boys loved that.., as my Father and Mother did..To go back with my family, ..during my preteen years, my family went to the wrestling matches, as they were called then a lot, or I thought at that time, a lot, as I just could not stand to go...but I had no choice, unless I could get a chance to go and stay with Mama, (my Daddy's , Mother for the night, ..usually I had to go, because some of my Cousins were going.., anyway ti get back to where I was headed..., Mother would bake a cake, usually pineapple, as that was my Daddy's favorite, put on a pot of coffee, when Irvin's mother and Brothers could come over to watch the wrestling..Irvin's father never came, I think he took this time to sleep, while the house was quiet...Irvin's twin brothers were difficult to tell apart when they were growing up. ..after , you learned their ways, you knew one from the other..his brother, Virgil , was a couple of years older than the twins, (the youngest of the children), Irvin being 10 years older, and his sisters older than he...i really didn' t know his Sisters that well, til after we married....after Irvin came home from the service, a lot of Friday nights, we would go and visit with his uncle James and his wife and kids(4)..in those days, families visited each other often, ..almost every Sunday, a lot of our family would come in the afternoon, sometimes for lunch, and stay all evening..Mother always made fried chicken(my brother never liked chicken, and refused to eat it all his life)she made all the trimmings..and by the time, the kids got to eat, there were little left...the men usually eat first, then the women and children, when there was a crowd..so needless to say, we always had cold food when we had"company".. I was close to my cousins, as we were all about the same age, a few of them, my brother's age, but the ones my age came , as the others in later years before I married were married..us kids, would run and play in the yard til time to eat..in our younger years,..later as we got older, we would make plans to be gone when we had company on Sundays..when my Brother came home from service, and dated for a while, before he and Frances started dating again..I would go with him a lot on his dates..now that was a good brother, I think back , to let his sister tag along when he took his date to the movies, or circus, etc..and I wonder what his date thought..I remember one , that she and I got to be close friends alto, she was 6 years older, and she gave me a lot of her clothes, that she didn't wear any more...as I think back, they were probably too old for my age, but they were so prettty, and I wore them anyway..nothing daring, and in those days, it seemed us girls couldn't wait to start wearing nylons , and heels...
     My father had 5 brothers, and his mother raised    her Granddaughter from a baby, as her mother died when she was just a few weeks old..this was my double first cousin...my father's brother, married my mother's sister...My mother came from a family of 11...so , I grew up with a lot of cousins...there were many good times during those years, that I look back with very good memories..too many to put down...I jumped around in this section, but wanted to just touch on a few memories, and go on with what happened in the year 1954....

Break - Up

This is a hard post for me to make, can still remember how I felt...to start at the beginning..we were going along what I thought was fine...to go back to the time before Irvin went into service...He worked with Oscar, and althought Oscar was a few years older, they became friends, now Oscar came from a family of 3 Brothers, and 1 Sister, the Sister, almost taking over the role of Mother to the younger siblings when they lost their Mother at a fairly young age...I think Oscar got to depend on Irvin a lot, on the job, and for places to go, before Irvin joined the Marines...A few weeks after Irvin came home, and we were going steady, and were in love, I know that he loved me as I loved him, we were "soulmates", no doubt about that, and I really know that God meant for us to be together, and Thank God, we ARE still together, and still as much in love as then....well, we encluded Oscar and his Brothers on a few of our dates, these dates , we went to the car races in Channelview, which they had about 2 times a month, or something like that..these boys never brought dates, I finally decided that they probably didn't date that much... at first , they were very nice to me, as they knew that Irvin & I were dating, and serious...as time , went on, I could feel the jealousy,...well, I think that Irvin did too, and felt bad about it, but it got to where they wanted him to go with them almost every week end, He or I either one said we were breaking up, but the calls from him got farther apart, and finally stopped...I decided that it was the work of his friends, and I just thought that if he did love me, as I knew in my heart that he did, we would get back together...we wer apart about 3 months, during the summer...one of the girls that I worked with, (she was my age), invited me to the "Y", which was close to her house..on Tuesdays, they had dances..so, after much thought, I went, and enjoyed the music and meeting people and dancing, it was a very nice place, and older people were there to see that nothing happened that shouldn't happen, no drinking, only coffee, and soft drinks...I went out with one of the boys I met there, a very nice person, we went to a college  football game in Houston, and at the time, My grandmother(my Mother's, Mother was visiting, and she was very fond of Irvin, and she told me"I am going to tell him you went out with another boy", she really didn't understand me doing that, ...well I went to about 3 or 4 of the dances with Betty Ann, and by the way, she met a boy there, that she later married...I went out with another boy , I met there, and poor boy, I called him Irvin the whole time, that we were on that date, I kept telling him , I was sorry, andhe was so understanding, in fact, he told me, I bet you two just broke up...and we talked about it..I was SO unhappy those 3 months, a lot of crying, anger at times, and more crying, all the while, I worked every day, and tried to "lose " myself in work, and coming home, day after day..It was a LONG summer, and as it was going into fall, I  thought, well, I guess it is over, no word from him..and I sort of tried to go on and make the best of it, still crying every day, in private...his Mother brought me a Birthday present on my Birthday, I knew she loved me, and wanted everything to work out, she told me "don't give up on him, please", so I had new hope, and waited...then one day, she called, and asked me to come over, and as my father had got a new car, Bless his heart, our old car was so old, and very worn out, I had told my Father I would help him make the payments on a car, so he told me, well, we will have part ownership in the car..At the time, I had not learned to drive, so, he would take me every evening out to teach me...Bless his heart, he was such a sweet man, and he stayed with it , teaching me the right way to drive...well, I drove over to Irvin's house, actually, my first solo drive, ...I was feeling very shakey when I got there...just a few blocks to drive, but seemed like miles...walked in , and he was there, asking who's car is that, and it was as tho nothing had happened, and we just fell back into the way , it was, 3 months earlier.. so happy to be together again, and nothing was said about what we had both been through, but later learned, he was as unhappy as I was...after all , LOVE WON OUT.

Drive -in

On Tues, I called in again, and my boss told me to stay home, til I felt better, she really didn't want me to bring my "bug" to the office, for everyone to catch..and as I still didn't feel all that great, I took her up on it, and stayed home all week, Now, since I had started working , maybe I had took off a couple of days, and I worked hard , as the old saying went, "I earned my pay", so feeling a little bad about missing a whole week of work was bothering me, but since I was told to stay home, I did...and Irvin was home, and actually that is all I thought about...we went to the Market St. Drive in Theatre Tues. night..it was about 2 miles from my house..we went afterward to Pasadena, to the Corral drive-in, a fast food drive in to eat in the car, kind of like the Sonic's we have today, only better..got hamburgers, cokes, french fries...Thank God, my stomach was fine!....i guess I will never forgive myself for that happening on our second date, but there were many, many other dates after that, so I guess it bothered me more than him...after that week, I went back to work, and everything at work got back to normal, althought I was always so anxous to get home, and wait for 6:00 to come, as Irvin always called me at 6:00, and we planned our evening, now a lot of the time, we would just walk around the addition, talking, and a lot of time, we went to the Corral, that became a kind of "hang out" for us...we went on picnics, driving sometimes to Galveston, and on one occasion, to Lousiana for the day and back, walking on the beach..just enjoying being together.....

Monday Morning

As I was supposed to go back to work, Monday, I woke up feeling really sick again, ...after taling about it later, we came to the conclusion that I probably had a "bug", and I called in to my job, telling my Boss, I was sick(I thought , now she is NEVER going to believe me, as she knew of course that Irvin was home), but she said"hope you get better"...I slept a couple of hours, and got up, dressed, and thought , "what is wrong with me?', as I still didn't feel much better, and had a little fever...well, starting taking aspirin, etc., all of the old standbys...and eat some toast...Irvin showed up at the door, with a new record for me, I thought "This is one of the most Wonderful Man in the world"...I still remember the name of the record, "You're My Everything" Jonni James was the singer(later, found out this was one of Irvin's favorite singers), Mother made lunch, i think was a tuna sandwich, (I also found out later, that Irvin really didn't like Tuna that much), but he eat , and acted like that was the most delicious meal he had ever eat...so sweet!...we talked, and listened to the record he had brought me , and made plans to go to a movie, tuesday night...

Sunday, March, 1954

To get back to 1954...Sunday morning, Irvin and I went to Church, sit, holding hands..now probably if you had asked either one of us, what our preacher's sermon was, we could not tell you..After the church service, Irvin drove to the ferry that crosses over to San Jacinto Monument..as we were eating at the San Jacinto Inn...now this was a very nice seafood  place, and even at that time, very pricey...well, I was really not hungry at all, and having a bit of a stomach problem, Not a good sign...it seems to me, that the waiter brought out so many plates of various foods, and then the Fish...It would have been a perfect meal, except, I just couldn't eat but a very few bites of it, due to feeling just kind of like I was going to be sick...Now , I just wanted this meal to be OVER and us on our way, to look around the Monument, and just walk around, and talk...I did manage to eat a bowl or Orange Sherbert, and thought "O.K., now maybe , since I nibbled at the main course, this will kind of make up for that, and thought, I think I feel better", now that thought was very misleading...we left, and proceded to drive over to the monument, talking, laughing, and enjoying the sunny day..was cold , but sunny..WHEN, the most terrible thing that I ever imagined in my life, happened...yes, I upchucked..OH GOD!...I just wanted to just curl up and die right there!.. it all happened so fast, that I didn't have time to prepare for it....Now, Irvin had washed and cleaned his car, (his pride and joy), and that car truly sparkled, and you could see yourself , like you were looking at a mirror, that is how shiney it was!.. I am sure he was "shocked" to say the least, or thought , what have I got myself into here?,...well, he was the sweetest, kindest man , pulling over , handing me his hanky, and I was almost in tears, really a MESS!...I did the best I could to hold myself together, and not look so much like a "loser" as we started home, across the ferry..and when we finally got home..I thought all the way home, that I just knew, he would quickly let me out, and just say, "See you Later", and that would be that, probably never to see him again...NO, we drove into the drive way, and he got out, came to my side , opened my door, and caught my hand, and we went in my house...My Mother was beyond horrified, seeing my dress)one of my favorites, a two piece outfit, that I still remember ..well, after telling her what happened, ...I ran to my room, to get changed..Mother made coffee, and Daddy asked Irvin to sit down at the table in our small dining room, and they were all talking, drinking coffee when I finally came into the room...as I didn't drink coffee at that time, I grabbed a coke, and sit down, thinking , well, he is still here, but was sure, he was just being polite, and would leave after his coffee...Mother gave me some pretty hard looks, like i had done this terrible thing on purpose, or at least that was what I was thinking, that she was thinking...which , later she said no, she was just like I was, thinking the worst...after Coffee, Mother, and Daddy said they were going to watch the news in the living room., and we followed them into the room, sit down on the couch, Daddy in his recliner, and Mother in her chair...after a while of watching the news, which was all about politics, i thought about my record player(which I loved to play, when I would get home from work, and a lot of the records, I had wrote to Irvin about and we both liked the same music, althought he leaned toward County Western, and I liked the popular, as it was called then...he listened to popular, but prefered Country Western...I asked him , if he would like to listen to some music, and he seemed relived that we wouldn't have to sit and watch the news any longer...I think Mother and Daddy got the message, and Daddy said he thought he would just turn in early, as he had to go to work each morn. at 5:00, and Mother said she was tired, and thought she would too, for us to just enjoy our music, and Goodnight....well, we got my record player, and put it on the floor, with records all around, and we sit on the floor, and talked and listened to the records for hours...and what I thought was"The end of the World", turned out to be a Wonderful day after all..

911

I get out of order now with my journal, as this is the 10th Anniversary of the terrible day of 911...as i look back 10 years, I remember a Monday morn, much like many monday's to start out with, as we were doing the usual things.. I was trying to think of a different dish to take to Mam-Ma's, as Monday was "bean day" at Mam-Ma's house..and the ones of us that lived close by, got together to share supper...she cooked a big pot of beans(and no one could cook beans, as she did), and the rest of us, which usually included, Irvin & I, Lorene, Jack, Irene, (the usual ones), and there were always friends added at times..everyone brought a dish each Monday..this was a highlight in our week, and I believe Mam-Ma looked forward to Mondays, too very much!...to go back: as I said we were all retired, and doing our usual thing.. Barbara called, that morning , telling us to go and turn on the tv in a very excited, teary voice; which we did as fast as possible, and just froze as we saw the horrific images on the tv, ...needless to say, we just were numb the rest of the day, glued to the television, switching station to catch whatever they had to add to the news,...we all felt like we were living thru a "nightmare", and wishing to God , that it "was", then we could wake up , and everything would be normal again,... we all met that evening , the usual time, with everyone talking at once about the day, and just trying to make sense of the terrible event...we did finally sit down, and try to eat, and actually, all I remember of the meal, are the good beans, which that day served as a COMFORT food for us all, as did Mam-Ma assuring us that God was in Control...

Fate

I do believe in "Fate", ....and I think it was fate and a strong, Christian woman...that woman being Irvin's Mother...to start at the beginning; Irvin and I grew up in Jacinto City..going to different schools, living on each side of Market St. Rd...Irvin's Mother was my Sunday School teacher..she could make a Sunday School lesson very interesting, and hold everyone's attention...now at that time, there were girls classes and boys classes..we would all gather for prayer and a short "Sermon" ...I was a teen when I went into her class, ..we became friends, although I didn't meet her family at that time..I sit with my friends in Church, sometimes with my Mother and Father...I went on to take a job at the Houston Natural Gas at 18...Irvin went into the Marines about that time..and still not knowing each other..one time comes to my mind that I still laugh about..I go back a little with this, I was about 16, and it had snowed, which in Houston was rare..It was a very big snow, at least to people that didn't see snow, but maybe every 10 years or so..well, anyway..It was a weekend, and my Mother and I just had to go for a walk in that "white stuff"..we got on our rubber boots, blue jeans, coats, etc..looked like a couple of Eskimo"s..our dog, went along with us...well, Mother , when we passed by Irvin's house, suggested , we stop and visit Mrs. Hendrix(Mother and her had met by then), and Mrs Hendrix drank coffee, as Mother did, so I am sure Mother was ready for a hot cup of coffee by then...well, the coffee pot was on the stove, and smelled so good, even tho at that time, I didn't drink "the stuff", only cokes...she invited us in , and poured the coffee, we sit in her Living room, not knowing that Irvin was in the other part of the house...we had a chat about things that were happening in the Church, the snow, etc...then we went on our way, taking the street by the church, which was across the rail road track, whiich made it so quick for us to just walk across the track and be on the church parking lot in  a few minutes from our house..now years later, Mam-Ma (as her Grandchildren called her, and most of the time, I called her that after our kids were born) told me that Irvin had to be at work, and he climbed out of the window..this was long before he went into the Marines...I often think , that it wasn't meant for us to meet until we did...well, to get back to the subject..Irvin and I are the same age, he being 3 months older than I...His Mother , came by my house one evening, just as I was getting home from work..I worked in Houston, and rode the Grayhound bus to and from work...She asked me if I would write to Irvin, at that time, he was  stationed in Korea, and had been there quite a while..I told her yes, would be happy to..I loved to write letters, and with the Korean war going on, the newpapers always had servicemen addresses listed in a section of the paper for people to write to them, send cards , and in general , keep up their spirits..I was writing to a couple of them , but when Irvin and I started writing to each other, I finally stopped writing to the others....I so looked forward to those letters from him,..now it took "forever" for letters to come each way..and I know thatmine had to be boring to him, as I was mostly just working, going home, (same ole, same ole), but I am sure by my letters, he felt like he knew the women I worked with, all the ups and downs of my day..we both felt like we knew each other very well by the time, he came home...we wrote to each other for about 9 months before he came back...He was discharged in March of 1954...Now, I worked across the street from the Grayhound Bus  Station..very handy for me..anyway, he was to be at that station , the day he came home, to catch the bus out to Jacinto City..his Mother had told me that..the office I worked in faced the bus station, and I really didn't do a lot of work that day...there were 6 women working in the office, I worked in..my boss was one of them..there were only one other girl, my age, the other women were older, ..but, we all became very good friends over the 5 years I worked with them..., well, all during the day (Friday, March 13th) there were one of us at the window that we could see the busses being loaded..no one saw a Marine get on any of the busses..but he did, I guess when we were working, and not there looking...well, it was finally 5:00pm, and I could go home..I usually got home about 6:00 by the time the bus left the station..Mother always had supper ready for us, and they would settle in the living room to either read the newspaper, with their coffee, or watch the little black and white tv, and at that time of day, the news was on...well, I helped Mother clean the kitchen, wash and dry dishes(no such thing as a dishwaser in those days..then went on to take my bath, polish my nails, etc.., all the while just WAITING for that phone to ring...around 8 or so, it did, and I was SO nervous, the first time to hear his voice,,just what we talked about , I still try to remember, but I was that nervous , all I remember is him asking me out for Saturday night to a movie, downtown ..I spent saturday, washing my hair, picking out just the "right" dress to wear...it was cold , ..I wore a purple velvet dress that I had , had made  with black high heels(at that time, we wore heels almost everywhere , and flats around the house, picnics, etc...Irvin ring our doorbell right on the dot , that he said he would pick me up..He was so handsome in his uniform..you have heard of "Love at first sight", well, it was just that , and I think it was true for both of us...you can't tell me that the way we met was not "FATE"

A few more things, about my friends

While the memories are flooding back, a few more memories about my friends...Frances Hasty(one of the friends that went to the movies went us on Saturdays, was in a horrible accident right in front of my house...As I said before, Market St. Rd. was a very busy rd., or street, whatever you want to call it,...The highway dept had made it wider, and took a part of all the yards of the houses along Market St. Rd., and put us in a deep ditch in front of our houses.. Now, this was during the war, and a lot of workers fron the Shipyard(Todd) used the way to go to work, and there were 3 shifts working 24/7 to get Ships, parts made for the War, there were Men and Women working side by side..Women learned to Weld..(that was so unheard of in those days_, but I guess that is the start of Women coming into their Own, and these women worked so hard..as I said in a earlier part of this blog, everyone worked together for our "boys" in the Service...O.K., back to Frances....now there was a Ice Cream truck that came down Market St. Rd., in the afternoons, and a few of the boys in the addition got to where they would come up to Market, and try to jump on back of the bumper of the truck, ..now this was a large truck, and carried ice cream for the whole area around there, he would drive down Market, then go on into the addition(as we called it), I usually went down to the street behind us, when he stopped on it, and got a ice cream fudge bar(my favorite) Donnie and Donald went with me usually...that afternoon, some of the older boys came up and jumped on the bumper of the truck..well, Frances was with them(only girl), and they dared her to jump too....She was about 10  years old...well, you didn't dare Frances to do anything, she always took you up on whatever it was, and she did that day., She jumped and missed the truck, falling under the truck, with one of the wheels running over her head., the boys were screaming, everyone was running out of their housed to see what had happened,...My Mother ran out with me right behind her..The Ice Cream truck, stopped , really not knowing that she had fell under the truck, ...now I look back and wonder, Didn't this man know that these kids were jumping on his truck, or was he not aware of this, as it was a large truck for a ice cream truck, as the boys would just jump on and maybe ride a little way down Market, and jump off when there was not cars coming and run across the street, and on their way..but , whichever...There was Frances in the middle of Market, and of course the cars stopped, and someone made the phone call to what is now 911, at that time, We called the police station, and they came and sent Medical help..I think it was my Mother that called, Frances Mother..We all thuoght she was dead, as she was not moving.Medical help came, and took her to the nearest Hospital, whick at that time was in Houston..WE found out later in the day, she was living, but was very bad off...Needless to day, those boys never jumped on that truck again...Frances was left with deftness in one of her ears, and  everyone said it was a Miracle that she was even alive., ...This was a one of the biggest lessons to us kids in that addition...after that, we respected Market St. Rd., and would stand until there was not a car in sight to cross Market..Frances recovered , but missed a year of school, from her head injury...all of the neighbors took food for a long time to her house, and the kids went to keep her company when she was up to it...one of the bad memories..there were a lot of good ones..We all rode our bikes over the addition, ..now, I didn't have a bike for a while, ..My Brother had one, it was blue, and of course a boys bike, ...well, he outgrew his bike, and started driving, so his bike just sit in the garage..so, for my birthday, my father painted "Brother's" bike red..(my Mother's idea) put a sheepskin cover on the seat, and that was my birthday present that year...I was SO happy, I didn't care that it was a boy's bike, it was MY bike, and I loved it,..I couldn't wait to show donald and Donnie my bike, ..of course , Donald had a boy's bike and Donnie, if I remember used her Brother's bike, as he was learning to drive at the time.. we all went for a ride that day, ..I remember being so careful, and thinking that  was one of my best Birthdays so far., of course I went on to have Wonderful Birthdays in the coming years, but then, that was one that stood out in my memory...We all got to that age, that we had "crushes", The Teen Years, ...now these "crushes" would change from week to week...Us girls starting paying attention to our hair, our clothes, and thought we were very grown up...we were about 13, and outgrowing our Paper Dolls, etc...now I know it sounds like we were too old for Paper Dolls, but at that time, the pace was slower,and that was normal..we still liked to ride our bikes, but it was boys and girls then..About that time, Donnie's Father built a '''cafe" , as they were called then on down Market St Rd., in fact right before you got to the City Limits of Jacinto City..there were living quarters in the back for the family to live in, later, he built a house  , as the cafe's business grew. the name of the cafe was "Hi Neighbor"...they served Hamburgers mostly and all the trimmings, ..there were other foods on the menu, but as I loved hamburgers, that was my favorite..Before they opened for business, Donnie's Mother and Father let her have her 13th Birthday party in the cafe., ..Now that was a "big deal" for all of us kids, ..they had a "juke box", and her Mother said we could dance..she invited all of our crowd, as this was our first "grown up" event, we all looked forward to this party..it almost made up for the sadness of Donnie having to move from next door., now that was a very bad time for her and I, we were best friends for years, and could go anytime to each other's houses, and spend nights with each other often,..well, you would have thought that she was moving to another state, instead of about a mile away., actually, it WAS like she had moved far away, as she slowly changed, and we were not as close as before...but , to go back to the party, we all dressed up...her Mother made us all hamburgers, shakes, french fries., and her Father put money in the juke box for us to dance...well, not a one of us actually knew how to dance, but we all got on that floor, and just jiggled around, ..at that time, the jitterbug was the DANCE, ..it had to be a funny sight, with us 12 and 13 year old kids trying to do the jitterbug, but it was SO much fun...i spent a few nights at Donnie's after that at different times., they were open til late, and needless to say, we didn't get much sleep, and Donnie had to share her room with her Brothers, so most of the time, she stayed with me at my house, when she could.,as my Brother was in the Navy, and I had my own room, til he came home...well, I could go on and on with my memories, but for now, will do that later....

Saturdays

Saturdays were usually "Movie Day" when I was a Teen...There was a Theatre within walking distance of my house and at that time, when you went to the "show" , as we all called the Theatre then, on Saturdays, you could see the weekly chapter of your favorite adventure , and all the previews, and the main "picture", which took almost 3 hrs,..so that was our favorite Saturday thing to do...We would all get together, my friends and I..Donnie Barlow, *lived next door), sometimes her older Brother(full of himself), most of the time, her younger Brother, Donald Bateman(lived next door, on the corner), Patsy (Patricia) , on the street , behind me, Frances Hasty, (on Oswego, street behind me)...This was the usual crowd, ..when someone had to do something else, there were others that went...We all walked down the railroad track that ran right across the road from my house(Market St. Rd.), Now Market St Rd., was a "busy" main st, that ran thru Jacinto City..At that time, Jacinto City was a pretty small town, that had a Post Office, Theatre, Baptist Church,  a few other Churches of various Faiths...all of us , Kids walked everywhere, as everything was within walking distance from our homes, and we usually went together...3 of us took Piano lessons for awhile , a few blocks across the track from us..we would stop at "the little store" for candy on the way back from our lesson...now, our Mothers thought we would "love", the piano, and become "great ", well, we hated the lessons, and mostly all of the practice that went with it...and our Teacher was so sweet and so kind to us..As the cost was so small , even then, the Mothers would just take that from their"grocery money"..I know now, how hard my Father worked for that money,and this was probably money wasted, but I was a Child, and Children don't think of those things...It was a good memory, in a different time...which brings back the memory of catching the Mumps from Donald Bateman...his Mother wanted me to come over and sit with him, when he came down with the mumps..Now he liked to play board games, so we sit on his bed, and played cards, board games, put puzzles together, and I think I talked him into playing paper dolls, with me...that was "preteen"..well, I came down with the dreaded mumps in a few days...I will NEVER forget the mumps, oh how I hurt, my whole face was swollen, and I looked so "funny", as I was a thin child, and my face was "fat" with the mumps...Donald came over and brought his board games, and kept me company, as Donnie(best girl friend) had not had the mumps at that time...
donald, when he became a man went on to be a business man that was in Real Estate for awhile, and different ventures..Sadly, I have lost touch with these childhood friends, but the good memories are still with me...Donnie, went on to marry very young, and have a child..she married, at last count 3 times..and had 3 or 4 children,,,would love to find her, and just "catch up".. one last memory, about Donnie's Mother...She worked at the Ship Yard during the War(2nd W.W.), and hired a lady to take care of her children, and the house while she worked...this lady was Deft and not able to talk, she was a very sweet woman, and took very good care of children, house and became a part of that family..her name was Oma..All of us kids would go to her while she was doing her housework, cooking and get her to teach us how to "talk with our hands"..She always had the time to stop whatever she was doing , and try to teach us..well, we would practice with each other,wish some of that wuold come back to me, but that was a long time ago...Oma was with Donnie's family for a couple of years, and so like a Grandmother to Donnie, and her Brothers, one of the Special People in our lives...by the way Patricia(patsy) Hughes married a boy that she met thru a boy that I went out with a couple of times(we were 22 at that time) We double dated..The boy that I dated, had a friend with a car..now I am sure that Harry (the boy that I dated) , had a car, but for some reason, Charles always drove his car..Well, Charles and Patsy kept dating, and married the next year..so, I was happy that I got to play "matchmaker"...

no pants

When I was growing up, we had to wear dresses, skirts, and blouses to school...that was o.k., except in cold weather, then my skinny legs got so cold, and the cute leggings were not in style then, so we had the ankle socks..even for home, and casual wear, the pants were not in style then...as I got in my teens, the blue jeans came into the fashion scene.... and in time, they caught on with the women, but just for outdoor picnics, etc., we all wore dresses, high heels, stockings, sometimes hats, gloves for Church..then in the early 50's the full skirts came in, with the crinoline slips(half) that made your skirt stand out.. when we sit down, had to have more room...I loved the look, they were hot in the summer, and not really very comfortable, but hey, I guess we all dressed for the look, and not the comfort in those days, or rather the look at that time...thank goodness, the style changed...all you have to do is watch a movie from the early 50's to see how we all dressed...almost everything was cotton, and not the wash and wear kind...the kind you have to iron...and that wasn't all, most everyone starched all of their clothes....I had my share of ironing, and believe it or not, I at that time, liked to iron...now is another story, I do not iron unless I have to...We washed, hung out everything on clothes lines(which you had to be careful to make your line look good, like hang shirts all in a line, pants in a line, etc...your sheets Should be "White as snow", everyone judged your wash......When I got married and had my own clothesline, I "hid" our underwear when hanging it out...by, hanging it behind sheets, etc...I laugh about it now, but that was the way it was then...we didn't have a washing machine for a couple of years after we were married, and got a dryer when Corene was a baby..till we got the dryer, we hung out diapers every day, at the time, all you could get was cloth diapers....and that is part of another posting..

Mama

This is what I called my Father's , Mother, my Grandmother...I always felt like this almost like my second Mother,..She was one of the sweetest, kindest lady, that you would ever want to know...she always had time for her Grandchildren, and I spent a lot of time with her , and loved it...I remember talking her to sleep, when I would spend the night with her, telling her what I had heard on the radio, read, or just plain stuff that now I know was important to me, but I am sure at times, she just wished I would stop talking and GO TO SLEEP, but she never acted like it was a bother...she would just say something to keep me talking, till i would either hear her softly snoring, or she stopped saying anything, and I knew then that she was asleep...even when I became a Teen, I still loved to go to her house, although , we would go shopping, and we both loved to read, ...she was still so much pleasure to be around, she loved me, and she showed it..when Mama passed away, I was about 17 , and I was heartbroken, and cried for days, ...I know when my time here is done, I will see her waiting there in Heaven, with open arms...

radio

we all listened to the radio in those days....we had a Philco..that sit in the Living Room.... and later on , I had a small radio in my room, ...I remember listening to it at night, a lot of time when I was supposed to be asleep..the radio to us was a link to the "outside world"...all of the important happenings of that time was on the radio, and the newspapers..My Father took the "Press", a daily paper, and every night , he faithfully read it from front page to last..If you have seen the old movies, of families sitting around the radio, and looking at it , like we watch a television now , well, that is the way it was...My Mother had her "Soap Opera"s in the day, and a lot of them, went on to be on television when it came in..IN fact, "as The World Turns" started the year, Irvin and I married, we got a black and white used t.v., in a console, (very pretty piece of furniture)....we were SO proud of it, and made small monthly payments on it....He worked at night, so, I watched it at night..and at that time, everything went off about 10:00pm, so I was left to do handwork, read, clean house, iron, etc the rest of the night...now this was before Children.. but, as a Child, I remember listening to many programs, like "The Lone Ranger", Inner Sankdrum(,mystery show), I loved the mystery shows, there were many more, Bob Hope, Jack Benny...I think even, Lucille Ball ...we depended on the radio for all of our war news, that and the newspaper, every evening, my Father would turn on the news, and we all sit and listened to the updates of the war...It was a while after my Brother came home that we got our first television, a 12 inch black and while...so after that, we were hooked, but I still loved my little radio in my room, and my favorite programs, a special time...

Red Coat, Big Bull, Skinny Girl- BAD MIX

This is funny to me now, but at the time, it was SO Scarey.....One afternoon after school was out, as we were waiting for the school bus to come from the high school (at that time , my Brother was in high school (Jeff Davis) Well the bus picked up them first, then on to our school, ...well, the driver was running late for some reason, and it was a cold, sunny day, and my group of friends that rode that bus EVERY day, decided that it would be really "fun" to just walk home, probably a good 2 or 3 miles across a pasture , into our addition..There were about 5 or 6 of us, and we had never done this (stupid ) thing...All of our parents had told us over and over not to ever walk, Well, no one remembered this, just that "What a adventure, we would have, and we all had our coats...we ranged in age from 11 to 12...I think I was 11..all of us should have been old enough to know better...we set off , from the back of the school, toward the field, at that time , there was no road from the school to the Addition that direction...only a road at the front of the school, and the bus had to take a long about way to get to our addition...well, we were going to be "smart" and take a "short cut"...I was the only one wearing a RED coat, as this was my Mother's favorite color, I had a lot of red objects of clothing in my closet( I never liked red, and now I try to remember if that was before this day or after....We wer all talking, walking, enjoying the cool fall weather, and came to a fenced- in section of the field,(with 3 or 4 bulls in it)...The boys said " oh , they won't hurt anyone, but they just stood there, the girls said"o.k., lets climb in and go on", well , I think the boys probably lifted up the wire for us girls, as I really would not climb anything...as it happens, I was about the first one in, with the other girls right behind me...well, one of those BIG Bulls looked up, started making "funny sounds, (I was about 1/3 of the way across the area that was fenced, ..the girls behind me started screaming, and running back, I froze...they were all screaming for me to turn around and run back,...finally, I did, and believe me , I have never run as fast as I did that day...i got to the fence, with that big bull behind me, and he seemed to get bigger every time, I repeated this to anyone....but , needless to say, we started back to the school, and the bus had already come and gone....When Charles got home, and Mother asked..where I was, he said, I don't know, and after a while, Mother found out the other kids were not on the bus either...well, she got in the car and headed for the school, we kids were all really nervous, especially after we all remembered our Mothers telling us never to walk home...We all were so happy to see my Mother, and at the same time, knowing that
We were in a lot of trouble.. I didn't get a spanking, but a really loud, "I told you NEVER to walk home, didn' t I? 

growing up

After the war, it took some time for everyone to adjust to the changes...My Brother came home, and brought one of his friends with him, that served on the same ship as he...He didn't have a

  very  family, and really fit into our family and decided to just room in ,,Charles's girlfriend had just moved back home, (next door to us) and they started dating again, and very soon planned a Wedding..Charles and Benny got jobs, and starting civilian life...I was the "pesty younger  sister, and since we had a two bedroom home, I was assigned the couch for my bed...now this was distrubing, to say the least for me, as I was  a  teen-ager , and thought I was (grownup)...actually , had a long way to go with that...Charles and Frances were married at her home in April of that year, just a few months after Charles came home...Benny was his best man, and Dorothy(he had just met her, and they were dating) was Maid of Honor...Charles and Frances rented a small apt. and Benny moved out on his own, SO, I had my bedroom back, but we all missed the boys! ...about 10 momths later, I was a Aunt... Frances Gail was born, and  a joy to us all!!

Childhood

My Childhood as a whole was pretty much like most of the kids during that time...I was a "Depression Baby, as was Irvin, I was born October 23, 1931, Irvin, July 8, 1931...Even if we cannot remember the actual Depression(it was called and still known as the "Great Depression"), according to what we heard from our Parents , it was the worst of times, and something that one remembers , whether they were old enough or from hearing about it . ...there were no jobs, and if you were lucky enough to have a job, any kind of job, it was usually one that was heavy manual work, families had to move in with whoever of the family had a house, whether that house was large enough for everyone or not..that was a time that everyone shared whatever they were able to get..many of the Houston streets were put down during that period, by men out of work, for a very small amount of pay each day...I heard my Dad say 50 cents, and I know that sounds unreal, but you have to remember that was in the 30's and that bought a lot then, like a loaf of bread at 5cents a loaf, etc...By the way, those streets were brick, and even in the 1950 and beyond , there were still a few left..of course, there are none now...By the Grace of God, we came thru that dreadful time, and then in the 40's the Second World War happened...I still remember the day of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I was about 10 years old or so, and in a couple of years after the war started, my Brother, Charles joined the Navy at 17 years old..Being my Big Brother, he was my hero...This was everyones war, and we all did our part to help the troops, there were "blackouts", rationing of gasoline, many groceries, such as sugar, etc...we had ration coupons for all of those things..there was the USO that all the stars entertained the servicemen, there were not a lot of women in service during that time, of course there were nurses , and in time, the Waves, (Navy) and the women in the Army and Marines were starting to make their way into the armed services> One of my Uncles, (my Dad's Brother(youngest of 5 boys) was a Prisonsor of War, in Germany ..they were treated very , very badly, and I shudder at the things he told when he returned home.. as a result of inhuman treatment, he came home with TB, at that time a dreaded disease, that a lot of times , people died with...but with my Dear Grandmother's care, he got over it, and lived to be in his 70's...My Grandmother is another chapter that I will devote to her...WE finally defeated Germany, Japan, and our Servicemen were able to come home, by the way, at that time , either you joined by your choice, or you were drafted, even at the age of 40(at the time, 40 was considered older than it is now), unless you were disabled in some way, you were drafted ...It was a Wonderful time, when the war was finally over...My Brother was home, my 2 uncles were home, and we had a neighbor that was home , all of these men from different parts of the military...

Still on the subject of AC

well, still on this subject, during the before AC days, the stores were the first to actually get Airconditioning, and everyone found every excuse to go to these stores, ...I remember it was the "high end" stores that got it first, like Foley's(well then it was called Foley's) Sears, most of them still had the hugh ceiling fans, and attic fans,(which only moved the hot air around)even the grocery stores still had this form of cooling the customers, but hey, we were used to that... we looked forward to going to the Movies, after they all installed their AC's...back then, the Drive-In 's were popular..on Monday nights, a entire car could get in for one dollar., during our dating days, Irvin and I went to a lot of movies at the drive -in...there was one on Market St. (the street I grew up on).. I think right before I got married, my parents put in a window unit in the dining room, which had to cool the entire house...then our first house we did the same in the living room...now this actually "cooled the room it was in", but we were happy for that...I have probably said enough about AC, but even I amaze at how times have changed in my 80 years, and am so thankful that they have...

This goes "way back"

"I Remember When", there was NO Air Conditioning, we depended on fans, yes , the kind that sit on tables, and on very hot days , you sit in front of them, or nighttime we put them on our bed side tables..I think maybe as I was a child at that time, it probably didn't really bother me as much as my Mother, Daddy, Grandparents, etc...but I do remember them wishing for cooler weather real often... it also seems all in all the weather at that time had a Season, such as in the Summer , it was hot, Fall was cool, Winter was Cold, and in the Spring, it was warm.. well in Texas, even back then , the seasons sort of sometimes overlapped, or "changed places", but in the last few years, it is hard to tell one season from another...well, you know what I mean, and on to something else....

Down Memory Lane

O.K, After much thought , I decided to start this blog, some of my family have urged me to start a journal about my life, or should I say , Mine , Irvin's(my wonderful Husband of almost 57 years), and my memories thru those years...I think just putting my thoughts and memories down in this blog will be the best way to go....