DAY 10: A PATRIOTIC BOY

On my father's 70th birthday, his brothers and sisters presented him with written memories and stories of their childhood with him. He was the eldest of 12, so there were many stories to be told!

It was a lot of fun for us to be treated to these stories - so many for the first time. You think you know everything there is to know about your parents until their siblings remind you they once had lives you were not a part of at all. They share special memories from a lifetime ago of a home and daily life together before they all went their separate ways to embark on their own families and adventures.

Today I happened across one of my favorite submissions - from my aunt nearest in age to my dad - Aunt Betty.

I've always known that my dad is very patriotic; he served in the army and even now is a very dedicated member of the Marion County Honor Guard. But I had never heard my aunt's version of how this patriotism took root at an early age - during WW II - when they were children. One thing about WW II that seems very different from every war since is how united and involved everyone became in support of the war effort - even the children, as you shall see. 

So now I want to share with you her story. It is very sweet - and I thought, at times, very funny.

Maybe your fathers did some of the same things when they were little boys trying to do their part in support of the war effort. Ask them!  : )

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A PATRIOTIC BOY

These are some of the memories I have of my brother during the years from the end of 1941 through spring of 1945.

The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese brought about a surge of patriotism in both young and old which grew to near obsession with Junie.

To him, it was a matter of honor and solemn duty to do anything he could to support the war effort and that included seeing that I did my share also. We listened to the radio daily to see if we were winning and to get information from Uncle Sam concerning what we could do on the home front.

Scrap iron was being collected for building ships, tanks, etc., and we spent long hours scouring the fields for junk piles and dragging heavy loads home to be picked up by whoever collected in our area.

One day Junie went to the post office and brought home a stack of folders with slots for quarters. Each folder had enough slots to purchase a $5.00 war bond. He made it clear to me that anytime I got any change at all it had to be saved and changed for quarters for the bond folder he had given me. It was with much guilt that I sometimes sneaked to the store to buy some penny candy. The exception he made for himself was that he could buy the collectors’ war plane cards and models of war planes or other military machinery. Many hours were spent playing battle with the airplane cards he collected. Of course the Americans never lost and I was always the enemy.

For Christmas in 1942 or 1943 Santa Claus brought Junie an American soldier’s uniform and of course the ever popular models and collectors’ airplane cards. I thought he looked so handsome in his uniform and he wore it with obvious pride when he had occasion to dress up. He took great care of that uniform as well as his growing collection of models and airplane cars. I was never allowed to touch them without his permission and only in his presence.

When Uncle Sam asked Americans to grow victory gardens, Junie planted one in the corner of the orchard even though Daddy had planted two large gardens and a potato patch.

Somewhere along the way Junie began checking to see if “Made in Japan” was stamped on any of our toys or other articles in our possession. If so it must be destroyed immediately. Prizes in Cracker Jacks and Mother Goose popcorn were almost always made in Japan and they could not be kept no matter how grand they were. He had a way of making me feel proud and very patriotic after he had smashed my whistle or cricket. I had made a sacrifice for my country.

One day he took me to the yard and told me there was something I must do. He had checked the things in Mother’s china cabinet and discovered the China dogs she displayed there had been made in Japan. It was a disgrace to have them in our home and I must sneak them out so we could destroy them. That I did, and we crushed them with a big rock. I don’t remember getting into trouble over that.

The day the war ended was one of the most exciting days in Loretto that I can remember. The distillery whistles were blowing non- stop and we were all in the front yard cheering and waving to the people driving up and down the road blowing their horns and screeching their tires – and Wanda Lee Lampkin ran across the field naked.          -----By Betty Jean

DAY 9: Forty Years Ago Tonight

Forty Years Ago: A Challenging Birth

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Forty years ago tonight, the weather in Marion County was worse than it is today.

A heavy snow had fallen, the temperature hovered below zero, and the roads here were so treacherous that no one could get a woman in labor to the hospital.

Even the ambulance that was summoned as a last resort arrived far too late, having run off the road a number of times before reaching the laboring woman. Was there even such a thing as a four-wheel drive back then?

She experienced a very unplanned natural childbirth at home that night.  

She told me that once she realized she would not be able to get to the hospital in time she thought of all the women before us who had their babies at home as a matter of course, and she became very calm and brave and purposeful about it – at peace with her situation.

It was an unexpected challenge, but she rose to the occasion, as she always did throughout her life.

Pictured is that baby, whose 40^th birthday is today.

I wish him well.

DAY 8: THINGS WE WISH WE'D PHOTOGRAPHED

Where do I begin with this one?

Back when I was growing up, families were large and film was for special occasions.

It truly is a treat to see photographs from the 1960’s, especially those that were not “holiday” photos.

My short list off the top of my head of things I wish had been photographed:

• The Golden Girl. Even though I can still see my golden little sister as though it was yesterday, I would LOVE to have a picture of the time she was playing in our basement and overturned a whole can of gold paint onto her head. She was totally covered in gold – even her eyelashes! It really was something to behold. My mom called the doctor for advice and our neighbor, Eunice, came over to help my mom get the gold paint off my sister.
•  I can still see little Laura in my mind with her bald patches, but I sure would enjoy having a picture of our little neighbor girl after she decided to be a big girl and wash her own hair---but washed it with NAIR (the hair removal lotion)! Oh, Flossie! You made neighborhood history with that one! 
• Maybe someday we’ll have the technology to print pictures remembered from our brains. Until then, I will safeguard the memory I have of my dad carrying my injured little brother in his arms up the sidewalk to our house. They had been at a cemetery and a tombstone had toppled over onto my brother! He wasn’t bleeding, so I don’t think he went to a doctor (back then, the presence of blood was sort of a prerequisite for a trip to the doctor). My bother was ok, but that was scary.
• I would love a photograph of all six of us kids packed like sardines into the old car for a trip to grandma’s. I would not want the photographer to miss the child lying in the back window (the favorite spot to be) or in the floorboards. Seatbelts? What are seatbelts?
• Backyard sports…thanks to my mom, we do have a couple of pictures of our back yard games, but I wish someone would have spared just a little film to capture the excitement of throwing the bat and choosing up teams. That bat-throwing ceremony was really something….all the kids would gather ‘round as the two captains competed to see who could “choose” first OR which team would get to bat first. It really was exciting! That thumb stretching maneuver over the head of the bat at the end was especially climactic and photo-worthy. 
• I am sadly positive there are no existing photographs of any of us playing in the woods and creeks near the neighborhood. If I had to choose one woods scene for my personal time capsule, it might be of the time we were all held hostage in treetops when cows wandered into the woods as we were playing. We took to the treetops and must have all spent three or four hours aloft, waiting for the cows to leave. Oh! The things we all talked about, resigned to our posts in the trees that long afternoon! 
• Sure wish someone had photographed one of our Kick-the-Can games… 
• I wish we had some pictures of our forays to the big creek at Maker’s Mark. What a wonderful treat it was for us to go there on a hot summer day! 
• Blackberry picking. Shew. Kids today have no idea what THAT little summer activity/chore was like AT ALL. But kids from the sixties and before remember all too well how it went. Pick the hottest day of the year. Put on hot clothing to cover your whole body as much as possible as a safeguard against thorns and ticks. Walk to or be dropped off at a good blackberry patch. Find blackberries, and get pricked with thorns every time you reach for that great big pretty one.  Get really hungry and tired. Eat some blackberries and lay down on the grass and make pictures out of the big white puffy clouds and just hope your mom will have enough blackberries to make Jam Cakes for the St. Francis Picnic. 
• The time Tommy Johnson fell in the sewer at St. Francis Grade School. The Sisters didn’t send him home – OH NO! - they laid him out on the grass so he could “dry out”. When we all ran out to recess after lunch, there was little Tommy just lying there on the grass in the sun drying out. Man, THAT was a missed photo op for sure.

I could go on forever about pictures I wish had been taken, but I’ll stop now.

I am sure you can think of plenty of your own wishes…for those photographs that were never taken.

We have no excuses now, though, thank goodness.

 

 

 

 

DAY 7: ELVIS LIVES!

It’s the eve of Elvis’ 75^th birthday, and all manner of celebrations are taking place to commemorate the event.

Elvis was deemed The King of Rock ‘n Roll, and for good reason. Fans of Elvis easily spanned three generations, and the news of his death in 1977 was on par – almost - with the death of President Kennedy: everyone remembers what they were doing when they heard that devastating news. Some fans – still to this day – believe his death was an elaborate hoax so The King could live out the rest of his days in peace and obscurity.

There are some people in our culture who rise to a place that resonates within each of us in ways we may not even understand. Elvis Presley was one of those people. A simple country boy with a special talent rose to world-wide fame and he truly altered history, at least in the music world.

I wanted to find and post some pictures of my dad back when he looked like Elvis, but just couldn’t put my hands on them tonight. Maybe I will add those later.

Instead, here is my little nephew performing for our family with guitar in hand. That second picture definitely reminds me of Elvis and his famous “Thankyouverymuch!”

RIP, Elvis Presley.

DAY 6: LET IT SNOW!

Bundle Up!

It's all about SNOW! All week, it seems everyone’s been hoping for SNOW – even the adults!  The temperature has been dipping to near zero, and the forecasters are being put on the spot to foresee our weather future. It just doesn’t seem fair to suffer such cold without a little of that sweet white pure manna from the heavens to make it all worthwhile.

Maybe the reason so many adults are wishing for snow tonight is that – number 1: it’s not ICE…and number 2:  we have such fond childhood memories of tuning into the local radio station on snowy mornings, praying we’d hear those cherished words dear to every student’s heart: 

“There will be NO SCHOOL in Marion County today!”

Between Christmas and Easter, there simply was not a better holiday than those snow days announced by J.T. Whitlock on WLBN.

And he wouldn’t just announce it…Oh no! He would make an absolute production of it. He would make it dramatic.

Here is a little example of the drama from the local radio station I experienced as a Marion County school student on snow-dusted mornings:

J.T. Whitlock:  "And now for the Marion County School situation......

There WILL BE.........

<pausepausepausepause>

Children in radio land: <disappointed, and in chorus>  "awwwwww......!!!!"

J.T. Whitlock: ..."Hmmm...Where IS that school report?....can't seem to find it... I know it's around here somewhere - we just got a call from the Superintendent...now where IS that dern thing..."
<paper rustling at the station>

Children in radio land: <brothers & sisters look wide-eyed at one another, holding
their collective breath, realizing there is still hope>

J. T. Whitlock: "There WILL BE................

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....drumroll.........

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NOschool in Marion County today!"

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As soon as the announcement was made, Marion County children were reaching for coats and boots and couldn’t wait to begin a day of sledding and building snow men and snow forts in a terrain that had changed overnight into a fantasy land.

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But you never know what Mother Nature has in store.

To give you hope, I offer this.

This is my friend Debbie,  posing for me out on the streets of Lebanon (as only a good coatless friend would do) during a surprise “blizzard” we had a few years ago. 2003, I believe. The snow was not on anyone’s radar, and came so swiftly and heavily that all of us at work wondered how we’d get home. Seriously - the snow seemed to come down in clumps and it was the darndest thing I ever saw.

  

I also offer you this snowy scene of St. Joe Church.... and I hope with all my heart that all the school children awaken in the morning to a fresh blanket of snow! HAPPY SNOW!  : )