Just Love and Hard Work

Think about what Mom and Dad did when they were not working. Did they travel. go to their cabin at the lake, go out to dinner all the time, spend money on fashionable clothes or any of the other things that are part of our conspicuous consumtion today. No they worked hard everyday, even when it was a day off. We always had 3 meals a day, everyday except Sunday when we had a good breakfast and a really good dinner. Dad would go to work at 7am and get off at 3:30. Troy and I would run down to the corner to meat him as he walked down the street from the railroad. We were usually rewarded with something in his lunch box. Maybe it was a left over twinkie or maybe it was a frog or an agatt that he found along the tracks. In the summer he would sit down for a half hour or so. He would have a beer and then he was off to the farm to work until it was too dark to see anymore. Then it would start all over the next day. On Saturdays he would spend the day on the farm, sometimes Sunday too. Mom was always up in time to cook Dad a good breakfast and make him a good lunch.
When they did take a little time to have some fun it was a family thing. On Sundays we would take a ride. Maybe it was just a ride around town. We would usually stop at Hoopers store, which was a little two Aisle grocery store. That was the ONE day of the week we might get to have a soda pop. We usually had a Hires Root Beer or a Nesbit Orange. Once a month or so we would go out to see Uncle Clifford and Aunt Golda, maybe stop to see if Uncle Herman was home. Or we would go out to see Aunt Esther and Uncle Warren. Once or twice a month we would get together with Uncle Brandon and Aunt May and their family and go up Montpelier canyon for picnics. Dad and Brandon would collect dead wood for the fire and then they would cut willows for sticks to roast the hot dogs. Mom and May would have salads and beans. Dad and Brandon would just have a good talk and relax. Once or twice a summer we would go out to the lake. Dad was a good swimmer, but Mom didn't swim. She did have a bathing suit, it was white if I remember right. They really liked to take a drive around the lake. Dad would point out where he had lived when he was a kid and where he once had a little garden next to a spring on the hill.
We always had food, shelter, a warm place to live (except for the back bedroom, but we always had lots of blankets), and a close family. The main thing I remember is that we were always home for dinner and then we were together in the front room, watching TV, Dad and Mom were probably reading, and then we were off to bed after the news.
More to come
Terence