September Memories
An Autumn Flight
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/an-autumn-flight-by-m-donna/
Can you believe that September is here? Hard to believe that 2021 has gone as fast as it has. It has been a year we probably all would like to forget. And it doesn't look much better for the near future. So this morning I was thinking about the past and thought I would share a little bit of what my life was like 64 years ago. I was pushing buttons on my washing machine when I started thinking about the past and how easy we have it now.
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64 years ago I was an 18 year old wife and soon to be mother. We had rented a cabin in the woods for 3 months and paid $50 a month rent. We felt like we were wasting money renting. There was a house on the Mountain Loop Highway that we kind of wanted and we knew it was being rented out. The owner of the house was a recent widow. Her husband had been killed in a logging accident the year before. I remember it because I was in high school and they came to the school to notify the loggers son that his father had been killed. The widow and son didn't want to live up in the mountains by themselves so moved to town. After we decided to ask her if she would sell, we went to visit her and offered her $3000. It was a 2 story house on 1/2 acre in the wood and not very old. My husband worked for the US Forest Service and was making $4,000 a year! We didn't have any savings at all since we hadn't been married that long. But she knew us and was glad to have a young couple in her house. She talked to her brother and he thought she should ask $3500.00 which was all right with us. She helped us get a loan at her bank...nothing down and $50.00 a month house payment. So, we moved in...I was excited about setting up our own home since that was all I had ever wanted was to be a wife and mother.
Back to the washing machine! We had purchased a used wringer washer for $35 and it had to sit on our open back porch. By then we had a 3 month old son. I put him in his buggy and put him in the kitchen so I could go out and get the washing machine and roll it into the house. I had to set up a hose from the kitchen sink to fill the washer and rinse the clothes in the sink, and then use the wringer so I could hang the clothes up. It was Feb. and quite cold out. When I shut the kitchen door...I realized I had just locked myself out of the house...our son was safe but in his buggy but I was worried he might spit up and choke. I had on a sleeveless blouse and no jacket available! Our nearest neighbor was 1/2 mile away so I had to run to their house to call the ranger station so my husband could come home and get the house unlocked. (We couldn't afford a phone at that point) He had to climb through an upstairs window to get in the house. Our son was perfectly safe in his buggy sound asleep! But it was something that I will never forget since I was so scared for our baby boy. My husband went back to work and I got the laundry done. No dryer, of course so I had to hang everything in the upstairs. My husband had set up a clothes line for me. So just think how easy it is for you to get your laundry done now. No one realizes the difference in how we lived in the past. We had bills to pay and if we were lucky there was money left for groceries...which there always was but I remember when I checked out if there wasn't enough money, I had to take a few things off the counter to put back on the shelves.
So the next time you have to to laundry just be glad you have that beautiful washing machine!!!!
More memories another day!
I loved reading your story! Please share more when you can. Take care and keep on designing :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, DW. I certainly will. I have lots of memories! Wonderful memories!
DeleteHello again MaDonna clicked on the link that said Homepage and brought me to you where I just read your post about the all the long years past. I am 57 and do remember the wringer washer machine... lol... I lived with my grandma and in the cellar was where her washing machine was. And I was always at her side, no matter where she went, even in the bathroom!! ...LOL.. anyways, I would follow her down to the cellar where I would watch in amazement how my grandma would take the wet clothes and put them through the wringer, and see how the clothes would get squished and all the water would come off of them... And I will always remember, and never forget my grandma's words, "Don't ever stick your hands in the wringer because they will get crushed." ... I lost my grandma on Sept 23, 1976, which in fact I lost my mom, as she was a mom to me. I still miss her so very much and still even cry about her not being here with me... MaDonna, thanks so much for bringing me back to a time where life was so happy for me, not complex, and a time in my life where I felt loved and was genuinely loved by the most important woman and only woman I would have in my life. Thanks again ;)
ReplyDeleteI remember my mother having a wringer washer, and I also remember getting my three year old arm caught in the wringer, that gave my mom more than a few new grey hairs.
ReplyDeleteI've been a big fan of your Firefox banners, and Nexus desktop wallpapers for several years, but this is the first time visiting your blog. I really enjoyed reading the story of your young married life, funny how back then as an 18 year old you were already married and buying a house. Eighteen years olds today are more concerned about likes on their social media posts, and keeping their cell phones charged. Hope these last two weeks of September treats you well.