I grew up up mostly in Woodsfield, but add Marietta to that as well.... when I left Woodsfield gradeschool after 6th grade to go to a school in 7th grade with 1500 kids in their Junior High....during a time when in Woodsfield, I was different, I felt like an outsider. We didn't keep Christmas or any of the other holidays that most kids grow up with. We didn't celebrate birthdays or watch Frosty the Snowman or sing Christmas carrolls or decorate tree's.... we didn't blow out birthday candles from a birthday cake to celebrate a birthday. We didn't go to any football games or high school dances and never watched TV or rode our bikes from Friday night sundown till Saturday night sundown. My Dad was in and out of work through alot of that time so money was scarce but my Mom held our family together and she taught us to earn our way by her example. We picked apples and sold them door to door, we made pot holders and peddled them up and down the street in our decorated wagon to sell and make money as well as apples from our apple tree....we picked berries on steamy hot days to make money! And it was such a treat to go the creek and swim after all those berries got picked! We weren't allowed to go to the public swimming pool for most of that childhood like most kids did in the summer, we were out planting a garden and hilling potatoes and preparing for the canning season by picking and canning peaches, beans and whatever Mom could think of to put food on our tables as best she could! She gave up alot of things to make sure my sister Trish and I had matching blue unbrellas so we could walk home from grade school on a rainy day and "fly" with them like Mary Poppins! We made tents in our backyard with life long friends, and an ice igloo made from snow blocks in our backyard on Home Avenue (I had measles or chicken pox and got to watch from the bedroom window). I was very sick when I was in grade school and was out of school one year very sick for 6 weeks...we didn't go to dr's because of religious beliefs...we believed in other ways... it was an infection in the value of my heart which they think I may have had rheumatic fever during that time..which results in the fever, excruciating headaches and chills, amongst other things, but my best memory was my Mom rocking me in her wooden rocking chair to ease the pain for hours on end! My Mom was a good woman, she put up with more than most in her years of raising her children and I'm sure without a doubt that I was her problem child, but she loved me! I remember someone at our church getting a real 1 carat diamond ring and I remember my Mom's small wedding band and I wanted so bad for that 1 carat ring to be on my Mom's finger! Mothers Day came and I went to the 5&10 in grade school and probably used some of that "potholder earned money" ..and there in a case was (in my child's eyes) the most beautiful big diamond ring that I bought for her that Mothers Day! To me it was the diamond she deserved and I wanted her to have... I was young, it was only glass! But she wore that ring to church that week just as if it was a diamond shiny and bright as a real one! I was so proud she had the diamond she deserved...and she wore it proudly even though she knew it was only glass, but she wore it for me just as if it was a real diamond! We road to town on Saturday nights after our "Sabbath" was over at sundown and glared into the 5 & 10 to stare at all the people shopping and the just the excitement of them shopping never dulled the thrill of seeing others inside...even though it wasn't us. It was still exciting in a young childs eyes! I remember my Grandpa Caldwell giving us kids a whole dollar and going to the store in Lewisville and buying 100 pieces of penny candy and feeling so rich at getting to spend a whole dollar!! We flied kites on a windy hill one day with my Dad...the very 1st box kite I had ever seen and it flew so high! I remember our dog "Buttons" who was the most loved pet we had through our childhood...she was a part of our family and walked us to school every morning....she was so loved! Our family was different...we went though times of being made fun of because we were different in our ways. We didn't talk back, we knew better! We wore hand me downs and were glad to have them and washed a pair of our favorite jeans out every night to wear the next morning for school....because we didn't have lots to choose from but we we were glad for the hand me downs! wedding dresses under 1500
We were taught to always respect our elders and never disrespect people who were worse off then us. I remember the day my sister graduated from 8th grade in the pretties white dress and I remember thinking I couldn't wait for that dress to be my "hand me down" and I was thrilled when it came my time that I grew into it and it was passed down to me like so many clothes we wore. I remember family dinners always at the table with all of us around it, no TV trays in the living room in front of a TV or a cell phone in our hand! I remember "free lunches" at school or packed lunches with peanut butter and homemade jelly sandwiches that if we were lucky we would trade with our childhood friends for their Tuna fish sandwiches which was a real treat! I can tell you, we didn't have the same childhood as most, but what I can tell you about it is, that we made it ...all of us kids as adults now, in all our stages of life... learned to stand on our own 2 feet and make our way in our own time and overcome obstacles that no one knew about... we had our own struggles, each different but each gave us hurts and pain to come out on the other side with life lessons to make better lives because of the foundation, (even at times as broken as it was), my Mom held our family together! We've had our times, we've had our disagreements and we still do but I love each of them no matter where our lives have taken us.
We were blessed in spite of struggles that we always had food on our table... Mom made sure of that though all the canning she did... canning peaches for winter until your fingers were wilted from scalding them and readying them for the cold pack canning.... our pantry was always full of canned garden food! Dinner might have been soup beans and vegetables from the garden... it may have been pies from the berries we picked or it could have been the homemade bread Mom made topped with the homemade butter we as kids churned to top those fresh hot rolls out of the oven, what a treat that was!. It may have been spaghetti with sauce with very little meat in it,(meat was too expensive for our family) but the next night Mom made that meal of leftovers into Chilli by adding beans or pasta to make chilli macaroni! We never went to bed hungry because of my Mom! There may have not been steaks on our table during those days of growing up...but we were a family!
My Mom turns 80 this August and my sister has a surprise party planned for her and I plan on being there! I hope my daughters and grandchildren will plan on coming as well. Life is short and disagreements shouldn't last a lifetime...some things may never be the same but we never know when it is her last one! She has worked hard, she deserves a very special day to celebrate her! She is my Mom and I love her so if you are friends with my sister Trish Caldwell Landsittel or even if you aren't... you are welcome to attend this celebration of my Mom! Time as we get older gets shorter and shorten, we never know what tomorrow will bring... she deserves this more than anyone I know in spite of our disagreements, I love my Mom!
I know there is a facebook thing going around similar to this but I decided to give my own rendition of it! The one thing I learned as I raised my own daughters was to never have them ever doubt how much I love each of them...no matter what! My love for them is unconditional, no matter the disagreement, no matter the time that goes by that we don't speak for whatever reason....my love for them is always present for them in my heart! Every single day, through every single disagreement...that I love them unconditionally! I love my Mom, my sister and my brother the same, no matter what or where life takes us all!