Mom’s story is more difficult to write about for reasons that will unfold over time.

She was the third of four children. A depression era child impacted by the lack that the entire country experienced. Depending on who you talked to you would get different stories. My grandparents were gone before I was born along with her youngest brother.

Some people experienced my grandparents as stable, loving parents who worked hard to provide a meager existence. Others tell a story of emotional imbalance with my grandmother. My grandparents were notorious for not paying their bills.

When their oldest son became part of the military during World War II, he sent his pay to his parents to be saved so he could establish a stable life for he and his wife. Sadly, upon release from the military he was told the money had been spent.

For a period of time my grandparents owned a grocery store but the business failed in the depression era.

From my aunt I learned that my grandmother attempted to end her life because she believe her husband was having an affair. Other family members have spoken about ability to sew, garden and cook. She could make something out of nothing whether it be sewing clothes or cooking a meal. Mom and Dad’s rehearsal dinner was prepared by my grandmother with the main dish being stuffed peppers.

Whereas Mom was mostly a stay at home Mom after marriage, I was surprised to find out that she had a number of jobs while a teenager. She worked at an ice cream shop and also cleaned houses. One house cleaning client was a dentist. The dentist provided free dental care as an act of generosity.

Mom attended Bible college for a year but did not return the second year due to an emotional breakdown. She returned the year that Dad started his education at the school. She first saw Dad while looking out her dorm room window. Because he was older than most of the students he stood out in a group. He had grayed early and that was another reason why he was noticeable.

When Dad returned home for the Christmas holidays he told his parents and sister that he had met his second wife and they married the next July.

For the wedding, Dad drove from Delaware to Pennsylvania the day before the ceremony. He brought another student/friend who lived in Maryland, not too far from where he was raised. She was the piano player for the event.

The day after the wedding the three of them drove back to Delaware. Mom kept asking Dad to stop for food but he kept driving. She did not know that he didn’t have money for food or gas.

After dropping off the piano player at her home, he went to the home where his former in-laws lived. That is where Dad and Mom spent their second night after being married. Years later I was present when Mom asked Dad why they stayed there and he told her he didn’t have enough gas to get home. She asked how he managed to get gas the following morning and he told her he siphoned it out of a car’s gas tank.

The next few weeks they lived with Dad’s parents and when it was time to go back to school, my grandfather went with them. He did not approve of the place where they were intending to live and insisted that Dad find another option or he would take Mom back to Delaware. They ended up living in a very small trailer on the college grounds.

Mom always spoke positively about her parents and siblings. She never expressed fault about any of them. It was always a contrast with what we were told about the unstable home life. With my next post I will begin to unfold the reasons behind the contrasts.