It was a Tuesday

Early in the last year of the 1930's, February was cold that year and her time had come. The husband left their first born with his mom and after consulting with the town Doctor, drove her several miles by back roads to another house where many of the local women would give birth. This was a repeat visit for the couple since they had made their first trip there in 1936 and had been delighted with the birth of their first child, a boy. The woman looked forward to no longer carrying this child and really looked forward to a stay in bed with lots of good care for the next two weeks. In the next bed an acquaintance was giving birth to her son and the two children would later attend junior high and senior high school together.

It was her time and the hard work of labor was upon her with little time to think about rest. Finally the baby appeared and the couple had their second child, another boy. After a two week stay in the home, mother and child arrived back on the family farm rejoining their eldest son and relieving grandmotherr of the duty of caring for him. They were now a family of four.

I want to paint those days as being cold and snowy with little sunshine breaking through the overcast New York days. The new baby frequently used his lusty lungs to let all know that he was hungry and or messy and in need of a change. His older brother was even willing to give up his bit of milk so that the baby would have enough. This baby was apt to cry maybe too much and when his mother took some flash cards and sold them so that she would have film in her Kodak Camera, the boy managed to cry in every frame. Those were to be the only baby pictures ever taken and given his ability to cry, probably a good decision.

Many years later he would discover that the love of his life was also born on a Tuesday in the early 1940's in the territory of Hawaii and on a sunny day to boot. This probably accounts for her cheery disposition as well. But, that is another story.