Sharing 1952
We shared everything, from clothes to toys.
When I came into the world, feet first, four other children, ages one to five, already occupied my home, and the attention of my parents. I shared a rom with my two sisters. I slept in a crib, until I was four and outgrew the mattress. My sisters shared bunk beds. My brothers shared bunk beds, in their own room, while my parents had their room on the other side of the small living room. Each bed had white, sunshine-dried sheets, and an itchy green army blanket. They were topped with a simple plaid cotton bedspread.
We were fortunate. Although money was extremely tight, we had the proverbial roof over our heads, and plenty of food in our bellies. My mother worked the night shift, as a waitress, at the Ideal Fish Restaurant. My father was working days, as a jailor, for the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department. They shared the responsibilities of raising five small children.
My father had been a Navy man, so he ran a tight ship. Dinner, bath time, and bed time were an assembly line process.
We shared everything, from clothes to toys. New shoes were a must, at the beginning of every school year. We didn’t always have the latest fashions, but we were never without the basics. When I was a teenager, I worked as a babysitter, for fifty cents an hour. It kept me in stockings and make-up. I never felt poor, and I never asked my parents for money. I always had the change to call her from a payphone (remember those?), if I needed to reach her.
We spent so much time with our twelve cousins, they were more like siblings to us. Soquel high remembered our last name for many years!
Three things bound our family together: Love, humor (which was a real life saver!), and the fact that we were confident that we had each other’s backs no matter what. When it came to family troubles, we would “circle the wagons”, and come to the aid of whomever had problems beyond beyond their abilities to deal with them.When my parents were ill, and facing the end of their lives, we “circled the wagons”, for the most difficult challenge we had faced, as a family, then, and since.
Sharon ~ Love reading this! So similar to my childhood; one less sibling (sister) and add strict Catholic to the mix. Our Navy Dad taught us many sayings ~ to this day , when a storm is forming, we remind each other to “batten down the hatches”!!
I think we might be twins. Great piece and lovely photo.