My love for history and storytelling surely started with my parents. I grew up in a loving home, along with my twin brother and a younger brother, knowing the family stories that were told and retold at family gatherings. I grew up delighting in the tales of what life was like back before I was born, even before my parents were born, told verbally, or even written with the pen of my grandmothers and grandfathers.
Today is the anniversary of my birth, and in the card my mother sent, she wrote some of her memories from when my brother and I were born. Spoiler alert, you will find out how old I am, and side note, my parents were not aware that they were having twins! I will cherish her handwritten recollections, still written in a firm, neat script, and I am thankful for the blessing of still having my dear parents, Dale and Pat, with me in this life. Here are her memories:
“February 22, 1963 – We wanted a girl and we got one, a beautiful brown-eyed delight, (although at first her eyes were that dark new baby blue.) She was the first to come – and soon, in 15 minutes, another child was born. A tiny boy so precious we couldn’t believe it. Dale told the nurse, ‘It better be a boy!’
She replied, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ She was successful, and brought the boy out. His wrist was about as big around as my thumb. He fit into my forearm just right from elbow to hand.
What an adventure we started when they were both home. Grandma Hazel, Dale and I were as busy as we ever had been. We bathed, fed, burped, and changed babies around the clock and noted it on the pad by the stove where we heated the formula. The time (about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours.) [and the amount we drank.]
We soon got our days and nights arranged, although I remember dashing in to check the cradle and bassinet to see if they were breathing. I remember Hazel saying “These are the days of real sport!”
Before we knew which way to turn – they were growing! And they and I all cried most of the day when Dale took his mom back home. The next day and ever after, I got my act together and became THE MOTHER!”
Thank you, Mom, Dad, and in heaven, Grandma Hazel, for getting us, both under 5 pounds at birth, through that first month! Blessings to all you moms out there crying along with the babies! I am living proof that most of the time, it works out!
