Mom's Beginnings

Mom’s Beginnings

My birth was not a great enough event at the time so they didn’t record it. I thought it was great enough so I set out in 1977 to prove I had been born in Amarillo Texas on May 13, 1926. It took 10 documents to prove my birth, but fortunately my mother was still living and that helped. I did get a birth certificate. that led to my getting a passport which allowed me to go to Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Then I went with Irvin to Italy to see Jean in 1983.. What fun that was! Those stories will have to wait.

I don’t remember much about Amarillo because I was only 2 when the family moved to Hereford where I grew up with my sister Vivian and lived until I went away to college. We lived just 2 blocks from the grade school so I came home every day for lunch. Dad also came home from his work at the lumber yard. Mother took pleasure in taking care of the family and in her church work. When I was in High School, Dad would pick us up and take us home for lunch and then back to school.

Times were hard because of the depression and I remember my mother writing the amount she spent for groceries on the calendar each month and the total at the end of the month was somewhere between $30 and $35. But we ate very well.

Church was very important in our family. You could see our house from the telephone building and one Sunday there was a long distance call for us. The operator said, “I’ll ring the phone but I’m sure they are gone to church and will be home later.” Mother always put something in the oven so that we had dinner ready when we got home. We often had company for dinner after church but Mother never stayed away from church to cook for company. I guess that was one important thing I learned from my mother.

I also learned to make bread from my mother’s teaching. I loved to cook and when I was small I had a miniature kitchen cabinet. It was stocked with sample sizes of various staples. A 2 pound sack of flour and such. I’m sure I made many messes but my Dad always praised my cooking. Mother used to make up bread in the evening and let it rise overnight and make many loaves in the morning and take them to the local grocer who sold them for 15 cents a loaf! Mother thought that was too much but he always sold out. Bakery bread was 5 cents. I remember when we got our first gas powered refrigerator. Up until then we had an ice box and the iceman came each day to deliver ice and keep it cold. The ice plant was just up the street.

I was something of a tomboy and loved to play football in the street with the boys. My sis loved to read and was valedictorian of the class. I always felt like the teachers were comparing me to my sister and I had a big inferiority complex. My parents tried to assure me that I could be my own person, but I never felt good about myself until after I finished college and went to seminary. That was when I met Irvin. .

It was late in our Junior (first year in Seminary) year that we had our first date. We had about 4 or 5 dates. Of course I was seated right behind him in a couple of classes (we sat alphabetically) so knew something about him. I made him some salty popcorn after we had been to a movie one night and I think that convinced him to keep in correspondence the following year when he went to Louisville and I stayed at Princeton. That summer he went to Warren Wilson College and worked. I went on some mission trips in Texas. Vivian worked in the headquarters of the PCUSA in the department that had responsibility for Warren Wilson College. She managed to go to the college with her boss to do some work and while there checked out this fellow that her sister was dating. She told my parents that Irvin was a good person. He came to visit in New York during the Christmas break. I was staying at Vivian's apartment and he stayed at the YMCA not far away. He got around to proposing at Grant’s Tomb and I said “YES”. Aren’t you glad we did!

Irvin went back to Louisville and I went back to Princeton. We finished our Middler year at the separate campuses.. One thing I had to do was go to the President of Princeton Seminary, Dr. John Mackay, and get his permission to leave the Seminary. I had a scholarship and he wanted to make sure that I used my training that I had had. I think maybe I had to pay back at least part of the scholarship. After school was out, I boarded a Southern RR train at Princeton Junction and got on the regular line at Princeton Station. We had told our parents about the wedding we wanted in August. We both felt it was important to meet each other's family or part of it anyway. So Irvin took a train from Louisville to Birmingham and there he got on the same train with me. Ginny, Johnny and Mildred were all still single, but Ginny I think was in school or working somewhere. Stainton and his family lived in Meridian at that time and the twins, David and Donnell, were about 11 or 12, Francis, Mary and Richard were also there. Johnny and Mildred lived at home with Mama. They were all at the station I think. I remember a great sea of new faces.  One of Mama McArthur's first questions to me was:  "Would you like to have a bath?" It was very considerate of her since I had been on the train for a long time. 

 

We had a wonderful time and got better acquainted. After visiting for a few days Irvin and I got back on the train and left for Waco, Texas where my parents had moved during my junior year of college. They really liked Irvin and we got plans underway for August. I had an aunt and uncle and a cousin living in Waco and my parents had several really close friends from when they lived there early in their marriage. Irvin met those people and got acquainted with Mother and Dad. Of course he already had met my sister.

The wedding took place in the church on August 26, 1949 and Rev. James Aiken presided. And that is the beginning of another blog later. There are other stories of things that happened along the way and hopefully I'll get some of those down another time.