I think back to when I was raising 5 kids with no child support, no welfare card, no health care and rarely the same baby sitter 2 weeks in a row, and I shudder. Lucky for me it was back in the day when you could actually leave your house unlocked and went to bed and woke up still alive. We lived at 217 West 5th in Hutchinson which is now an apartment complex. It was located across the street from Dillons Supermarket. 5th Street was also Highway 96. Highway 50 and 96 both run directly to Pueblo, Colorado. But that is a moot point. (I just love to say "moot point".)
The kids could walk to school if they were in school at the time. They went to Allan, as I recall and it was about 4 blocks. Near the school was a lady named Ferguson who had kids that were mean to my kids. She watched them after school. If they were not in school they went to Mrs. Bensing's to be baby sat by her. She was the regular babysitter for my day time, 6 days a week job.
To supplement my income I waited tables at the bar on 4th Street. That was the Dutch Mill. Back in those days you were allowed to dance in the bars. Usually there was a juke box, but some times the Mill had live bands. Oh, those were fun! I must confess that I did a lot more dancing and not a whole lot of waiting on tables, although since they did not serve food, it was just delivering beer. Mini skirts were the thing back then and I had pretty legs, so my tips were good.
On the nights I worked I had a lady who came from South Hutch to watch the kids. She had a car. I am trying to remember her name! She was a little short, stout lady and she had a beard. I swear, more hair on her chin than on her head! Ida Mae? Does that sound right? We will go with that.
Addie Mae was the sweetest little lady. She was about my height and a little heavier. She always smiled and never spoke above a whisper. She always brought a handful of candy. Always had a secret smile on her face. The kids were scared shitless of her.
"Is she was mean?" "No."
"Does she holler at you?" "No."
"What does she do?" "Nothing."
"Does she give you candy?" "No."
While at the Red Carpet, I hired the bosses son's wife to babysit and since Allen Ray was in Vietnam, I moved her in with me. She was pregnant at the time. That was nice. When I came home from whatever job I had been to, the house was always clean. The kids were always quiet and if it was night they were always in bed. Very well behaved kids. And then one day I noticed a bruise on Sam's face. Upon close questioning I determined that she had hit him across the face with a stick she used to paddle all of them with. I immediately called my boss and told him to get her out of my house before I killed her and proceeded to throw her belongings on the curb so they were easily accessible. Seems the babies I worked so hard to feed and clothe were being intimidated by (dammit! I forgot her name. Debbie just called and her name was Janice.) Bob understood.
Evelyn Decker moved in for a while and between us, we got them up to an age where they were traveling back and forth between their father and me. They even began to go to school in Garden City and then Lakin. By that time I was in love again and married and moving to Colorado. By then Susie was starting kindergarten and was the only child I had at home. Over the years they took turns living and going to school either in Lakin or out here with me. Sam is the only one that actually graduated in Pueblo. Central High, go Wildcats.! He then attended the University before going to Wichita for his post graduate work.
The years in Hutchinson are mostly a blur. I do not know whether it was working all the time, or drinking or what, but I am pretty sure I did not earn a "mother of the year" award or the "Susie homemaker award". I did manage to have all of them survive with no broken bones and no jail time.
Would I do things differently if I could go back? I sure as hell would. Momma always said "Hindsight is 100% looking back, foresight: not so much." I would not have stayed with their father, and I am not sure how I would do it differently, but I would have done something. The one thing I did learn from those years and the years that followed is this: "I did the best I could with the tools and knowledge that I had at the time." My momma told me that. Momma was very wise! Course Momma is also the one that said my kids were raised by wolves!
Footnote: I did attend college after Charlie and during Henry and before Kenny. I received my BA with a 4.0 grade average. I have a diploma around here some where and it says something about me being an Accountant. I worked one full time job and one part time job while doing that. And I drank a lot of Mountain Dew!
The kids could walk to school if they were in school at the time. They went to Allan, as I recall and it was about 4 blocks. Near the school was a lady named Ferguson who had kids that were mean to my kids. She watched them after school. If they were not in school they went to Mrs. Bensing's to be baby sat by her. She was the regular babysitter for my day time, 6 days a week job.
To supplement my income I waited tables at the bar on 4th Street. That was the Dutch Mill. Back in those days you were allowed to dance in the bars. Usually there was a juke box, but some times the Mill had live bands. Oh, those were fun! I must confess that I did a lot more dancing and not a whole lot of waiting on tables, although since they did not serve food, it was just delivering beer. Mini skirts were the thing back then and I had pretty legs, so my tips were good.
On the nights I worked I had a lady who came from South Hutch to watch the kids. She had a car. I am trying to remember her name! She was a little short, stout lady and she had a beard. I swear, more hair on her chin than on her head! Ida Mae? Does that sound right? We will go with that.
Addie Mae was the sweetest little lady. She was about my height and a little heavier. She always smiled and never spoke above a whisper. She always brought a handful of candy. Always had a secret smile on her face. The kids were scared shitless of her.
"Is she was mean?" "No."
"Does she holler at you?" "No."
"What does she do?" "Nothing."
"Does she give you candy?" "No."
While at the Red Carpet, I hired the bosses son's wife to babysit and since Allen Ray was in Vietnam, I moved her in with me. She was pregnant at the time. That was nice. When I came home from whatever job I had been to, the house was always clean. The kids were always quiet and if it was night they were always in bed. Very well behaved kids. And then one day I noticed a bruise on Sam's face. Upon close questioning I determined that she had hit him across the face with a stick she used to paddle all of them with. I immediately called my boss and told him to get her out of my house before I killed her and proceeded to throw her belongings on the curb so they were easily accessible. Seems the babies I worked so hard to feed and clothe were being intimidated by (dammit! I forgot her name. Debbie just called and her name was Janice.) Bob understood.
Evelyn Decker moved in for a while and between us, we got them up to an age where they were traveling back and forth between their father and me. They even began to go to school in Garden City and then Lakin. By that time I was in love again and married and moving to Colorado. By then Susie was starting kindergarten and was the only child I had at home. Over the years they took turns living and going to school either in Lakin or out here with me. Sam is the only one that actually graduated in Pueblo. Central High, go Wildcats.! He then attended the University before going to Wichita for his post graduate work.
The years in Hutchinson are mostly a blur. I do not know whether it was working all the time, or drinking or what, but I am pretty sure I did not earn a "mother of the year" award or the "Susie homemaker award". I did manage to have all of them survive with no broken bones and no jail time.
Would I do things differently if I could go back? I sure as hell would. Momma always said "Hindsight is 100% looking back, foresight: not so much." I would not have stayed with their father, and I am not sure how I would do it differently, but I would have done something. The one thing I did learn from those years and the years that followed is this: "I did the best I could with the tools and knowledge that I had at the time." My momma told me that. Momma was very wise! Course Momma is also the one that said my kids were raised by wolves!
Footnote: I did attend college after Charlie and during Henry and before Kenny. I received my BA with a 4.0 grade average. I have a diploma around here some where and it says something about me being an Accountant. I worked one full time job and one part time job while doing that. And I drank a lot of Mountain Dew!
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