My kingdom for a horse, or son, whichever comes first.

I woke up this morning at 2:30 thinking about my first pregnancy and marveling at how times have changed.  I married Duane Seeger back in 1960.  I was 19 years old and I had known him for 3 weeks.  In hindsight, I think I might not have made the wisest decision, but then it was a good run and I got 5 kids out of the deal.  He wanted a son.  He explained that to me when he proposed.  I kind of wanted a son too, so it seemed a match made in heaven.  So we spent the first year trying to get pregnant and the next 4 trying to stop!

In 1962 I had Debbie.  1963, Patty.  1964, Dona.  1965, Sam.  We took a break, got a divorce and then had Susie and got another divorce.  I have actually sent several divorce lawyers through college.  But that is not what this is about.  This is about how the whole business of delivering a baby has changed.
I remember when Momma had my little sister, Dorothy.  It was right before harvest and back then women laid in bed for 10 days (or so it seems).  When harvest started mom had to drive one of the trucks that hauled the wheat to the elevator.  She was nursing, you know, and no one else could do that, so Dorothy laid on the seat beside her.  The rest of us kids were left at home at the mercy of Josephine.  Women did not go to the hospital to give birth.  It was done at home, usually with a midwife in attendance;

Side note here:

Origin

Middle English: probably from the obsolete preposition mid ‘with’ + wife (in the archaic sense ‘woman’), expressing the sense ‘a woman who is with (the mother’).

And you must remember that women were second class citizens until the last century.  A good horse was more highly prized than a wife.  A man could always get another wife,  but a horse was hard to come by!

Lucky for me, I went to the hospital for all my births.  The first one, Duane dropped me at the front of the hospital and called the next day to see what I had.  He came 3 days later to take me home and rail at me for not having him a son.  I kind of liked her and she was really cute.  For the next 2 years, we repeated that scenario until I finally got it through my thick head that he REALLY wanted a son and I finally had one in 1965.  He did not want him named after him and he had no idea what he DID want.  I had always coveted the name Samuel Reuben.  Everyone knew that.  So I told the nurse my choice and she was aghast!  It was a Catholic hospital and that was a Jewish name. So I caved and named him Earl Edward.  Back in those days I would not have said shit if I had a mouthful.  I have gotten a backbone since then.  Today he is still called Sam.  He was always Sam and he will remain Sam.  Somethings do not change.  

Now I had a son and Earl Duane actually came to the hospital to pick me up.  Boy was I surprised!  Sadly, our life and relationship did not change because I gave him a son.  But life did go on for both of us.  He has been gone for many years, but one of the girls still lives on the land in Lakin, Kansas.  

Now, I must confess, when I crawled out of the bed 3 hours ago, I was thinking about Wakeeney,  Kansas and events that had transpired there, but I digressed.  I must remember to do a blog about places we lived and how the rental of apartments had changed from back then.  Right now I have to go do other things, because I am old now and my duties have changed.  

The old testament comes to mind at this moment. Not sure of chapter and verse, but I know I knew it at one time....

Go forth and mulitply!!!!

Sammy comes for a visit and now he goes home!

My son flew in from Dallas a week or so ago and what a time we had.  Rather then rent a car or have me drive up to Denver, he opted for the little plane that shuttles passengers down here.  Methinks he may not make that choice again.  He is a seasoned traveler, unlike his stay at home mother, but this was his first flight on in a "crop duster.  His first clue that this might be different was when he stepped through the door and was told they would need to "balance the load".  He chose to set right behind the pilot so he would not have to look out the window.  He deemed the pilot to be a school boy out on Spring Break.  The co pilot seemed to be his baby sitter.  He was first instructed that in case of an emergency he would be in charge of unlatching the door and kicking it open!  And he took the orders very seriously!

The flight down was only 39 minutes from take off to landing, but he still had time to look around the cabin.  He spotted an instruction manual in the flap on the back of the co pilot's seat and wondered why they were required to carry them, being seasoned pilots and all.  At that moment the lady co pilot reached back and got the book, and my optimistic little son was sure she was reading the part entitled "How to Land the Plane."  But he did take precautions when they said they would be landing in Pueblo in just a few moments.  He braced one foot on the aisle seat and his arm against the fuselage.  OMG!  I would have given an arm and a leg to have been on that plane!  When he came down the stairs and into the lobby he was laughing that hysterical laughter that is a sign that one has been wound too tight and is now coming unwound.  Good to see.

And home to dear sisters we went.  Dona is my middle child.  She looked at Sam and the conversation that ensued is as follows:
"Oh, Sammy!  You have no hair!"
"Never had any.  Male pattern baldness!"
"You are getting pudgy!"
"Well, I have not been working out because I am busy at work."
"Still with so and so?"
"Yes."
"Wow you are lucky to still have the same one after all this time.  You are lucky to have anyone!"
At this point Sam turned to me and said, "Boy she really missed her calling!  She should have been a motivational speaker, because she is sure motivating me towards suicide!"

We did have a lovely 5 days which passed much to quickly.  And then it was back to the airport to send the little guy home.

Sammy at the check in counter.

In the "holding area"

 

Taxiing down the runway!

Up, up and

away!

Sam makes the flying thing look so easy.  I wanted to take a train trip this summer.  I could leave here and stop in Garden City and spend a day with the girls, then to Hutchinson and spend a few days with the sisters, and then Kansas City and visit Shirley, on to St. Louis to see Jeffery and Fred, and then finally to Dallas.  See, the train does not go North and South, just East and West.  And the train ride is roughly 24 hours with all the layovers and such.  Plane goes straight.  Much quicker.  I labor under the notion that if the good Lord wanted me to fly he would have made me a bird!

But I have only been on an airplane once in my life and that was because Kenny and Clifford tricked me and I almost showed them how to have massive coronary over a mountain pass!  But that is another story all together.

So, the son is back in Dallas, the girl's are back in Kansas and I am once more home alone.  Life goes on and time passes.  Right now, I am off to take care of the geese, then downstairs to sew and then up one level to list on eBay.  I leave you with this video from youtube.  Rather made my day.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z1mhPVs0llI

 

Well, the day has finally come that marks the end of the trail here on South Road.

Last night the son and his chosen one started hauling their possessions up the stairs, out of the trailer, and the storage shed and packing it into Jerry's van.  And then the trip to Florence and the new house began.  You know, it is kind of sad to see this happen.  Not because I will be alone, because I am a rather solitary person anyway, but rather because it marks the end of my child rearing days.  Started that little chapter in 1962 and now in 20ll I watch the last little fledgling spread his wings and try it solo.  The only difference here is if  the baby bird does not make it successfully, it will plop to the ground and either die from the fall or a cat will come along and eat it.  Not so with the human race.
I have friends that say, "Oh, he will be back."  I do not think they understand.  I do not want them back.  Not because I do not like them.  Nor because I want to live alone.  Or because I finally have a complete room for my eBay stuff.  I want them to succeed.
I want them to know the thrill of coming home at night after a hard day's work and turning their very own key in their very own door.  I want them to know who mows the grass, who washes the dishes, who pays the electric bill, who buys the dog food.  I want them to know the thrill of something called Independence.  While I did not give birth to this little bird, I taught him to walk, I potty trained him, sent him to school, and tried to instill in him a sense of right and wrong, justice and equality, and all the things he needs to know about being kind to the lesser on the planet whether man or beast.  I have tried to lead by example.  They never did catch on to the Recycle thing or the healthy diet, but I can't win them all.  Now we will see how that works out for me!
They did spend last night here, and that is what it was; the last night under Momma's roof.  When they were getting ready to take the load to Florence, Amanda asked me, "Well, how do you feel?  We are leaving.  You will be alone.  Are you going to miss us?"  And I answered as best I could to this girl who has become like a daughter to me.
"As for being alone, we are all alone.  I have been alone all my life.  Sure I will miss you, but this is life and it is time.  You kids need to build your own life.  You can never be on your own here in my house.  You need your own little corner." 
She did assure me that they will come and visit every day.  Well, every day that they work in the shop in Pueblo.  Maybe not every single day, but most of them. Ah, the exhuberance of youth!  Makes me remember back to the day when I was 19 years old and I looked up into a pair of the bluest eyes and knew I would never be alone again.  I was wrong on that day and have been wrong many times since.
And when it gets right down to it, we are alone and we will always be alone.  And such is life!