DAY 166 - COUNTING DOWN TO THE 50TH

GOOD MORNING, CLASS OF '64

Our guest writer is back this morning but with a name, this time. Three of you guessed correctly (please let us know if you would care to have your name published so your classmates will know who you are) and will receive a special gift from the writer at 1964's 50th Class Reunion. He's happy to be visiting with all of you, here, but hopes to greet you personally, in early August. 

I Was Born 
by Larry See

I was born October 24,1945, at home in my parents’ bedroom. When Mom discovered that she was pregnant with me, a world war was raging in Europe and the Pacific with no end in sight. There were shortages of many consumer goods and rationing of many staples. 

The Great Depression had not eased on West Virginia small farms so money was in very short supply. It didn’t seem like a good time to bring a baby into the world.It was a tough year on the farm. A late freeze destroyed much of the garden and crops. Two brood sows died along with their litters of pigs - food for the family and a small amount of cash income. It was frightening and discouraging.
 I was a change-of-life baby, a surprise. My siblings were 18, 16, and 13 years older than me. I am blessed. Many change-of-life babies are resented by their parents. I was loved by them all, probably too much as I was badly spoiled.

Snowy Cabin - Vicky Wade

 During her pregnancy, Mom’s biggest concern was baby clothes for me. She hadn’t expected to need them again so she had given all her baby clothes away. It was a problem - a new born baby, going into winter in a house with no insulation and leaky doors and windows, the “central” heat  a wood burning stove in the living room, and a very windy, cold winter coming. There was no fabric in the stores to make the clothes, and no money to buy it if it had been available.

George Bellows
Aunt Fanny (Old Lady in Black) 1920

Aunt Maud, Dad’s older sister, somehow found 2 or 3 yards of outing, a cotton flannel. She traded it to Mom for a couple of butchered chickens. My guess is that Aunt Maud got the fabric on the black market.

Mother and Child by the Hearth
Theodore Robinson

I heard Mom tell that story at least 10 times. It was that important to her. With a world war raging on two fronts, with farm losses making it possible that the family would run out of food that winter, with her pregnant at 38 years of age, and with another mouth to feed and a new baby to care for, her biggest concern was clothes to keep me warm. God picked a great time, place, and family for my entrance into this world. I was born rich!

  

Baby Mine - Disney's Original

"Baby Mine" is a song from the 

1941 Disney film Dumbo -

nominated for an Academy Award 

for Best Original Song at the 1941 Oscars

(This is years before our time, 

but Baby Mine has been recorded

many times through the years.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Mine_%28song%29 

CONNIE FRANCIS - MAMA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama_%28David_Whitfield_song%29 

released in February 1960

peaked at number eight on 

the Billboard Hot 100 chart

MAMA

 When the evening shadows fall
and the lovely day is through
Then with longing I recall
the years I spent with you

Mama, I miss the days
when you were near to guide me
Mama, those happy days
when you were here beside me

Safe in the glow of your love
Sent from the heavens above
Nothing can ever replace
The warmth of your tender embrace

Oh, Mama, until the day
that we're together once more
I'll live in these memories
Until the day that we're together once more

 

The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken
INTRODUCTION

 Produced for Nashville Public Television

and broadcast nationally on 

PBS's American Experience

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carterfamily/ 

 Johnny, June & John Carter Cash - 

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

  Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_the_Circle_Be_Unbroken%3F 

  

THE CARTER FAMILY lyrics
"Will The Circle Be Unbroken"

I was standing by my window
On one cold and cloudy day
And I saw the hearse come rolling
For to carry my mother away

Can the circle be unbroken
Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky

Oh, I told the undertaker
Undertaker, please drive slow
For this body you are hauling
How I hate to see her go

Can the circle be unbroken
Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky

I followed close beside her
Tried to hold up and be brave
But I could not hide my sorrow
When they laid her in the grave

Can the circle be unbroken
Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky

We'll be publishing Aunt Maud's (Black Market Maud) candy recipe, soon. If you have a favorite family recipe, from years gone by, pass it along in an email you'll find in the sidebar, to the right. Let us know the origin and history of your recipe. We hope to receive lots of fine old recipes!