49. I learned to be a mother when I was not yet nineteen years old when our first baby girl was born in August of 1955. Paul was away in the Army so I was a single parent for one and a half years. But we were blessed with family near us. The only baby sitters I ever needed were little Kathy's grandparents and aunts. Her full name was Kathleen Jean Marvin but we always called her Kathy. Jean is also my middle name. My father was R. Eugene McDonaugh and he went by Gene, so that is where Jean originated. The name continues in the next generation too. I loved being a mother and would not have wanted to miss this blessing for anything.
50. Lessons in being a mother continued with the birth of another darling baby girl in March of 1958. I consider her to be a miracle as I had major surgery during my pregnancy with her. I had ovarian cysts and had one and a half ovaries removed when I was two or three months pregnant. Believe it or not that didn't prevent me from two more full term pregnancies. Laura Elizabeth Marvin has my grandma's middle name, Elizabeth. Laura was a sweet child and loved to be read to, as did her sister.
51. On the day Kennedy was elected we were blessed with the birth of Paul William Marvin,III. We called him Bill but he prefers to introduce himself as Paul now. He is still Bill to family and old friends. Having a baby boy was a new experience for me. I didn't have any brothers so I was mainly used to girls. Baby boys are sweet too. Bill was a precious baby boy. I loved my three beautiful children. But our family wasn't yet complete. A brother for Bill would be nice.
52. The day after Christmas in 1962 our second darling baby boy was born. We named him after Paul's grandfather, Griffith Hughes. Paul's grandparents were from Wales and their last name was Jones. Our Griff has the Marvin last name. Griff and Bill had each other for playmates and had many adventures together. I had to learn to deal with children that were often able to outsmart me. When at least one of them is gifted it is a real challenge. When all four are smart, each in their own way, it is also a blessing.
53. We didn't have a TV but we had books and the children kept busy with other activities. Some of the children say it was good they didn't have TV as they learned to read more than if we had a TV. But at least one of the children feels that a TV would have been beneficial in knowing what was going on in the world. We had a brief time with a TV and some of us watched it too much, especially me. We do have one now and have had it for a number of years. I like having it. But my kids are not TV addicts. Some barely watch it or do not have one.
54. Like Paul and his brother, and my sisters and me, our four had grandparents nearby. They also had our small town, Coronado, for their playground with the beautiful Pacific Ocean on one side and San Diego Bay on the other. The old ferries ran between Coronado and San Diego until the bridge opened in 1969, and this was an enjoyable ride at little cost. I don't know if the children did as we did and enjoyed a ferry ride without our knowledge. Our children learned to ride the bus at an early age. Some things they were able to do would not be wise now days.
55. Some things that happened would result in the loss of a child in this day and age. I lost Griff one afternoon when he was two. Long story, but he spent several hours at the police station enjoying the attention. Now days I'm sure it would not be so easy to retrieve my child from the police station. Paul got home from work to a frantic search for Griff. He just picked up the phone and calmly called the police. He asked if they had a child there and they did. I bet that now days they wouldn't be so willing to return a little guy to the parent without a lot of hassle.
56. As a child I learned to like animals a lot. My sisters and I usually had a kitty or two. There were goldfish, birds, a turtle, a pet hen, and later on a puppy. We did not have too many pets at once though. We even traveled from Coronado, CA to Bellingham, WA with my turtle and our pet hen. We left Susie Q, our little red hen, on the farm when we came back to California. But Mac the turtle got to make the return trip with us. We brought a kitten with us on the trip to back to California. This was all just the beginning of my history with many pets. We had so many pets when our children were little that Bill's whole second grade class came to our house to see our zoo.
57. I also looked forward to getting to be a grandmother. Kathy was twenty eight when she got married to John Golden. John had a son by his previous marriage. Michael was a cute seven year old when Kathy and John got married. He was their ring bearer and looked handsome in his suit even though he was wearing a cast on his arm. Michael always called me Grandma Caroline and I liked the title. A year later we welcomed our first little granddaughter to the family. Rebecca Jean Golden goes by the name Becky. Being a grandma suits me quite nicely. I even got to baby sit for Michael and Becky when they lived in our area. We were able to get some four generation pictures of our family as we still had the older generation with us.
58. When Becky was a year old her family moved to Whidbey Island,WA and tears were shed when we had to say our goodbyes to this dear family. John was in the Navy and duty called. It was a challenge to get to Washington at least twice a year to spend time with Becky and family. But I learned bus travel, and our favorite was train. My mother and I both had our first trips by plane when we went together when Becky was turning three. Mom was also going to Washington to visit her brother on his farm. I love Whidbey Island and really enjoy any trip to Washington so this was nice for me. Paul and I did a car trip too. That was a trip that included Montana and Washington. Laura and I were the first to go by train. That is Paul's favorite mode of transportation.
59. When Becky was four the family welcomed little Melissa Joy into the fold. Laura flew to Washington to help keep care of Becky when Melissa was born. Laura and Michael traveled together to Seattle on the plane as he was going there for the summer. This was Laura's first flight, but I think he was an experienced traveler. Laura got to see baby Missy before I did as it was several months before I got my turn to go. I got to Whidbey Island several more times to see my sweeties. Many enjoyable experiences were had along the way. Becky loved having me there as I took her for walks and played with her.
60. When Becky was five years years old they were moving back to San Diego and that made me happy. Paul and I made one last train trip to go to see them on the island. We got to bring Becky back with us on the train. That was a fun experience. Kathy and John had a full car so one less child would make it less crowded. They had Michael, Melissa and three kitty cats in their car. Two of their cats were originally from San Diego so they were well traveled. They would live to go on another trip in several years. I loved having the family back in San Diego and I got to care for the girls when Kathy went to work. Lots of good memories. Lots of lessons learned along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment