A Stroll down Memory Lane

This morning my Rebecca says to me, "Mommy what was your favorite cartoon when you were a little girl?" Well, I knew right away how I would answer that question. I told her, "Betty Boop honey." I loved getting up early on saturday mornings before the chores were in need of doing and watching that pretty lil lady work her magic on our black and white tv. She was magnificent. Well, in my opinion she was. My other brother's and sister's wanted to watch their favorites such as Yosemite Sam or the Road Runner, but being I was the oldest and I'd kick their butt's if they tried to change the channel, lol I watched my Betty Boop. It was only on for about 30 minutes on saturday mornings, but it was a real treat for me. Afterward's I would put on the pot for oatmeal to feed everyone breakfast, then clean up the dishes then it was laundry time. We didn't have a washer or dryer so I washed everyone's clothes by hand outside in an old wash tub and washboard. Then hung them on the line. Yep, I did that. I cooked all our meals on a cast iron wood burning stove that had 4 burner compartments and an oven. A separate compartment to burn the wood to heat everything. We had an electric stove, but I wasn't allowed to cook on that until summer when it was too hot to use the woodstove. We heated dish water and bathwater on the stove because we had no hot water heater in this old farm house. The kitchen sink had an old handpump where I could pump it for cold water. At night we did'nt use electric lamps for light. My Dad would light the kerosene lanter's and that's what we used. It was sort of like being in the serie's called, "Little house on the Prairie." We had an old barn where we had rabbit's, ducks, chicken's and a pig named Frank. He was so big and friendly he would let us sit on his back and ride him. One day we came home from school and my dad and the neighbor had butchered Frank. My brother's and sister's and I were so upset. Dad killed our pet, our friend. None of us would go near any of the meat that came from Frank. Dad would beat us with a belt, stick, extension cord, but we still wouldn't eat it. He ended up giving it away to the neighbor's. He would say you either eat it or tomorrow you starve all day. The next day we went hungry. He got a pony for us a few month's later. But that didn't last long. He lost his job and we needed money so he sold the pony to the neighbor. We never knew what store bought meat tasted like as kids. My Dadwas a hunter and our frezer was always full of rabbit, squirrel and deer, wild bird's like pheasant or wild turkey. To this day I won't eat another piece of wild game. If it doesn't come from the grocery store, I ain't eatting it, lol. Our vegetables were grown all summer long in a big field. When it came time for picking, Dad and all us 6 kids were outside in the garden. I did alot of canning during the summer and fall and alot of freezing of the veggies.  We had a blue berry field, an apple tree and a pear tree and I will make preserves, and jam's with that fruit. I melted wax to pour into the jar's to seal them. I hated that wax. Yep, as a child I had a rough life, a pioneer life you might say, compared to society now. When I was 15 I got a job as a dishwasher, in a little restaurant on the White Horse Pike in Cologne, New Jersey called the Country Kitchen. That restaurant is still there. There's new owner's, but it still looks the same outside. I worked from 4:30am til 11:am, then I went to school from 12:00noon til 5:30pm. We shared the school with another school. My school was Absegami, and the other was Oakcrest. We would alternate diferent times each year. And at 6:30pm I was back at the restaurant until sometimes 11:pm. The money I made was used to pay my dad 25.00 a week to let me work, and the rest I spent on my brother's and sister's for clothe's and for christmas or their birthday's. I always made sure they had a nice christmas or birthday back then. When I turned 17, things were starting to get to me. My Dad was always drunk, the kids were getting bigger and not listening to me anymore. I had enough. I packed my things and I left with no one knowing I did so. I slept anywhere I could find a place to sleep. Abandoned houses or trailer's, even slept in a mossolium in a grave yard for a month or so. I washed and dressed in a rest room at some old sleezy gas station. I walked the streets during the day looking for food. I was a BUM!!!!!!!!! Then I went to a families house who I loved and adored and who loved me. They took me in as if I was one of their own children. I lived there for a few month's. I paid rent, because I paid into unemployment while working the past 2 years, so I collected and paid them rent and food money. I wasn't gonna be a bum anymore. I finally wrote to my Aunt and asked her where was my Uncle Eddie and my Aunt Marge. She wouldn't tell me but she did contact them and told them I was looking for them. They called me, and I was so happy. I moved in with them and stayed there until I met my husband Jim. That was in March of 1979 on the 3rd day of the month. Jim and I were married in March of 1979 on the 24th day of the month. Three whole weeks after the day we met, we were married. Talk about fast huh, lol. But hey it must of been meant to be because it is now the year 2006 and we are still together. And guess what? I still love Betty Boop, lol. I have 5 dvd's of her old cartoons and I love watching them. I went on a scavenger hunt over the internet this morning and found so many wonderful graphics of her. Here is just a couple that I found that I really like.

So, there you go, my stroll down memory lane as a child and now as an adult, lol. Hope you all have a nice day and enjoy some sun. It's beautiful here in Philadelphia today.

Cindy