Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Hello Dolly

When I was very young, we lived on a rented farm called the Pitts Place. The house on that farm had two rooms and a basement; eventually, seven of us lived there. One of the rooms was a kitchen/dining room with a big wood-burning cook stove which contained a 'reservoir'... a container of water that was always warm from the heat of the stove. This is the room where we took our weekly (?) baths in the winter, in a big round galvanized metal wash tub. In the summer we had our outdoor shower, consisting of a big barrel mounted high on a platform on the side of the barn which was near the windmill. There was a pipe in the bottom of that barrel (with an on/off valve) & hanging from that pipe was a tin can with holes punched in the bottom. The barrel was filled from the windmill and warmed by the sun so (if you were first in line) you could have very comfortable shower.
The other room was a bedroom for my folks and my sister, Nora and me. The basement was a bedroom for my two older brothers. When little brother came along (see previous blog) he slept with Mom & Dad.
This was late 30's, early 40's and money was tight. There were not any frills in our lives...but of course, we didn't know that. At Christmas time, I don't know what my brothers received; it seems to me that Nora and I always shared a gift. Once I remember us getting a little red wagon, and when I was five, we woke up on Christmas morning and there in the bed between us was a doll. This story is about that doll.
After my parents both passed on we siblings gathered at their house and in a very civilized manner, divvied up the remains of their lives. Somehow, brother Ed got the box which had the doll in it. Evidently, Mom had kept her all those years, even though her head was broken. Some time later, Ed was about to toss the doll but my niece Cami rescued her and even took her to a doll doctor who gave her a new head and repaired some other blemishes.
Just recently, much to my surprise and delight, Cami sent me this doll who is now more than 67 years old. Thank you Cami, for being so thoughtful. I got her a new dress and bloomers, shoes & socks and she is now on display in the china cabinet. Neither my sis nor I can remember if we named her, or if so what the name was... so I have named her Toots. That was my mother's nickname.
Welcome home Toots