Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My Mother January 4, 2012

I thought since I had told you a little about my dad that I should also tell you about my Mother.
My Dad went by the name of Bill and my Mother went by the name of Jenny, She was a quiet, soft and kind lady. My mom was an excellent seamstress and when she worked, (except during the war) she was a Tailor for Utah Woolen Mills in Salt Lake City. She made all our families clothes including coats, boys suits, dresses and anything else we needed. All were made to perfection. In fact all she did was always done to perfection. During World War 2 while my Dad was gone, Mama moved all of us in with her cousin and their family. We were crowded and it was ok because we always had someone to be close to. Times were hard back then and we lived mostly on S&H Green stamps. These were stamps the government gave each family so they could buy sugar, flour, gas, tires for cars and other things. All of the products we could buy were rationed by the government and they were in scarce supply. when we did not need our stamps for things like car tires, we could trade them to someone who needed tires for their stamps for sugar, coffee, or other things we needed. We made it through the War years by surviving. My Mother was very frugal and could make do with almost anything. Through it all she remained positive, kind, thoughtful of our needs, and those of her parents. We were blessed beyond belief during those hard years. Later she went to work for some of the finest Men's stores in Salt Lake City and in Provo doing alterations on men's suits. (During the War Years mama went to work in an Arms Plant in SLC, amking ammunition for the war effort.)

I have to tell you about the blackouts during the war. In all Western large cities it was manatory for people to block the windows of their homes so no light would shine out at night. In Salt Lake City everyone would block the windows at night. It was common place for air raid sirens to go off and scream all over the Salt Lake Valley if there was any indication that there might be any incoming airplanes that could be enemy planes. Sometimes we would hear them at night, when we did all lights had to be turned off in the house. The City became totally dark. I remember times when this happened that we would block the windows, turn off the lights, and turn on a small radio searching for news. When we did this we would huddle around the radio and hide the small orange light it gave off for fear that it could be seen outside. When these very loud sirens would go off it was very scarry for we young children, (we were 9, 7, I was 5, and 3) I remember hiding and crying from being so scared of them, I had nightmares for years well into my teen years because I was still afraid the Jap fighter planes would come and bomb us. Thanks to my very kind Mother, who always tried to comfort us, I did get passed being so afraid.

4 comments:

  1. Mom, tell us more about how you felt during the times you were growing up. I never knew about the blackouts or that you were afraid of the Japs. I had such a hard time sleeping during my teenage years as you probably remember, I always found comfort coming in and laying either beside you or on the floor next to you. I'm not sure what I was so afraid of, but I understand how you felt. I so wish that I had the blue coat Grandma Dev made for me, it was beautiful and would be a real treasure to still have today.

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  2. Thanks for the hint, I will do that. I was only about 5 years old and I really felt scared or alone during those war years. Everyone that could work or serve nin the Armed Forces did. It was just what people did. We had alot of people living in a very small home so there was always someone there but they didn't think to pay attention to kids. other things were more important. It was about that time that we took to playing down by the railroad tracks and would jump on the steps of the trains that were standing still, wait for them to start moving and we would ride them for a short way and then jump off. It is a wonder some of us were not hurt or killed. Dumb kids that we were.

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  3. More stories please! I am loving this!

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  4. I remember these stories from when I was a child sitting on either your lap or grandma's. Its amazing how close people were back then and the extent they went to to make sure that everyone had a little something to eat and a little comfort. We come from a family of strong women and need to continue the tradition. Ann honors Grandpa Dev with flying....Karen carries on with her sewing...Becky carries on by standing by a good man while he serves....and well I guess I just do what I can where I can. Mom...I know how strong and how afraid you still are....just know that you are surrounded by strong women and we are here for you always. I love you. Please keep writing.

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