While working on a family-tree project, an aunt asked my sisters and me to share some memories of our parents, so I posted
our favorites in this blog entry. During my childhood, my father was a
Navy man who supplemented the family income with various part-time jobs. My mother stayed home to raise us during those early years.
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| Mom and Dad |
Mary: “I just
finished reading a short Christmas story. The author wrote about his mom
sprinkling a mixture of starch and water on his father's shirts, rolling them
up, and placing them in the refrigerator. Later on, she would take the cold
shirts out and iron them. Mom did the same with Dad's
Navy whites except she placed them in the freezer.
As a little girl, I
remember how fun it was to watch Mom and Dad jitterbug in the living room.
On many a New Year's Eve
when we lived on Whitwood Road in Baltimore, I remember the swishing sound when
Mom walked by. The sound came from the material of the girdle she wore as her upper legs slid
against each other. That sound always signaled she and Dad were going somewhere
important for the evening since they were dressed up.
I think I inherited Dad's
posture when on a mission. He always
leaned forward while walking with fast, long strides.
And who could ever forget
the shades he used to clip on his military-issued glasses. While driving the
school bus when we lived in New Mexico, he would flip up those shades. And he
usually wore his Navy dungarees, denim shirt, and navy-blue ball cap on those
bus rides. His left arm was always tanner than his right since it usually
rested on top of the opened bus window.
Another thing I remember was
Mom and Dad's tender hearts for those in need. Once we were on a vacation
driving in the rain and came upon an overturned VW bug. Inside were a mother
and her child. We took the toddler to a nearby hospital in our car. In the front seat, Mom cradled the youngster who was bleeding from a head wound.”
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| Uncle Eddie officiated our parents' wedding |
Pam: “My
favorite memory of Mom and Dad is the way they looked at each other.”
Debbie: “I have one really
fond memory. Dad was getting ready to leave us in New Mexico for a couple of
months [because of his new Navy transfer] before we moved to California. Mom
made Dad's favorite meal at that time which was enchiladas. She mistakenly put
a can of jalapenos in the recipe instead of a can of green chiles. We couldn't
eat the meal and had to give it away to one of their friends.
Mom was in the
hospital one time when we lived at White Sands, and I remember we had a lot of
beef-a-roni to eat. Thank goodness we liked beef-a-roni back then.
I always liked how
Mom and Dad weren't afraid to show affection towards each other in front of us
kids. I remember I always felt they were still sweet on each other... even with
five of us.
One of my most
favorite memories of Uncle Tom is when he pushed Mom into his pool. He had that
male Gallagher devilish grin on his face when he did it!”
Meg: “I remember
the buckets and buckets of cookies Mom made at Christmas. I believe she used
five-gallon buckets to store them in.
For Dad, I remember how he would sit in his
recliner with his feet crossed at the ankles and his hands linked behind his
head. He would get this little smirk on his face and a twinkle in his eye because
he knew you were getting ready to hit him up for something.”
Barb: “I remember Mom spending weeks altering
clothes for us girls that Aunt Joan sent (boxes of them). I didn’t appreciate
having to stand there and try them on, but what was important was Mom did this
for us.
One time when we went camping with another
family, we built a dam in the creek to keep the beer and watermelon cold. After
a heavy rain, the dam overflowed and the beer and watermelon started floating
down the creek. The men said get the beer and us kids said get the watermelon.
Can’t remember about the watermelon, but I seem to remember the beer was
rescued from floating away.
When we used to go camping in Gila National
Forest in New Mexico, on the last day of camping Mom would always cook up all
the leftover food and we had to eat it all. One time there were a bunch of
pancakes leftover, and Mom wasn’t happy about it. I remember Dad got the jelly
and showed us how to put jelly on pancakes, roll them up, and eat them like
burritos. They weren’t bad. He was such a diplomat.
I remember Dad stepping on jacks left [scattered]
in the middle of the floor. He was in his bare feet and hopped around in pain.”
