Day in the life part 2 ...Lunch and Anxiety

 

 

 

 

 

...After recess there would have been about two hours of class room time followed by Lunch . One of the reason I would love to relive this day would be to see what I was taught back in Second grade ... I remember frequently raising my hand and almost as frequently being told to be quiet and pay attention . As my past behaviour was passed to future teachers ..i can remember them keeping my desk away from the windows . I was easily distracted , cars , trucks , birds , clouds moving by all caught my attention .

In my defence , in part because even at an early age I had developed the ability to read very fast ... I was usually done with any given projects or Assignments way ahead of my classmates . 12 o'clock time for Lunch.

The Lunch area was up the hall and to the right . The Cafeteria doubled as the assembly hall , Theatre , music room , and in the evening the parent / teacher meeting room .

I suspect there must have been some kind of kitchen attached ..but Bob and I always brought a lunch ..packed neatly in that years most Popular designed Lunch boxes , or in my case basic black . Inside the Lunch pail would be a thermos Usually filled with milk , at least one Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwich , a collecting of carrots and Celery sticks wrapped in wax paper , And either Cupcakes or Cookies for desert. In later years MY mother figured out how to get Jell-O into the mix either filled with fruit cocktail or Shredded Carrots . Occasionally I would have a hard boiled egg . Also included in the Lunch pail was a small amount of salt wrapped in wax paper as well .

Tupperware which had been " invented ' in 1948 was making its mark , but it was expensive , and considering the amount of things lost at the School , was not used frequently in lunches , at least for me . Occasionally I would be entrusted with a Plastic Sandwich container ...but for the most part Wax Paper was my mothers friend .

Mom would also include the occasional surprise ..this might include black olives , Celery with Peanut butter in the middle , and sometimes Peanut butter loaded with Honey ...In season we might find oranges or apples , and my personal favorite Canned Peaches .

I don't remember having special group of people I sat with ever in Grade school , I believe I tended to just wander around occupying this corner or that corner of any table I came too. Sometimes I would read a book as I was eating , but I would eventually make it outside to play if the weather was good or into the Gym if it was not so good .

I remember we spent a lot of time playing , but I really can't remember very much of all of what we played .

IN addition to the class room time ...we usually had a Fire Drill or an Air raid Drill . And we would have one structured ..Physical education activity during the day .

During the 50's we lived under the threat of a nuclear war with Russia ...Based on the number of times the Air raid Siren was tested , and the number of times we had the " duck and cover drills , I would always scan the Eastern Sky in the direction that Downtown Portland lay for any sign of a Mushroom cloud ..I was terrified that we would be bombed , and the most terrifying thing of all was that if we were bombed our family would be separated. This was a genuine fear that was ever present in me through my Grade school years .

In our Physical activity classes we learned the basics of Baseball, Basketball and football for the boys , and we played Dodge ball as a coed game .

Dodge ball was relatively simple , no particular size for the opposing teams , though they would be usually close to the same size . One line divided the two teams and a collection of balls were given to each team ...not sure how many lets say 5-8 balls total would be used . The idea was to hit an opponent with the Ball ..if you succeeded in hitting them they were out of the game . If your opponent caught the ball thrown at them ..one of the team could come back in ... Ultimately one team would remain ...Part of the fun of this game would be near the end when one team might have 5 Player and the other just one ...the Team with the most players would then coordinate their firepower on the singular remaining player ...who would have to bob and weave and hopefully catch one ball to bring back in a team mate ...

 

This was on e game I had reasonable success in ..I was pretty fast , and was able to catch balls pretty easy , known best for my forward diving catch with a scissor leg kick .

Looking back I believe Dodgeball strategy became a template for later in life as us boomers entered the market place ..but more on that later .

School like the pencil lead in my hand would eventually wind down . The 3 oclock Bell would usher us outside and headed home ..It was an idea tossed about by many that this rush to get home might supply an untapped reserve of energy for future years ..but at this point we merely headed home .

Leaving School , your travelling companions were selected with more care than those you arrived with . Those of us that walked to school would deliberately parade past the waiting school buses and sneer and giggle at the trapped kinds inside .. in these years you were bused to school if you lived more than 3 -4 miles away. Everyone else walked .

For the most part Girls walked with Girls ...and the boys walked with boys . even in second grade alliances were forming cliques were beginning , for me I choose to walk how with those that had tasted victory in the Dogeball game ...

When Bob and I arrived home my mother would be there ... We would enter the house and usually we could smell freshed baked cupcakes or cookies ...My mother in return for these treats would " demand " just a few minutes of our time to tell us what we learned and how the day went . Occasionaly she would sit us down and run through Flash Cards to improve our math skills and our Vocabulary Skills ..if it was Nice outside in a few minutes we would go out to the lawn and gather friends ...playing , tag , cops and robbers , Indians and Cowboys , in later years we added baseball and football to this mix .

My Father got off work at 4:30 . It was a 23 minute drive from work ...so Started to look for Him around 4:45 and as each minute slipped by I became more eager to see the car pull up. If he was late the Anxiety would almost always overwhelm me . IN addition to fearing being separated a nuclear holocaust ..I was terrified that my Dad would not come home ...More than likely this fear ..transferred into my own behaviour to the point I am rarely late for anything in fact for me being late is actually being less than 15-30 minutes early for any event .

Once dad arrived home he would hug us , tease us a little bit over just about anything , hug and kiss mom and then retire for a short nap . He worked very hard , in a very strenous occupation and I suspect that even in the second grade the cancer that would eventually kill him was All ready taking a toll . Its amazing to think of how much he did with us ..During the years leading up to His death ...Little league , Hunting , fishing , camping , Science fair projects , and DeMolay ..we had some great years , but they would be gone all to soon .

As Dad Napped , mom would prepare Dinner . Dinner was not nearly as adventuresome as lunch's were . For the most part they included some part of a Deer or an Elk , Sliced and fried Potatoes and a Vegetable fresh when available canned when not . Occasionally a piece of pie or Cake ... Mom also love vegetables but her preferred way of serving them was individually so we might have sliced cucumber , tomatoes , radishes when they were available out of our Garden , but we rarely had salad .

Dinner was social ..we would all gather around the table , talk about current events , school and whatever my father had to tell us . Dad was known to be a story teller and often His stories would hold us captive bound . MY favourites were His hunting and fishing stories ..but I also enjoyed His stories of His own childhood as well .

In time ..the dinner would be done , Bob and I usually helped " somewhat " with the Cleaning up part ..Dad would go off for his Cigarette break , Usually have a beer , and sit in front of the Television ...Usually ending up asleep . Bob and I would go to our rooms and find some game to play ..or each of us get lost in our own artifice. We shared a Bedroom ...Bunk Beds , mine was the bottom one I would build a " fort " under His head using blankets tucked into His mattress to privide me with isolation and security . It was here I did most of my reading .. reading for several hours on one subject or another ..rarely could I read just one book , instead I would have several scattered around the bed sometimes forming another bulwark against the demons and enemies I imagined around me .
I was a poor sleeper , prone to nightmares ...This is the part of my day to relive I was looking forward to the most ...you see on Friday nights ..my Mother and i would sit together on the couch watching Armchair Theatre ..or some other movie on TV . The rest of the house was asleep. Mom would pop a bowl of popcorn make some Kool Aid or perhaps sometimes when the moon was just right she would share some of her Coke with me ..we would sit close together , wrapped in an old quilt staring into the TV set , Occasionally I would ask her questions about the scenes we saw , but mostly I would just sit there close beside her , head against her side ... in those moments the threat of Nuclear war seemed so far away , my Dad was safely home , and the monsters under my bead were falling asleep.

Here I am 65 years old ...but I still remember my Mother so close beside me .

My Mother was born in Muldrow Oklahoma. Muldrow is in eastern Oklahoma near the Arkansas Border. This is Indian Territory , where native Americans from many parts of the USA were Exhiled from their native lands. MY mothers Ancestory was Cherokee and Irish Her Great grandfather was named Wyatt or Watt Lee he lived in what is now Georgia and was a Cherokee Indian. His Son was John W Lee and John was born in Georgia Oct 31 1830 and came to Indian Territory ( Oklahoma ) on the Trail of tears . Probably around 1838 . In November of 1859 John W Lee married Mary Faulkner ( she was Born June 4th 1844. To this Union were born 11 Children:
, four did not reach maturity . David 1861, Nannie ( Gann ) 1866 , Robert E 1869, ( this would be Emma's Grandfather ) Lillian ( bethel ) 1871, John W 1873 : Charles 1876; William w , 1878 ; Elhanan , 1879; Mary Jane , 1882; Washburn, 1883 and Maude May ( Jackson ) 1887.

John W and Mary settled in un developed and wooded land in about five miles Southeast of Muldrow Oklahoma This became know as the Lees Chapel Community . Their first home was of split logs and is now on display in Salislaw . ( yes I got photos ) John and Mary owned the first Mule in the Indian territory . It had come to Indian territory from the southwest with a heard of wild mustangs . John and Mary also had the first wood burning stove in the Territory , it is recorded that people came from miles around to see these wonders .

John farmed and raised Cattle , He helped to scale logs to clear the area , that became Paw Paw and these logs were floated down the Arkansas river to various sawmills.

Shortly after the Birth of His first son ( Dave ) John left Oklahoma to serve in the Civil War ..He ws Injured in Battle.

John and Mary gave three acres of land Lees Chaple Cemetery and it is believed the first person to be buried there was one of Johns black Cooks ( I am interpreting this to suggest He had slaves ) John Died May 10th 1891 and is buried in Lees Chapel ( the grave is still visible ) . Mary , latter married a preacher named John Roberts . She died on June 20th 1893 at age 49 , She was buried at Lee's Chapel Cemetery , as was Mr Roberts. When Mary died three children were still at home . Mary Jane was 11 , Washburn was 9 and Maude Mae was six years old. The oldest boy David took them in and cared for them and the property until the children remarried.

Dave Lee the Oldest son was very interesting He ws a deputy US Marshal He also served with the indian Police .

John and Mary's son Robert E Lee was Emma's Grandfather. Robert was born in 1869 . Robert E Lee sent most of his life in the Muldrow area. He was married to Tennessee Mcaffee , also know as Tenne Mcaffee : To this Union were born Five daughters and one son . Louvinne Lee Lewis , Lucy ( died at an early age ) Maude Lee Hallum , Edna Lee Keith ( Emma's Mother ) Jewel Lee Pendley And Fred Lee . After Roberts first wife died ( Tennessee Mcaffee ) he married Her cousin Lucinda holland Mcaffee who had already had one sone who migrated to Spokane Washington . and has family there .

Edna Lee Married William Keith
This Union had 4 children Otis , Emma , James and Alice .....Alice is the only one living
Edna Died Young and William remarried I belive His seconds wife was named Edna as wel
They had one child who was severely disabled named Susi who recently passed away in a nursing hme fire in Muldrow .

Roberet Lee remarried one of His daughters was named Loy she married an Olen Call who lived in Selma Ca . When we were younger we had driven to California to Visit Loy and her daughters. I remember Swimming in the irrigation ditches and eating my fill of sweet greet grapes. When I talked to my mother she told me that at least two of the daughters still lived in the Area ....I am not sure how it all got knit together , but I was able to reach Loy and she was excited to see me ...I pushed the car forward , calculated the time remaining , I Had about 4 hours to go , and I started to think about my Childhood and my Mother...wasn't ling before tears filled my eyes ...it was as if in those 4 hours of driving a curtian had liftend adn I began to see my Mother in a whole new light , She was still my Mother , but by pulling on bits and pieces of memories and stories ..MOM went from being MOM ..to Emma Lucy Keith , a wanderer , a survivior , rosey the riveter and cupcake baker.