There were a lot of times that summer when I wished that I did not get myself entangled in so many activities. Most of my neighbors and friends were stay-at-home Moms who spent their days baking cookies and laying by the pool. Even though there were days when I wished I could do that I knew it wasn't me. It is funny as this was the era of the beginning of the Women's Lib movement and that wasn't my thing either.
Having Dennis's Mom, Alpha, visiting for the first several weeks of the summer was a lifesaver. She was the picture of a real grandmother unlike my Mother. The boys adored her and she baked lots of cookies, could take care of any situation and was happy being with the boys. She also took the edge off of Dennis's curse filled temper while she was there which made life a little more pleasant.
Wes, our almost nine year old, was at times like living with a whirlwind.
I take that back as it was always like living in constant commotion. Maybe all the years of drag racing made him think that everything had to be a top speed. His bicycle was equipped with a wing and a parachute, thanks to his Dad and homework was always poorly done in the blink of an eye. Once he learned to read a menu he always wanted to order the most expensive thing on the menu which only got worse as he he got older. Most days seemed to bring a new dramatic situation. My Uncle Tom said one time that I would miss his calling if I did not put him on the stage.
There were some good points in that skinny body as he never met a stranger and had lots of friends all of whom he invited over to his house, he was very talented even at eight years old at designing and drawing race cars and very good at getting injured or sick at all the wrong times. The great thing I can say about him at this age was that he was very good at giving us memorable moments. One of the best in Kansas City was the time we took Alpha and visited the Truman Library in Independence, Kansas. We had ignored singing in the visitor book but not Wes. He dashed over and signed, "Wes Tarkington and family" in ink before we could stop him.
I have written a lot about Wally who was four years younger than Wes. He was the total opposite in personality from his brother which was a good thing as I may not have lived through two that were alike. Wally was rather quiet, one of those children who did not talk much when he was little and then came out with full sentences. The difference in their age made for some problems as Wally wanted hang out with Wes's friends but his brother didn't. The great thing about the neighborhood in Kansas was that it was filled with all ages of boys and Wally got to tag along part of the time. For all the constant commotion at home both of them were perfect little gentlemen when you took them out in public. I adored both of them and really would not have changed either one. They got to be more fun with each passing year.
When I had gone back to college at the time that Wes was five and Wally was one I discovered that the only time I had to study was when everyone was asleep. It was usually to bed rather early and then I got up at whatever time I needed to in order to study for a test. Many times I got up at midnight and studied until everyone got up at six or seven. That became a habit which came in very handy for writing newsletters, letters to friends or projects I needed to do. That way I had the day to spend with the boys and in the middle of the night no one needed anything.
When I got into making draperies the only place I had had to lay them out was the family room floor. So I would get up at some weird hour, put a stack of albums on the stereo and crawl around the floor for the rest of the night. Not the most idea working condition but it was the best I could come up with until we finished the basement. When everyone got up I would fold them up and go be a Mom for the day. Most decorators farm all the draperies out to a workroom but not me. I always had to do things the hard way but it paid off in the long run as I could control when they got done, how they were made plus being half the price of any of the other designers. Perhaps a bit on the glutton for punishment side.
Barney called early on Monday morning to say "Wow" on how the wallpaper and paint looked that I had finished while he was out of town. Nice to have a happy customer and I told him his mini blinds were in. He wasn't concerned about them but wanted to meet me for lunch on Thursday. We had not met for lunch for several weeks and he said lunch at his house while I was working there did not count. It was a pretty busy week as I was taking Alpha and the boys on the New Neighbors tour of the General Motors Assembly plant on Wednesday, had to get the newsletter done by Friday, my column for the Lenexa News done by Wednesday and there was a New Neighbors Board Meeting on Thursday morning. We finally decided I could meet him after the board meeting but I really could not stay long.
There was a bit of irony in going to the GM plant tour. First it was a bit of deja vu as the Whittier School trip when I was in the second grade had gone there plus Dennis worked for Ford. He could not imagine why I would go to a GM plant - duh. But the plant was really awesome. It was the location of the North American Bomber Production Plant where they manufactured the B-25 Mitchell during World War II. It covers 572 acres with 3,200,00 sq ft. and the tour was fascinating. Alpha had never seen imagined anything so huge and the boys loved seeing the cars go through the assembly line, especially my car crazy little Wes.
It was a very fun way to spend my birthday.
When we got home there was a beautiful birthday cake sitting on the dining room table, a vase of yellow daisies and a vase of a dozen red roses. Karen and her son had gone on the tour with us and never said anything about my birthday. As we walked in the door of my house she started laughing and said "Surprise". Karen was surprised at the roses but Carolyn from next door popped in to say they had been delivered that afternoon. All the card said was "Happy Birthday". Within a few minutes more neighbors came over and we devoured the cake. It was a great birthday...but
Where did the roses come from? Either Cathie or Pam, my college friends? That would be odd as usually a card or a call was all we did if that. Not Mother or Dad as I had already heard from them. Maybe it was one of my brothers.
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