On December 4, 1956 my Mary became a mother for the first time. She gave birth that afternoon to our oldest child, Ellen. She was in labor for more than 12 hours before Ellen was born, but she toughed it out like the trooper she was. We were so happy in our little second floor apartment above a garage in Shillington, PA. In those days we used cloth diapers that had to be laundered. We had an old Bendix washer, but no dryer. Mary hung the diapers on a line outdoors when the weather was fit. If not, we strung up lines in our tiny laundry and hung them there to dry.
Four years later on November 10, 1960 she gave birth to our second child, Jim. By that time I was teaching at Millersville University and making a little more money than my first Job at West Reading High School. So, we could afford a much nicer apartment. We now had a new washer and dryer. So, we no longer had to hang the diapers up on clotheslines. Life had become much easier, but as she raised the children over the next few years, I was taking courses at the University of Delaware, the University of Illinois, and later at Penn State University. She did most of the work in raising the kids during those years. She was still toughing it out. Sometimes when the kids got to fighting, she got pretty exasperated. They would both want to watch different channels on the TV. She was afraid they would break the knob off as they fought over the TV. But like the trooper she was, she survived those years.
Now we are old, living in a retirement community, and her life has become much easier. She is now a grandmother and even a great-grandmother. Kudos to Mary. When I found this JibJab, I had to put it on my Thought for the Week, and include this tribute to her. Please enjoy the video by clicking on the Start button.