R and F are grandparents to J 14 and W 17. I have never met the boys, but they have winning smiles in the photos. A grows more beautiful as the years pass; she and N are blessed to have such handsome sons.
Being the oldest of eight children, I have memories of each sibling as they joined the family. R, the 7th child, was an adorable blond baby. I often changed his diaper when he was a toddler. Because R was always curious, we children helped Mom keep an eye on him so he wouldn’t get into to trouble.
One day, after school, as I walked into the house, I smelled a strange medicinal odor and the house was unusually quiet. As I walked thru the downstairs rooms I thought it strange that Mom was no where to be found. As I started to push back the sliding wooden doors into one of the rooms, Dad came to the door and told me Dr. Wray was with R; there had been an accident. Before he disappeared back inside the room, he asked me to help keep the smaller children quiet until the Dr. was finished.
We sat quietly at the dining room table and shushed each other as we wondered what kind of accident could have happened. After Dr. Wray left the house, the folks told us what had occurred. Mom was doing the laundry and was washing a load in her new Maytag washing machine. It had an electric wringer that squeezed the water out as the clothes were fed thru the rubber rollers. While she was upstairs gathering dirty clothes, R climbed on a chair and got his arm caught in the wringer. His arm had passed thru the rubber rollers all the way to his shoulder. Rather than stopping, the rollers continued to spin. His screams brought Mom, who quickly released the mechanism, but the damage to his soft baby tissue was severe.
The Dr. came every day to change bandages. R was confined to bed for months. When he was well enough to be out of bed, he had to learn to walk all over again. My sister AM and I often took turns with Mom and Dad holding his hand as he tottered around the room. We had to be careful not to let him fall and hurt his arm. As the wounds healed, we kids often asked him to show us his arm. Gradually the scars began to fade and look less hideous. Eventually, R was able to use his arm as naturally as if there had never been an accident.
R was always eager to join in what ever activity the rest of us were involved in. He lived in the swimming pool in the hot Iowa summers and played in the snow during the cold Iowa winters. When we lived on the asparagus farm, he went to a one room country school. During WWll the family moved to California and settled on the San Francisco Peninsula. R and F also chose to make their home in the vicinity, as has A and N.
The years have passed in a flash but it seems only yesterday I attended R and F’s wedding and reception. It’s nice to know they have prospered, enjoy congenial friends and remain in good health. I congratulate and wish them continued happiness as they begin the next 50 years.
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