52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 25
Prompt – Unexpected
I was going through my genealogy
scanned photos looking at photos of dad. It was father's day! I
came upon these pictures and smiled knowing what I did about these
photos. Twelve years ago I wrote the story that belonged to these
photos. Sometimes the most unexpected things happen which make the
saddest of times, so happy. My father was a man of very few words. It
is his actions that spoke volumes to me in this story.
The Story of Jake Peters and Baby
Jackie.
January 14, 2008
I found these two photographs when I
was organizing my genealogy files. These two photographs were tucked
into my father's memorial card from his funeral in September of 1983.
As unusual as that sounds there is a story that goes along with these
photographs. These photos were taken the week after our youngest
daughter, Jackie, was born. She would have been 6 or 7 days old. They
were taken in our Regina home on Seymour Crescent.
At this time mom was not speaking to
me. I am not really sure why. However, I can guess that it was
because my mother-in-law, Clara, was with me for the first few days
after Jackie was born. Jackie was almost two weeks overdue. I had
some blood pressure issues and was ordered by my doctor to go on bed
rest. Now how is that possible with a very active 26 month old child
– Jill . Mom could not make it because she was working at this
time. However Clara could come and help me. I believe this is why my
mother was so mad at me.
Clara was such a huge help. She cooked
meals and baked. She washed my floors and vacuumed the whole house.
She cleaned the bathrooms and did my laundry. She was with us for 10
days and incredibly I did not have the baby yet. Clara had to go
back to Saskatoon to take care of her husband and daughter (Tony and
Norma).
Of course it was shortly after she left
that I went into labor and had Jackie on March 8, 1981. While I was
still in the hospital and in those days they kept you in for about 5
days, Clara came back to help Bill at home with Jill. She stayed for
a week after I got home from the hospital to get us settled. In that
time she potty trained Jill. She was a wonder women who worked above
and beyond her pay grade.
My mother was upset and wouldn't talk
to me because as she said; it was her “right” to be there for me
– her daughter!
Anyway dad wanted to see his newest
granddaughter despite how mom felt. My mom and dad lived in
Saskatoon and as I said before we lived in Regina. Dad was no fool;
he knew you were either on mom's side in arguments or you caught hell and
paid for it later. So dad waited for mom to go to work the next
Saturday morning and then drove down to Regina by himself to see
Jackie. He was only there for a couple of hours because he had to get
home before mom did. His plan worked. He saw Jackie and mom never
knew that dad saw her first before her!! And as far as I know mom
never ever found out. It was dad and my secret forever.
We took photos. When I developed them
I took them out of the packet of pictures and tucked them away in a
drawer.
Dad loved kids. He had seven of his
own. He loved nothing better than having a baby on his lap. This did
not make him feel uncomfortable in the least.
Looking at the photo of him I feel he
is less bald than I remember he was. His button up shirts, sweater
vest and polyester pants was the way he dressed. Look at his crooked
left brow. He wore trendy glasses. I often see dad's resemblance in my
brother Don's appearance.
I see my darling ten pound baby wrapped
up in her blanket asleep on grandpa's lap. Dad could always quiet a
baby; he was the “baby whisperer”. This picture was taken at the
kitchen table.
The second picture is of Jill coyly
smiling cuddled up next to grandpa in his chair. She loved getting
next to grandpa and dad loved having her snuggle in.
It was a beautiful day. Dad defied his
wife, all be it, without her knowledge. He came to give me a hug and
see his granddaughters
These pictures will always play this
story in my head.
Wendy
No comments:
Post a Comment