Let's Talk About Mom

I always thought that this particular occurrence was unique to my family.  According to all the posts on my social media, it's a wide spread southern phenomenon. 

Which one is the butter?

This was my fridge looked like growing up.  Plastic margarine bins filled with leftovers.  Only the family members knew which one was the current margarine container.  

There was a time, after I had married and moved out, that I was visiting mom and needed the butter/margarine.  I opened the fridge and not only did it look like the picture, even worse they were all the same brand and size!  

    Me:  Alright, which one is the butter?

    Answer from the living room:  Second shelf down far left.

Obviously they kept the "current butter tub" in the same place.  Understandable.  I will admit that I refused to use empty margarine tubs for storage (something my very frugal mother always picked on me for), but I do keep the margarine tub in the same spot in my fridge.  And yes, it's the second shelf down, far left.

But that's not the story I want to talk about.  dear ol' mom used those plastic tubs in place of things that they weren't meant for.  I'm not talking about putting odds and ends, extra buttons, or paper clips in an old tub.  I mean things that were never intended to be used for.  Like hot grease.

Yes, mom would pour her slightly cooled, but still way too hot cooking oil into plastic tubs to throw it away.  For years I watched this miracle of modern science happen.  Over and over she would empty the frying pan into this flimsy container and it didn't melt! How? Why?  It baffled my mind.  But then...

One day I had to ask, 

    "Mom, aren't you afraid the plastic will melt?"

    'No honey, it never does."

Then we both watched, she in horror, me in bemusement as that flimsy plastic container finally gave in to thermodynamics, and melted.  Hot oil was running out all over the counter.  Mom looked at me and we both burst out laughing.  Of course, I had to clean up the mess.  I did jinx it after all.

We lost mom 21 years ago today.

Geneva Mae (Hicks) Campbell
1 May 1921 - 23 November 2001

Peace,
B

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The Week That Was (And A Little More)

The last week of March holds one of those family date convergences that make one wonder.  Between the 26th and the 31st, I have four birthdays in one family covering three generations.  And if you go back to the 10th of March I can add two more folks and another generation.  In calendar date order I give you;

My great-grandfather - Samuel W. Campbell.  Great-grandad Samuel was born 26 March 1861 and died 8 February 1861.  His obituary states he spent most of his life in Boggs Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.

Samuel W. Campbell's Obit - 15 Feb 1924, The Democratic Watchman

Next on our list is Samuel's daughter-in-law, Josephine (Josie) Melinda Bodle.  Regular readers will know Josie as Nanny.  She was born 27 March 1885 in either Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania (which is what I find in most records) or Romola, Pennsylvania according to my father's birth certificate. 

I grew up with Nanny as part of our household.  I joke that I'm more of a Bodle than a Campbell simply because of how much of an influence she was on me. She passed away 21 July 1975.

Josie Bodle at 17

Since I mentioned my dad, his birthday would be next.  Donald Sherwood Campbell born 28 March 1912, died 19 February 1985.  It is very interesting that dad's birth certificate doesn't have his given name.  Only his middle and last names.  

Don's birth certificate

Josie and Don c. 1919

Now, let's complete this little family group with my grandfather, Josie's husband, and Don's dad; Herbert J. Campbell.  Dear ol' granddad (not to be confused with 'Old Grandad' which is something completely different) was born in Milesbugh, Centre County, Pennsylvania on 31 March 1884 and succumbed to the "Spanish flu" on 5 February 1919.  And just like his father, I have no idea what either of their middle initials stands for.

Herbert in 1905.  Love the hat!

Let's move back a bit in March.  On 10 March 1860 Nanny's mother, Elizabeth Eve Chapman was born, and on 15 March 1831, Samuel's mother, Ann Elizabeth McCauley was born.  That is an amazing couple of weeks.  Sadly, Ann McCauley died about 1891 so she would have not been able to celebrate her grandson Don's birthday.  But between Don's birthday in 1912 and Herbert's death in 1919, there could have been a big celebration with Samuel, Herbert, Don, Josie, and Elizabeth all together.  What a party that would be!

This year would mark Samuel's 161st anniversary, Josie's 137th, Don's 110th, Herbert's 138th, Elizabeth Eve's 162nd, and Ann Elizabeth's 191st.

Hope you enjoyed this trip down birthday memory lane!

Peace,
B

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A Day That Will Live In Infamy

 I use this title for one reason.  My parents told my siblings and me that their wedding anniversary was 7 December 1945.  And for those of us old enough to know that phrase, we can connect it with the date.  I will admit that none of us four siblings were alive on 7 December 1941 when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened (although one of my mother's brothers was stationed at  Schofield Barracks at the time), but we know our history.  The part that lives on in infamy in regards to this post is that my parents misled us.  They were actually married on 7 February 1946.  Why the cover-up?  Most likely because mom was pregnant with the eldest.  I can understand the reasoning.  Things were a bit different in the 40s.  And for mom and dad's sake, I didn't do the research on this until they both passed. 

Their marriage certificate showing 7 February 1946

I don't know the story of how they met, maybe one of my siblings knows and can enlighten me. But I do know they met in Washington D.C. Dad was working for Fairchild Airmotive and mom the GAO (Government Accounting Office). Mom told me she went to a "secretarial school", somewhat against her wishes. She wanted to be a "hairdresser", but her dad would have no part of that. She was an amazing typist, well over 100 words per minute. One of her jobs at the GAO was typing (on manual typewriters) the tax forms. This was well before Xerox, so there was no way to mass-produce these forms. She sat in a room with many other women typing up to 20 copies at once (carbon paper was the big thing). And no errors were allowed.

Dad did many different jobs with Fairchild. He was a mechanic, a test pilot, the plant's official photographer, and played on the tennis team. We were not that close when I was growing up, so I don't have that many stories of him when was younger.

I'm not sure of the date of this photo, but I have another of Neva in the same coat and headscarf dated January 1951. 

Mom told me she had to be coaxed out the evening that picture was taken. She had just washed and set her hair, so it was still in curlers. She put the scarf on and out she went. Somehow I still have two pictures of her in this scarf. Guess it didn't take much to get her out that night.

16 January 1982. At the reception following my wedding. Taken at my eldest sister's house in Miami.

So happy 76th anniversary to Donald Sherwood Campbell & Geneva Mae Hicks!

Peace,
B

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