The
groceries unpacked and the Christmas surprises tucked away, Ina was now ready
to get back to the usual business of keeping house and getting ready for
Christmas – except that (panic time!) Bertha had just called to remind her that
the circuit minister would arrive this afternoon for church tomorrow. How could
she have forgotten?
The
minister was a young man with a pretty wife and two very well-behaved little
children. When he came to Gilbert, he always stayed with Ina and used her house
as a base for his activities. Ina was grateful that Bertha had called to check
on her readiness, but she didn’t let on that she had forgotten. Oh no—she covered
very well. Fortunately the beds upstairs were ready and as always, they had
plenty of food. No harm done.
The
community always looked forward to the minister’s visit. While he stayed at Ina’s,
he called on his parishioners and often the family had dinner in another home. But
-- what with Christmas coming and the winter weather, they wouldn’t stay long
this visit – just overnight.
So,
Ina put away her writing materials while Jack hid the wrapping paper and boxes
under the stairs. Then she began preparations for dinner – stewed chicken with
plenty of vegetables. She would make rolls, and she drained a jar of cherries
she had canned last summer in preparation for a pie.
Everything
would work out just fine, she told herself. Yes, she could stand this just
fine!
[Junius and Julian Dobson with their wives, Bertha and Ina, in the '30s.
3 comments:
Bertha looks a lot friendlier than the rest. I suppose it might have been hard to hold a smile long enough for one of those photos, but surely with practice a person could do it.
Our neighbor Pete said: "You know how they looked so stern in those old pictures and you just thought they must be mean. Well,they were just as nice as they could be." And he said that "Aunt Iny" always had milk and cookies for him when he visited. He liked the cookies, he said.
My grandmother Portfors, though, is quoted as saying that Bertha was the fun one.
Rarely do people smile in old photos. I don't know whether they were cautioned not too, or whether it was length of time it took for the picture to "snap", but I don't think anyone in our old family photos is smiling, either. Hmmm...
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