COMPANY FOR CHRISTMAS

Out of the welter of Christmas plans comes this letter and how I wish I were coming to you with it or better still that you were coming home. No use to think of these things though, and I hope and trust you’ll be with friends and be cheered and happy. Ina Dobson to Vance, 1932

Ina sat at her “New Automatic” treadle sewing machine in the corner of the dining room (where the wall furnace is today), adding a few pieces to a patchwork quilt in progress. Now and then she looked up to glance out the window to the northeast, noting to herself that it was another chilly, dull day when the gray of the sky met the brown of the earth. But despite this dullness, Ina’s heart was light. Daughter Ethel was coming for Christmas with her husband Ernest and their daughter Shirley Jean. What fun they were going to have! There would be six of them in all, Ina mused -- she and Julian, daughter Shirley, and the three Robinsons. And of course, Henry Shockley, Shirley’s fiancé, would also come and go, offering a helping hand with holiday activities, and they would share some meals with Bertha and June. [Bertha and Junius Dobson, Ina’s sister and Julian’s twin brother, lived just a quarter mile distant on the adjacent homestead.]

At 26, Shirley was now employed at a doctor’s office in Orofino, where she was in training as a nurse’s aide. Ina missed having Shirley at home. Besides being good company, she was good help with the housework and chores. But – she was too young to molder away on the farm. Opportunities for a young woman alone were scarce anywhere and non-existent in this remote community. It was right for Shirley to have employment and a home of her own – one way or another. And besides, she wasn't far away. They saw her frequently.

Ina continued to let her thoughts drift. The last time Ethel had been home for Christmas was in 1930 when Shirley Jean was five. To have family home for the holidays was just the best and to share Christmas with a child – her own granddaughter -- was a blessing she would cherish. But six years makes such a difference in the life of a child. Now 11, Shirley Jean would soon be an adolescent and that look of wide-eyed childish innocence would disappear. Yes, Ina rejoiced that Shirley Jean would be here this year.

Ina knew that elsewhere Christmas celebrations might be bright with revelry, colored lights, and expensive gifts, but she didn’t care for that. Simple pleasures shared with family were all she desired -- and in keeping with her values. KW

[The portrait of Ethel and her daughter Shirley Jean was probably taken in the early '30s. Shirley Jean was born in 1925. The second picture was taken in 1952 -- the same people in a different era: Aunt Ethel, her daughter (my cousin Shirley Jean), and Grandma Ina Dobson.  Seated in front is Shirley Jean's daughter, Patty.]