DAY 9 – A FARMHOUSE CHRISTMAS

Ina pulled packing boxes saved from last year from the “cubby” under the stairs. Let’s see – she would need four altogether – no, three. She sat down at the dining room table and commenced to think of her children, the gifts she would give them, and the boxes she would pack:

1)  The first box would go to eldest daughter Pearl who farmed with her husband, Albert Sanders, in northern Alberta near Stettler. Their one child, Stanley, was now ten years old and outgrowing toys. She would have to think about what she could send to Stanley. And while Ina didn’t believe in mailing until the week before Christmas despite the pleas of the Post Office, Pearl’s box had to be the mailed early owing to the distance.

2)  Daughter Myrtle, who preferred to be called Lynn, lived in Portland where she worked as a photographer’s assistant. She would be home for Christmas. No need to send a box.

3)  Son Earle and his wife Bernice lived in Idaho Falls where he taught shop and mathematics at the junior high. They came home in the summer so that Earle could help Jack with the farm work and harvest. They needed him then, and Ina was grateful, but it meant that they didn’t come home for Christmas. It was just as well, Ina thought to herself. Winter travel over the mountains was treacherous.

4)  Ethel is the fourth child. Her husband was a G-man, a newly coined title for a federal agent, and they moved wherever his assignments took them. This year, as we pretend, Ethel and her daughter Sadie would spend Christmas on the farm, and Ina paused to reflect on what a joy that would be.

5)  Since 1926, son Vance had been a private piano teacher in Raymond, WA, where he also played with jazz ensembles in nightclubs. He had not been home for Christmas since 1925 and would not be home this year either. But he would send a box of wonderfully creative gifts and holiday decorations which added so much to their Christmas, and Ina would reciprocate as well as she could.

6)  The last child, Shirley, was ever Ina’s “righthand man.” She was cheerful and energetic as she helped with chores, and Ina would supply a few of Shirley’s “wants” to make her Christmas special.

So, just three boxes would do it, and Ina lined them up against the wall in the dining room plus one extra to collect the gifts for those who would be home. She would keep Shirley’s surprises in the bottom drawer of her chest. Yes! Her Christmas giving was shaping up nicely. KW