DAY 7

We sent Pearl and Al a box of gifts. I sent that W. Mason bag to Pearl. She can make good use of it, and I never use it. It was so pretty and useful too, so decided it should go to Pearl. Also sent a pretty pincushion and two linen hankies to Al; Stan a book and pencil sharpener. I also put in the little toy dog for Pearl, a relic of old reservation days that went through a housefire here. – Ina

The other day, I asked my daughter Hallie what 3-year-old Silas wants for Christmas. His current interest (obsession?) is monster trucks, and I hinted that I might get him one.

“We have enough of those,” she said, in the matter-of-fact tone of a minimalist who does not want more clutter.

“He just has to have a gift that delights his heart,” I responded, to which she rejoined, “He has to?”

Well, that’s our approach in today’s world. Some of us would even go into debt to supply the heart’s wishes of loved ones. And some of us feel a gift should be expensive in order to show love and appreciation. These are attitudes that reflect the opulent times in which we live.

But it was different for Ina. She didn’t ask what anyone wanted but provided gifts for everyone on her list by considering what they might be able to use from whatever she could spare. And she could spare that W. Mason bag, but she liked it. KW

Day 6

We’ll all be children and have a lot of fun out of it. – Ina 

“What did you do, or what did your mother do, to make Christmas magical?” asked a Facebook friend. It’s a thought-provoking question, and I think Ina had the key. It’s a matter of culturing our inner child. “Let Christmas be a feeling in your heart,” as the song goes.

Ina understood this, but as I read her pre-Christmas words, I sometimes wonder if she wasn’t trying to convince herself that it would be fun. And then after Christmas she said more than once, “I stood it all just fine.” So, I know some Christmases must have been difficult and brought meltdowns. To Ina’s credit, she truly wanted to get through it just fine, and she did. KW 

DAY 5

 Dad keeps a lantern in the cellar “of a nite” and nothing has frozen. – Ina

December is no respecter of the sacred holidays that lie within its calendar pages. Believe me! I know. Just when you want time for quiet reflection, December will kick up its heels and deliver blows. Today’s problem is not so very awful – I know what awful looks like – and unlike some problems, it IS correctible though expensive. We discovered this morning that our Kenmore refrigerator had failed. Clearly, it had been happening over a period of time. We simply failed to register the signs until the ice totally melted.

While Jack and Ina struggled to keep things from freezing in winter, Kathy and Mike are grateful that this fridge failure happened during a cold spell rather than in the “excessive heat” of summer. I packed food into coolers and crates and set them outside or in the garage. And if some frozen bananas and produce go by the wayside, so be it. I scheduled a service call, then we realized that for what a repair would cost, we could buy a new one!! Besides, the present model (a Sears Kenmore built by LG) has been problematic from the beginning, and Sears was rude and unaccommodating.

So, this afternoon, Mike and I bought a new fridge. We have space constraints which eliminate 90% of available models, according to a salesperson. I have always said that in reality, choices don’t exist. That said, I am happy with the model we found, a white Frigidaire side-by-side with ice and water on the door. It won’t be harder to manage than that French door model.

Ina didn’t have modern conveniences, but she also didn’t have the problems we experience. KW

DAY 4

Then I’ve got Shirley going on a surprise which is a pretty print apron. She’ll never think of it for it was left over from the stuff I made Pearl’s quilt top with. – Ina

Snuggled up under a quilt

You know, I’ve always wondered about that quilt top. Was it just the top? Perhaps so. Then if Pearl wanted the quilt, she would have to finish it herself, adding the batting (which might be an old quilt or blanket) and backing, then quilting it by hand, or having it quilted by the local “guild,” and finally binding it.

So, I researched, and yes, it is acceptable to gift just the top, especially if the recipient appreciates the work already accomplished and is capable of finishing it. It was certainly more practical for Ina to mail a top than the full quilt, which would have been heavy, and Pearl was a capable seamstress. Perhaps it was even agreed that Ina would make the top and Pearl would finish it.

Still, I wonder about that top and what happened to it. Some questions will never be answered. KW

DAY 3

People can do things like this. No use to let everything go because of hard times. – Ina

This morning, Ina and Shirley took turns ironing beside the old wood range where they heated the sad irons. They smoothed the clothes quickly with the heavy irons before they cooled and had to be reheated. No steam iron here! The clothes were mostly cotton, of course, so prior to ironing they sprinkled them with water, rolled them up, and placed them under a towel to keep them moist.

Lest you think sprinkling the clothes is easy, let me say that I could never do it to suit my mother. “You’re getting them too wet,” she would admonish. “Now watch me do it.” Finally, she just did it herself. Apparently sprinkling the clothes was an art and one that is lost today. Not only don’t we sprinkle, but we barely iron.

As Ina works, I see the resolve on her face. They would go on as they always had, and she would have plenty of food, light, and warmth – just no ready cash for extras. As for Christmas, though, it didn’t matter. She would look into her storehouse and find gifts for those she loved. She would send a jar of “fancy” strawberry jam to son Earle and his wife Bernice. They had failed to put up any this year, and Earle had been so disappointed. She smiled to think how happy he would be to receive the jam.

And she had pieced a quilt top for daughter Pearl and would send a fountain pen, a premium (or bonus) provided with the purchase of seed (or was it feed?) to grandson Stanley. And together, she and Shirley would make doll clothes for the rag doll that Santa would bring little granddaughter Shirley Jean, now six years old. And every box would include beans and popcorn grown right here on the farm.

Yes, it would all work out beautifully, Ina smiled to herself. No use to let everything go because of hard times. KW

DAY 2

I’m writing madly to get this in the mail. Someone has just dropped in for a hunt, and it’s wash day, too, so excuse mistakes and write as soon as you can. Yours as ever to the last and all the love in the world. – Mother (Ina)

Thanksgiving was late this year which always makes the time before Christmas seem shorter, probably because it IS shorter. It didn’t matter as much to Ina as it does to me. She had been getting ready for Christmas anyway, and she would continue.

You see, Ina’s Christmas focus was on gifts, and in that time and place – the remote central Idaho farming community of the 1930s – she did not have the distractions we have today. Christmas happened at Christmastime, meaning that they brought in the tree and decorated the house on Christmas Eve. Ina’s anticipation ran high during the December days prior to Christmas, and then they enjoyed a holiday week between Christmas and New Years. KW

DAY. 1

Out of the welter of Christmas plans comes this letter and how I wish I were coming to you with it. I hope and trust you’ll be with friends and be cheered and happy. – Ina

It’s Sunday, December 1, 1931. Dinner is over, the dishes are done, and the kitchen is tidy once more. Ina now rests in her rocking chair near the dining room window, her open Bible in her lap. I have already surpassed her age by nearly 15 years, but I feel no match for her wisdom and depth.

As was her custom on a Sunday afternoon, Ina pondered the scripture presented at that morning’s church service, watching as the stubble fields turn a lovely shade of deep pink in reflection of a vibrant sunset. Ina never tired of these “magnificent effects,” and neither do I. Daylight is fast fading, and it’s already too dark to read the fine print of her Bible, so she sits deep in thought.

Eventually though, the cares of the day stole in upon her. The Depression as well as loss of access to market had impoverished them, but Ina resolved to put these worries behind her, at least until spring. A sort of spirit of battle came over her, and she felt the challenge to outwit circumstances. “We’re going to have a big time this hard times Christmas,” she resolved. “Everything looks different when you look at it from Robinson Crusoe’s standpoint, surrounded by a sea of depression, and things show up at a more real value. We appreciate the actual value of things. So, we’re going to have a very merry Christmas.” KW