Through Any Given Door ~ Catherine Sevenau

Catherine Sevenau Catherine Sevenau is a writer, humorist, and storyteller living in Sonoma, California. The stories in this series are excerpts from her book, Through Any Given Door, a Family Memoir. The full memoir is available as a web series at Sevenau.com. A longtime Realtor and Owner/Broker at CENTURY 21 Wine Country, she can be reached at [email protected]

Archives



1948 was not an easy year…

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Catherine Sevenau

Chapter 47: 1948 • Sonora

My brother did not keep a diary for much of 1948; between April 2 and December 31 there are only six entries. Our parents were going through difficult times and the household was in chaos. Dad was selling the store, Mother was falling apart, and I, their fifth child, was born on the day Babe Ruth died, right in the middle of it all.

Clemens siblings 1950, Sonora, California: Carleen, Claudia, Betty, Larry, Cathy in front

Apr 2  Had a sham fight at school today with a new kid playing the hero. A bunch of big guys were knocked out

Apr  3 – 4  (no entries)

Apr 5  An explosion blew up the city barbershop. A butane tank blew glass across the street and wrecked everything

Apr 6  A big fire burned a house completely down. Carleen was playing with the electric blanket, burned the mattresses

Apr 7 – Apr 30  (no entries)

On April 6th, a house near the Purity Market burned to the ground. The woman who lived there was a hoarder and had newspapers and magazines stacked to the ceiling. You could see the flames for blocks, and the town turned out to watch the spectacle. In the meantime, Carleen was making our parents’ bed and had tucked the electric blanket between the mattresses. She and her friend Joanne Wivel heard the fire alarms; they could see the flames from the second story of our house and took off to watch the blaze. When they returned home, smoke was creeping down the hall from Dad and Mom’s bedroom as the bed was smoldering. My sister didn’t realize you couldn’t tuck in an electric blanket at the bottom, and the cord had shorted out. She shrieked and hollered for Larry, who ran in and threw a bucket of water on the blackening bed. She was surprised she didn’t receive a beating, but that was only because she hadn’t burned the house to the ground that day.

Diary: continued

May  (no entries)

Jun   (no entries)

Jul  (no entries)

Aug 1 – 15  (no entries)

Aug 16  Got a new sister at 12:10 a.m. Her name will probly be Kathern. Babe Ruth died.

Aug 17  (no entry)

Aug 18  Went down to San Francisco, started out at 4:30 a.m. and got back at 8:30 p.m. Store packed for sale.

Aug 19 – Sep 17  (no entries)

Sep 18  Mother Lode fair opened today, I exhibited my knotboard which I made at home last year of plywood.

Sep 19 – Dec 31  (no entries)

1948 was not an easy year, particularly for Mother. Cooking and cleaning became sporadic. Dad took over where Mom left off. There were no longer birthday parties, no friendly sleepovers, no company of any kind. It was difficult for the girls to bring friends home, too hard to explain Mom’s erratic behavior and temper, too upsetting to be around her when she was drinking. It was best for Betty and Claudia not to play in the house with a mother anxious and high-strung, driven crazy by children and the constant noise from small mouths. Then I arrived. Things were going to get worse before they got better.

 

To be continued…

Catherine Sevenau is a writer, humorist, and storyteller living in Sonoma, California. The stories in this series are excerpts from her book, Through Any Given Door, a Family Memoir, the full memoir is available at www.Sevenau.com. Catherine is an author of three books, several volumes of family genealogy, and a longtime Broker/Realtor at CENTURY 21 Epic Wine Country. She can be reached at [email protected]

 

 




Sonoma Sun | Sonoma, CA