Mom sick again

Chapter 67: 1950 • Sonora  ~ Larry’s diary (age 16)

My brother wrote daily about the usual. A few highlights:

Sep 3  Cleaned up room it needed it. Stayed open by myself all day. Heat wave finally broke a little.

Sep 4  Copied Wildcat book. Dad rested all day.

Sep 5  Big fires threaten Long Barn, Twain Harte and Pinecrest, worst in 30 years.

Sep 6  Went to San Francisco with dad, stayed at Golden Gate Hotel.

Sep 7  Got 5 or 6 more solos and a book. Also got pads for horn. Dad got arch supports.

Sep 8  Registered at school, got levis

Sep 9  Got two new sweaters for school. Washed high windows in store.

Sep 10  Mom fixed a great big turkey dinner. Heard Horace Heidt program.

Sep 11  First day as a senior at high school. Taking Geometry, US History, Band, Senior Problems, Music Theory, and English. Made a speech (short) in assembly.

Sep 12  Got my gym locker and a tennis locker both on top rows. Saw Annie Get Your Gun. Got Geography book.

Sep 14  I am Business Manager for yearbook and on student council. Got my Green and Gold Pledge $2.00 and Student body card $2.00.

Sep 15  Deer season opened

Sep 16  Fought with Betty. Bought quart of ice cream for supper. 

Sep 17  Painted my whole room with Kem-Tone. Also painted my dresser white, took everything out of my room to clean it up and paint.

Sep 18  Went to Stockton in Dad’s car and saw Spike Jones Orchestra

Sep 19  Saw show Cinderella Walt Disney. Bought S.U.H.S. gym trunks.

Sep 21  Wrote a story on my job as Commissioner of Publications for the Wildcat. Turned in ads. Sep 23  Daylight Saving time goes into effect.

Sep 24  Saw show Winchester ’73. Sat with Ima part time, played a little canasta. Went to late mass. Dad now wearing arch supports.

Sep 25  Dad’s birthday. Watched Majorettes tryout. 

Sep 28  Helped Claudia with flute for first time, taught her scales

Sep 29  Got band sweater from Baers, 3 stripes, name, wildcat heads, pin, block S.

Sep 30  Stayed open till 9:00 by myself. Mom sick again, called Dr. Boice.

On September 29, 1950, our mother turned thirty-five. She’d been married half her life and had five children. The day after her birthday, struggling against everything she knew, she once again tried to end it all. Dad was forty-five, Larry a senior in high school, Carleen a sophomore, Betty was in the sixth grade, Claudia was in fourth, and I had turned two. Mom was back in the hospital, then five days later, home again.

My mother was interested in the world around her when her own didn’t overwhelm her. She loved visiting museums, had a passion for historical buildings, cemeteries, and local sights. If she couldn’t get anyone to go with her, she dragged Claudia along. Three or four times a year she took Larry to the Community Concert series, or Carleen if there was someone else to watch the girls. There was nothing like that in Sonora so they traveled to Manteca, Oakdale, and Stockton for the concerts and to Tracy to see the Russian Cossack dancers. They saw the Horace Heidt Amateur Traveling Show, heard Rubinstein play the piano, and listened to Spike Jones. Those were the times that she was most like herself.

To be continued…

Catherine Sevenau is a writer, humorist, and storyteller living in Sonoma. 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 Broker/Realtor at CENTURY 21 Epic Wine Country, she can be reached at [email protected]