Rita's Autobiography - 2

Rita’s Autobiography – 2

Although we enjoyed fairy tales our parents told us, we mostly wanted to hear the stories of their childhood.  “Tell us about when you were little” we begged over and over. Dad recalled his very first day of school. In those days if children were able to assist their grandparents on the farm they were given permission to leave school to help.  Dad’s first day was such a day. His brothers, John and Frank, left class before lunch to assist Grandpa Clark with the haying. Dad was befriended by a little classmate who comforted him and shared her sandwich, peach and cookies with him. This little girl’s act of kindness was never to be forgotten.  Another story we loved was the time that the three brothers spent the day at Stanley’s Pond teasing their big black dog.  They put the dog on a raft and pushed it out to the middle of the pond.  When dusk arrived they called Rover but he refused to budge from the raft. (I had always heard that the dog’s name was something like “Old Black Sailor”). All their coaxing, pleading, and entreating was futile and with heavy hearts they left for home without him.  Next morning you can well imagine their delight to find Rover at the back door wagging his tail. Another of Dad’s favorite winter pastimes was sleigh riding.  Their home was at the top of a huge hill.  The arrival of the first big snow storm meant the beginning of a season of endless frolicking in a winter wonderland just outside their front door.

Mother charmed us with her childhood stories too.  She told us about a year she and her brother, Lawrence, had two Christmas Eve celebrations.  She and Lawrence were visiting their grandparents in St. Joseph’s expecting to spend the entire holiday with them.  (These locations are confusing to me since I thought the Byrnes lived more in Friendsville, but then again it was on some back dirt road heading to St. Joseph’s therefore it might have been considered St. Joseph) Her mother became so lonesome for her two little ones that Grandpa couldn’t bear to see her cry.  He hitched up the team of horses to the sleigh and made the trip of several miles to pick up the children. Mother and Lawrence never forgot the Christmas that Santa came twice.  The big doors of the parlor were opened at the Byrnes and low and behold the Christmas tree stood in the center of the room with toys under the tree for both children.  Next morning when they awakened they found toys for them under their own tree.  Their sleigh ride home fascinated them also. They enjoyed the grandeur of winter cuddled together under a big bear skin rug.