My life would have been rather lonely and frankly boring without my sisters. I wrote in My Childhood about the many memories with my older sister Barbara. My younger sister, Betty, was five years younger than myself. I remember only thinking when I saw her for the first time how small she was and so beautiful. But I must admit that I don’t recall much about Betty’s early years because I was busy just finding my own identity. Mother and Daddy were very protective of their third daughter. She would be their last. Ironically, Betty was born on Mother’s 38th birthday and in many ways, Betty reflects Mother’s personality. These are some of the earliest reflections I have of my interactions with my youngest sister who always called me Eenie.
Mother went back to teach full-time when I was in seventh grade. Bobby-Aye was now in high school and had a huge responsibility of helping after school with starting supper and making sure the house was in order. She had to be bossy to make certain that Betty and I would help. Perhaps no one could know that Betty was feeling fearful about Mother’s leaving home until one day I was called to the principal’s office to be told that Betty had run away from school. Would I be able to find her? After looking for a while I found her at home. I took her back to second grade. She finally realized that she was safe.
I always felt a special need to look after her even if she did not know. When I was in Home Ec, the final project for the semester was to make something for ourselves. I didn’t do that. Instead I made a full skirt for Betty because I knew she would like wearing it. What a joy! Betty and I loved playing hopscotch every day after school. By now, everyone knew I was super competitive. I wanted to win! One day Betty got so angry when I bragged about my winning that she picked up a rock and threw it at me. I can’t recall if it hurt but she felt good about releasing her irritation. Most of the time we just had fun.
Daddy did not want us to have pets but somehow a stray cat became a part of our family. Betty and I loved “MayBoy”. We dressed him up and entered him into a parade one summer.
Betty and I had different ideas about studying. She came home, turned on the TV and did her homework on the floor. My dad bought our first television in 1951. Betty grew up with it. I was never able to study with the noise so I went into the other room.
So many of our memories are connected with the swimming pool so stay tuned for that section of my story.
As we aged, Betty found her own friends. I left for college in 1957. BobbyAye was also away at school. Daddy was now having health problems. Betty became my father’s purpose in his later years. He always prepared lunch for her every day.
It is hard to imagine how three young girls shared the same bedroom, closet space, and dresser. But we did. We listened to records together. We helped each other. We cried together. We loved each other. It was not always easy but even now we share our lives totally. This is rather remarkable, isn’t it?
