My Trails into the Past

My mother was an only child. She wanted a large family to get something that she didn’t have growing up. As a result, I have five brothers and sisters. I think she got a lot more than she bargained for. Raising six children is hard work. Raising six children gives you hardly anytime for yourself. There is always someone who wants a piece of your time. So how did she find solitude? She made her own solitude. One way, she got up at the same time as my father who worked the early shift at the produce department at the local store, LoRay. He left at 4:30 or 5:00 am and that quiet time between his leaving and us kids getting up for school was solitude time for her. During that quiet time, she read, wrote, or sewed. Sewing is what I remember most, as she made Barbie clothes for Christmas or sewed outfits for us to wear. Another way during summer was she sent us outside to play with instructions not to return until she called us for lunch. Her solitude time then was watching soap operas...