It’s been awhile since I blogged a Picture of the Day, so I thought I’d share this drawing of my family. I’m surprised I didn’t post this a long time ago, I almost forgot it existed until I came across it recently.
My dad (a talented artist) drew this in 1977. From left to right was my 2 year old sister Courtney, a 15 year old me jumping for joy (because back then, I hand-washed all my shirts), my brother Steve in the plaid, my long haired sister Shawn with her arms outstretched, our oldest brother Duke behind her with his thick glasses and cap flying off his head.
That’s our sister Donda-Lin tiptoeing, and Dad is holding a giant mallet in front of the kitchen sink. Last but not least, that’s our poor mom crawling on her hands and knees, face turned towards you & me.
As much as we loved the old farmhouse, we relied on a pretty shallow well. If you ran the faucet for more than a couple minutes, the pump in the basement would snap on. Whatever you were doing—washing dishes, your hair, tomorrow’s shirt for school—you had to stop until the pump switched off again.
It was only for several minutes but was constant and frustrating.
In 1985, after their herd thinned out some, my parents moved into a new mobile home in a very nice park with “city water”, which pleased my mom to no end. Everytime I came to visit, she’d say “Doug, do you want to take a shower honey? We’ve got plenty of water, take as long as you want!”
She would also tell me to bring my dirty laundry home with me when I visited (I never did).
The funny thing is, to this day I feel guilty when I’m in my own shower for more than a couple minutes. We were all trained growing up to take “navy showers”.
Of course, I’d happily give up my daily 10 minute shower and return to that well water if I could have these two people back in my life again. Love and miss you, Mom & Dad.
Mom & Dad, 1977
Thanks for the drawing and the description of who is in it. And your parent sure looked like wonderful people. You can just tell.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much DJan. Just something small I wanted to share with friends like yourself. :^)
DeleteHa, your Dad certainly had a great sense of humour! My family's farmhouse (and my current home) has only an ancient, shallow and hand-dug well. I don't use it at all now, but use the very large rain water cement cistern in the basement. Makes for a luxurious, soft water shower. Thanks for sharing your Dad's clever artwork. ❤️🦉
ReplyDeleteThank you Florence, I thought you might relate to this! Gosh I love the idea of that rainwater cistern, wish we'd had something like that. 🙂
DeleteWhat a great reminder of days gone by when life was not quite as easy or convenient as it is now. You had a BIG family. Must have always been a lot going on.
ReplyDeleteThanks dkzody, boy you got that right. My parents had 6 kids, 3 boys 3 girls, just like the Brady Bunch. Unfortunately, no live-in housekeeper like they did. :^)
DeleteGreat post, Doug! I love reading about others' memories; the water issue affected everyone and for a long time. I still eat fast because of teaching and having such a short lunch period. I tell myself that I can relax about that, but old habits die hard. I take very quick showers/baths. I don't even know why--perhaps because I don't like being wet.
ReplyDeleteThank you Margaret, I'm not sure why but your feedback here gave me a chuckle! 🤭
DeleteI always enjoy your childhood reminisces! Hope you're having a great day!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bobi, you're very kind! I hope you're having a great day too 😊
DeleteWhat a sweet story, and what a lovely picture of your parents! Joan
ReplyDeleteThank you Joan, much appreciated. 🙂
DeleteHi Doug, your dad was very talented! I love the photo of your Mom and Dad.❤️ At our house growing up you had to be careful what you plugged in. Don’t run the washing machine and vacuum at the same time. NEVER run the dishwasher and washer at the same time or you blew a fuse. Old habits die hard don’t they? I am a quick shower person too. Have a wonderful weekend!❤️
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Thanks Robin! Good gosh, we had the old fuses too but yours sounded pretty tricky, I'm glad we didn't have to deal with that too. But you sure are right about those old habits. ☺️. Thank you my friend and big congrats on your new leader. 👍❤️
DeleteThe photo of your parents is awesome - your mother, in particular looks very young!
ReplyDeleteI grew up on a farm without running water until I was about 16 (1975). Until then, we always said we ran and got the water. Drinking water was from a spring fed well, and the house water was either melted snow in the winter, or pumped from a slough the rest of the year. We didn't have a shower set-up, but had a tin tub when I was small, a regular bath tub when I was older. The first person in the bath got an inch of water with an inch added for each person. With three kids, we all wanted to be last, but that also meant we were in the dirtiest water. Especially in summer.
Your Dad was talented and had a good sense of humour! It's wonderful you have this piece to keep his memory alive.
Maebeme, you're so kind--thanks very much for your sweet words here, and I really enjoyed hearing about your own upbringing. And I thought WE didn't have things easy! At the same time, your memories gave me a nice feeling. :^)
DeleteGoodness, that’s quite a tribe. I can’t imagine growing up with so many siblings.
ReplyDeleteThere was just my sister and me, and she was five years older so when we grew a bit we went our separate ways, so I was essentially an only child by then.
Okay, there were other kids in the neighborhood, but it’s not the same.
Thanks Peter--well, I can't imagine growing up with only one sibling, I often used to wish I was an only child :^) Honestly though, I don't know how my parents did it.
DeleteAren't your parents just lovely! And what a treasure that picture is! And what memories it holds! I bet you have great memories of growing up in the farmhouse with all your siblings. I know my own five children love to reminisce about growing up in our tiny house. With one bathroom and seven people we were all trained to take very quick showers. I know when my oldest went off to college and shared a shower in the dorm she was the only one who didn't complain about it.
ReplyDeleteWe had a well in our first apartment, a duplex out in the country. For a city girl, it was an interesting experience. And it was one of the reasons we moved to town with city water. I know how much your mom enjoyed her city water too!
Thank you Miss Merry, I hope you know how much I appreciate your comments! This was also a fascinating read on your own earlier days--and a surprise as well, I didn't know you had 5 children. Well, you're a natural around children that's for sure. :^)
DeleteDug, love the pic of your mom and dad... and your story about the pump. We lived in the city in a small house next to a grocery store. My main memory there is the floor heaters which were great to dress over in winter. But my dad's sister lived in the country on a farm and there all we had was well water... and the only water in the house was in a metal bowl with a scoop cup for drinking. I loved visiting there!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Rian, I loved reading your own memories here as well. Your dad's sister's house, I can just imagine. My maternal great grandparents had no indoor plumbing or electric refrigerator. The more complicated things get in the 21st century, the more I long for simpler times. :^)
DeleteWhat a beautiful couple your parents were! And your Dad was so talented. He reminds me of my brother, who majored in Art and was an art teacher in schools in Hawaii. I do take our modern plumbing for granted.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gigi, very nice of you to say. And wow about your brother, I didn't know that. That's impressive. 🙂
ReplyDeleteYou know, Doug...I can see clearly where you get your cartooning skills from! I remember those days too. We never had a shortage of water, but the pump froze up in the winter a lot.
ReplyDeleteYou're very kind, thanks Debby. Very interesting, I honestly can't remember our own pump freezing, but we were blessed with free heat from living atop one of Equitables gas wells. 🙂
DeleteIt's so wonderful you have that drawing - a great and unique famiy portrait! Might deserve preservation in a frame? Your dad was very talented. I grew up north of you by about an hour - 1800s farmhouse and we too had a well and conserved water - multiple people using same bath water (as noted above) in earliet days, then later quick showers. My mom never did have a non-human dishwasher or a modern washing machine (wringer water and then laundromat). No disposal, all went to a compost pile, which, even though it attracted animals (everyone needs to eat, we'd say), it eventually added some land to the hillside. Growng up that way made us think about life and stuff in a different way. I always wished I had a sister, but alas only a brother appeared. Your household had to have been a wild time for your folks. I can only imagine. Kim in PA
ReplyDeleteHi Kim, thanks so much for your kind comment about my dad's art and for sharing your own memories, I loved them. My goodness, a wringer-washer I remember those well on some rural back porches. :^) We had no garbage pickup either, but did have burn barrels--as for dishwashers, haha no way! I have one now, but have never used it. I wouldn't know what to do, it has too many buttons. ^)
DeleteYour parents loo really stylish gorgeous people - and what an artist you Dad was .Those are wonderful if painful memories. The late Queen Elizabeth said ( and I am paraphrasing here ) what is grief but love continuing . Wherever they are , I am sure your parents are sending their love straight back to you
ReplyDeleteSiobhan x
This was so sweet of you to say, thank you Siobhan. Gosh I just loved that quote from Queen Elizabeth, I must remember that. Hugs back. :^)
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