I have been spending my time in September 1949, transported by letters my mother wrote to her brother and sister-in-law, Albert and Elizabeth (Bep) Kater.  Her words not only revealed glimpses into my parents’ life when I was two years old, but I even got to see myself.   I divide Rose-Marie’s hair now in the middle with 2 very small bows on each side. It needs a little getting used to , but it looks nice on her. I wish for a picture but this is almost as good.

I was surprised at the cost of dressed chickens compared to how much I paid last week at the grocery store.   Sidney (my father) sold in the meantime 18 chickens in St. Stephen and got just today an order for 12 more for Thanksgiving (Oct. 10). They weigh each around 5 lbs and they bring 50 cents a pound.  I did the math . . . 30 chickens @ 5 lbs = 150 lbs @ .50/lb = $ 75.  Considering how much wages, and everything else has increased since 1949, that seems like a high price in 1949. Good for my parents but not for the people who were purchasing them after the store added their profit.

They had a house and property, so my parents had taxes to pay.  The money he (Sidney) earned with blue-berry raking is used for the taxes ( $54 ).

I saw a different side of my father. When we visited a few weeks ago the St. Stephen Exhibition, Sidney got interested in weaving! We bought a small weaving-table, and right now he sits on the other side of the table and makes a woolen shawl for Ronnie and Rose-Marie, to wear in winter under their coats and it is going to be really nice. It is Scottish checks brown-red-blue-green vice-versa, all in darker shades.

My father obtained work that fall but had hardly any salaried work during the summer. However,  my mother could  put a positive spin on anything and I was also reminded of my mother’s ingenuity and thriftiness. That never changed, no matter how much their finances improved in later years.  I believe that, in the end, it was good for me that Sidney hardly did any work this summer. He values the money a little more and probably appreciates my sewing and mending more too. I have finished slippers for the children, crocheted from thick wool , and he put leather soles under them. From old jackets from him I made warm house-coats for the kids, reaching to their knees. 

I am forever grateful for the late Ytse Boonstoppel who translated these and many more of my mother’s letters.  It is an invaluable gift to be able to look at the past from my mother’s perspective.