Only When I Dance (eBook)

Rhoda Demchak (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
110 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-8607-8 (ISBN)

Infos

Three widowed women overcome hardships in rural Maine. Raising a total of 14 children between them through determination and grit. Each one held their households together with little male influence. Today , they are remembered for their courage and love .

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This story takes place in a mill town in rural Maine. Three women sharing the same family roots are widowed by tragedies beyond their control. Each woman guides and leads their families to have successful lives without male direction. Abandonment, homelessness and health problems propelled them to raise their families with discipline , laughter and much love . A journey which spans 120 years from the 1860's until the 1980's.

Textauszug

Chapter Six

Lula Mcintosh Craig

Lula Hazel Mcintosh was Mildred and Lester’s fourth child and third daughter. As I stated earlier, she was my grandmother, my Nana. Lula enjoyed cooking, sewing and caring for her siblings. Twelve years of age when her father died mother Mildred decided she needed Lula at home to help with the large family. Lula never went beyond the 8th grade in school. While her siblings liked working in the Worumbo woolen mill, Lula preferred housekeeping jobs to earn a living.

In the summer months, wealthy people from out of state rented cottages on the islands along Maine’s coastline. Lula traveled by horse and buggy to Harpswell, Orrs Island and Bailey Island to work as housekeeper, cook and child care provider. In the winter months, she often cleaned and cooked for some of the doctors who lived in Lisbon Falls.

After I. Lester’s death, his retail businesses were sold but the livery stable next to the Mcintosh home remained. People would ride the train from Boston or New York into Lisbon Falls. These travelers hired horses, wagons or buggies from Mcintosh’s livery stable. Mcintosh had used the services of a Durham blacksmith named Silas Craig for years.

Growing up, Lula had interacted with the Craig children when they visited Silas at the livery stable. Lula especially liked the eldest son, Melbourne Craig. Lula called Mel ( his nickname) lanky, because he stood 6 feet 4 and was rail thin. She found Mel quite handsome, charming with a dry sense of humor.

Mel would tease Lula about being older than he was, by six months. My Nana was barely 5 feet tall with a stout build which made them an unusual looking pair. When Lula turned 16 she began dating Mel Craig. The Craig family lived three miles from Lisbon Falls across the railroad tracks in the town of Durham.

Silas had a blacksmith shop in the barn next to their farmhouse. His wife Delilah kept busy raising her five sons and two daughters. She preferred to be called Lila instead of her given name because as a deeply religious woman, Lila did not want to be perceived as the bad woman in the bible named Delilah.

The Craig family were devoted members of Shiloh Kingdom church in Durham. During this period the church’s history was surrounded by controversy even considered a cult. Melbourne left Shiloh church after church leaders stated he was to marry whom they had selected. He became a charter member of the Nazarene church in Lisbon Falls

Playing harmonica, guitar and singing was a passionate interest of Melbourne’s. His deep baritone voice was welcomed into several choral groups like the Men of Song and Litchfield Songsters.

Lula shared Melbourne’s love of music as well. She played the piano and church organ on occasion. Lula was a member of the First Congregational Church where Melbourne’s choral groups sometimes performed.

Mel gave Lula horse and buggy rides, to and from her housekeeping jobs down to the islands. These 4 hour commutes helped transform their friendship into love. Lula and Melbourne became engaged at seventeen. He became head electrician at the Worumbo woolen mill.

They started saving money for the nuptials. On September 18th 1920, Lula Mcintosh and Melbourne Craig were wed. The couple moved into a small rented house in Durham, less than 5 miles from their childhood homes. Exactly nine months later, a baby girl was born to them. Lula named her Mildred Louise for her mother and her favorite aunt. Mildred’s birth transformed Lula’s mother into Gram Mac.

Lula had become good friends with her closest neighbor Mrs. Beals. Mrs. Beals lived on a hill about 900 feet beyond Lula’s house. Mrs. Beals loved babies and was overjoyed at having one nearby. She was a widow with one grown son Olin. He was much older than Lula. Olin’s personality was profoundly different than Mrs. Beals.

She was kindhearted and caring. Olin was extremely self-centered and cold-hearted. Mrs. Beals shared a story with Lula about Olin. He had sent for a mail-order bride ten years before. When the young girl departed the train to greet him, Olin noticed she had a club foot. He immediately told the girl to leave on the next train. Olin stated he wanted an unblemished or perfect wife not a cripple ! He never married.

Lula felt assured she had enough childcare experience to handle anything that arose with her new baby girl. After all, she had helped raise five younger siblings. Regrettably, her knowledge was challenged during a harsh winter snowstorm when baby Mildred was 8 months old. Winter storms in Maine can be very brutal. The temperatures often dip well below freezing especially when high winds are a factor.

Lula tried to keep the wood stove stoked because the old house was extremely drafty. She lay the baby down in the cradle Melbourne had made, while she went to gather more firewood from the frozen woodpile behind the house.

Even with multiple layers of clothing, Lula could still feel the bitter cold wind on her skin. Her arms loaded with snow covered firewood, Lula slowly made her way back inside the house.

After placing firewood on the grate next to the stove, Lula pulled off her boots and snowy clothes. She hung them near the fire to dry. Lula walked over to check on her sleeping baby girl. As she laid her hand upon the baby’s chest Lula was shocked to find it still.

Scooping the motionless Mildred into her arms, Lula listened for breathing sounds. Silence ! She hurriedly wrapped the baby in blankets, put her cold wet clothes back on and ran out the door. Lula’s visibility was hampered by the falling snow. She forged toward the house on the hill. Feeling like she was moving in slow motion, Lula plowed a path with her feet up to Mrs. Beals house. When she reached Mrs. Beals house Lula almost passed out from exhaustion. Thankfully Mrs. Beals saw her as she neared the door.

Lula feared she lacked the strength to pound on the door. Once inside she cried out that her baby was not breathing. Mrs. Beals grabbed the baby from Lula and immediately undressed her.

She told Olin to fetch the doctor with their horse and wagon. Mrs. Beals put cool water over the baby’s hot body. Within a minute or two the baby started to respond and wake up. Lula had heard about fever convulsions but had never actually seen a baby have one.

Mrs. Beals told her that sometimes if a child gets too hot they can have a seizure and stop breathing. By the time the doctor had arrived baby Mildred was doing fine. Fortunately, Mildred never experienced anymore fever seizures or convulsions. None of Lula’s future children were subject to the condition either.

A second daughter, Idolyne was born three years later. Her name came from a long weekend trip Melbourne and Lula took to New Hampshire during her second pregnancy.

They had driven passed a motel named the “ Idyl Inn “. Lula liked the name for a girl. A boy would surely be named after Mel. My Nana repeated this story each and every time our family made the annual fall foliage trip to New Hampshire.

Now that her family was growing, Lula decided they needed a larger home. Perhaps more land for a vegetable garden and some farm animals. They moved a quarter mile, down the road, to a larger L-shaped farmhouse with a barn and garage.

By this time automobiles were becoming very popular and affordable. Mel bought a used Model A for his family. Lula began planting vegetables in her new garden. She used printed grain bags to make clothes for her and the children. With the left over strips of cloth Lula braided them into rugs for the house.

Lula felt having children 4-5 years apart was working out well. When Idolyne was 5 years old another sibling was born into the Craig family. A boy was born in 1930. He was named Melbourne Stanley Craig but not a junior because Mel’s middle name was Frederick.

Everyone in the family called him Stanley as not to confuse him with his father. Being quite stout and having a short torso created very difficult births for Lula. Ten pound Stanley was particularly hard. All her deliveries were at a birthing house in Lisbon Falls. Sometimes the doctor arrived on time, other times a midwife delivered the child. Lula herself had often helped as a midwife working alongside the town doctor.

Eldest Mildred would stay with Gram Mcintosh, while little sister Idolyne, was sent to stay at Grammie Craig’s house, when Lula gave birth. Mel adored his daughters but was delighted to have a son to share his love of automobiles.

Grammie Craig, having had five sons, told Lula to be prepared for many years of soiled greasy clothes from working on automobiles.

When Stanley was only three years of age Mel found an old pedal car to restore for him. He gave it one new feature a car battery was placed in the rear and wired to the pedal.

Mel made the battery powered car a surprise for Stanley. He brought the altered pedal car to the local hardware store in Lisbon Falls. Mel asked the owner if he would place it in the store front window for a few days. The owner agreed. The very next Sunday after church, Mel took young Stanley for a walk passed the hardware store.

Of course when Stanley saw the fancy pedal car, he asked to have it. Mel gave him a long lecture about having to behave and obey his mother before the pedal car could come home with them. Stanley promised he would never be bad again if he could only have that pedal car.

Mel had never deceived anyone in his life and could not continue the teasing. He quickly told Stanley he had indeed made the pedal car for him. Stanley drove that car for hours each and every day. One story Nana...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.9.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-8607-8 / 1098386078
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-8607-8 / 9781098386078