Showing posts with label North Adams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label North Adams. Show all posts

Saturday, May 7, 2022

ON MOTHER'S DAY - LILACLADY JUNEBUG2


ON MOTHER'S DAY 

                                                                      LILACLADY JUNEBUG2
                                                    

Here I was five years old with my

dear Grandma 

   My Mother and my Grandmother

were special to me

because they 

shared strong devotion

in helping grow up.

I thought Mother the most 

beautiful woman 

 in the world.  

Blue eyes 
Red hair 

while I had brown eyes
like grandfather.

Boston Baked Beans

said Grandfather of me.  

At Grandma's house

here I am with Mom and Dad.

1933 - just a day old

Grandfather took this photo.


                                  GROWING UP A WOMAN

What was it like for you 

my friend, to grow up 

a woman ?   

 FOR ME IT WAS MANY THINGS. 

                                       1.   When I was born, my MOTHER w a n t e d me.
                                                She was not married to my father, but he loved her.
                                                  She knew I was on the way !   And though I was 
                                                    in her womb, I knew SHE LOVED ME.  
                                                     Dad married her before I was born.
                                                                  
                                       2.    When  a child is W A N T E D  that baby 
                                                knows  and understands, although limited.
                                                                    Babies can F E E L  
                                                                   their Mother's heart cry.
                                            3.   As I was born, I remember the hospital and 
                                                          yes, I knew I was with a doctor IN A VERY 
                                                             COLD ROOM and he brought me to my 
                                                             Mother.     As she took me to herself I FELT 
                                                               HER LOVE FOR ME.  No words were 
                                                                spoken.   
                                            4.  I remember next that she was in a room, and 
                      i was gently laid on her bosom.  Oh I felt
                   the closeness with my Mother.   When Mother
              took me home with her, I then
                                                           gently laid in a  D R A W E R  for a bed. 
                                                             Blankets around me I remember a blue one 
                                                             with silk lining on it.    Though Mother fed me 
                                                                by bottles,  I still felt her closeness as she 
                                                                held me tenderly and spoke loving words 
                                                                                          I felt warm. 
                                                         5.  When Mother went to bed,  she argued that she
                                                               wanted the baby to sleep in the bed with them.
                                                                  Daddy said no.    She had to sleep in the "bed" 
                                                                   Mother made in the Drawer.     I had 
                                                                   a sense of "where is she" and finally figured
                                                                   out she was on the opposite side of Daddy 
                                                                   Where I had been snuggled to her in bed 
                                                                     now I was "in bed"  on the other side of 
                                                                     the room. 
                               
                                                            Alright.  That was How I Started to 
                                                                    know my Mother. 
                                       
Things that Grew My Love 
1.   She talked to me.  I listened.
              2. She always showed care and tenderness. 
Never, ever, was she cross at me.
3. Somehow, though we had little,
               she always made me feel like a princess. 
How special I was.  
         4.  Because she felt God had given her
this baby, she loved me 
and did all
that a Mother
does in 
raising her 
child.

one day 
when I was playing mudpies
and making patty cakes
 with dirt and water
and a little bench.
She sat there watching me, I
was almost three.
A friend wanted to play, so
I asked her.
She said "you can go"
Soon I was back.
She asked me why? 
I said, 
"They wanted me to
play naughty 
and pull down
my pants" 
So I came home
to her.
I trusted her wisdom.
She told me many 
things 
Never do I hear
Parents talking to 
their child like my 
mother did for me.
She always 
knew 
I was going 
to be some one special.
And so she did her 
best to make it 
happen.

God was not a part of her 
life, but I knew 
that Someone was 
helping her.  
She had a childlike faith
that sometimes 
was beyond 
words.

One day she told me, 
as I approached my fourth 
birth day,  "June, when you 
grow up, and find out 
who GOD IS, and you 
believe, I want you to tell 
me and help me to 
know God too"  

THAT ? ! was a 
task that 
I never forgot.

When I grew up and
was 10 years old,
Mother worked a lot.

I was like a second Mother
to my siblings
first Harry Jr. whom we 
called "Skip" 
He was 4 years younger.
and 
then, Diane Emily
who was 8 years
younger than i.  
So we spent a lot of time
together
And always,
when Mother 
came home from work
she would spend
time talking with
me.

Here I was ten years old. 
At this time, Skip was 6 while
Diane was 2.  

Well.    Let me say that when I grew up
I did tell my Mother about what I found out.
I remember when I was 1l  I went to 
Brownies club meeting 
at the Episcopal Church in town.
I learned the Ten Commandments 
and that is how I got my "wings" for 
Girl Scouts.
Although I never did 
go to Girl Scouts, it had a 
big impact on my life.
For I knew 
the 10 Commandments
and I knew 
that I was a sinner
lost 
and 
needing a Savior.

Well we moved a lot.
I had moved back to North
Adams, MA and I went
to 4th grade in
the school there.
As we got ready for classes 
one morning, the 
Home room teacher 
said,
We have a man here
who wants to know 
if any one wants a New Testament
of the Bible" 

I raised my hand for one,
and got it.   

As I went home, and 
was reading 
Yes - and I could read - 
(a lot of practice in
reading funny books 
to my little brother) 

John 3. 16 became
my verse that day.
I put my name in
the WHOSOEVER 
and I knew for sure 
really 
for sure 
that my sins were
forgiven.
and 
that I was on 
MY WAY TO HEAVEN. 
HERE I AM  1951 
A GRADUATE OF HIGH SCHOOL

In a class of 200 Seniors 
and a school with 1000 students 
in it 
there were only 
three red heads in 
the whole school
and 
two of them
were in 
my class. 

SO EVERY ONE KNEW ME 
I was persistant.
I had moved so many times that 
 I had learned to not 
say to people what 
I was thinking.

I did not always feel
that people accepted 
me. 

But I knew 
God loved me 
so I did the best I 
could. 
 
I tried hard 
at everything.

Some things I could 
not do and 
it befuddled me.

I would get 
instructions mixed up.

I was slow at reading 
comprehension 
and later learned to over 
come it, but 
it was hard 
for me to study.

I kept at it.

Somehow Somewhere
I started going to Church.
The Receptionist at the Y M C A when
I would go swimming 
on tues and thursdays
invited me 
to the church.

So I went.
I began to learn about Jesus.
I began to really 
understand more.
And when I was 12 
I got baptized.  

But as I entered my
High School years,
I did not find 
much to encourage 
me to know How To 
Conduct myself.

I went every friday 
to a DANCE.  I even helped
draw the posters for the 
occasions. 
I was known for my 
art work.  
I sang, and could sing with
the bands, solos from
time to time.
When I danced, I 
usually talked about
my church 
and my Lord.
So I did not 
get any dates. 
There were five bands in 
our class at school 
Drury High had that many musicians.
We had enough Italian kids and 
I was the ONLY one with no
parents speaking it at 
home, 
and who
was not Catholic. 
 
So I got to know a lot
of people
and wrote for 
my school paper.

I was terrible at 
Science.
And Math.
and even in English
grammar was having 
some trouble in 
understanding 
what the 
teacher 
was telling 
me. 

AND THEN I DISCOVERED
I had a Church Library
and Mom and Dad
were going to 
move again
so I chose to 
RIDE THE BUS 
TO SCHOOL
EVERY DAY

I used the time to read 
my Bible 
I took it every 
where with me.  
 
SO I APPLIED FOR COLLEGE  
1951   

I had been singing in my Church Choir 
I had begun frequenting the Church Library 
Reading Missionary Biographies
Learning about Haystack Monument 
in Williamstown MA and I visited it 
with Mother.    I was wanting to be 
a missionary.  
We had special meetings 
in our church, called 
NEW LIFE WEEK 
and for the first 
time ever  I heard 

that when Jesus 
died on the Cross
He paid ALL MY DEBT TOTALLY 
SET ME FREE 
and that 
NOTHING I HAVE DONE 
OR 
EVER WILL DO
EVER 
WILL 
PAY THAT DEBT
IT IS FREE

I knew NOW 
that I was SAVED BY GRACE THROU
FAITH 
IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD 
NOT OF WORKS
LEST ANY MAN
SHOULD BOAST.

For the very first time
I realized that I could not 
take any credit for 
any thing 
only that 
God in His Mercy Loved Me 
and 
I owe Him my whole Life 
to serve Him.

That was in 1950.  
I graduated in 1951. 
I left for College in September 1951

SO THAT WAS WHAT I 
DID.  
And that is another story 
on my blog! 
Come Journey With Me  
    June Estelle Cash