That day arrived when Mary went into labor. She stayed with her Mother in Dallas so she could have her baby in a hospital. She did just that, a healthy baby girl they named Loretta. Red hair with a set of lungs that could be heard on the other side of the glass in the maternity ward. Loretta was the first baby born to a family that had undergone the hardships of the Depression and World War. Now is the time to celebrate life and little Loretta was the beneficiary of all those good feelings.
Marie and Sean being the parents of the mother who birthed a girl, felt that they had a most favored Nation status among Grandparents. If it had been a boy, then the shoe might have been on the other foot. Lesley’s parents were quite magnanimous about the whole affair. They had a small farm and planned to play the Shetland pony trump card in a few years. Both sets of grandparents planned on teaching Loretta to think of them as alternative sources of income. That three-day-old child had the entire family re-ordering their lives for her. Visits, baby clothes, baby beds, and toys were planned by everyone. As everyone stared into the bassinet, they could see something about some family member on her face. Grand Paws eyes or first cousin Sally’s eyes. So and so’s chin, cheeks, smile, or nose. The only one left out was the family dog. He was left to stare up at the crib, furiously wagging his tail thinking “What about me?” The dog had the last laugh though. As she grew older the dog became her constant companion. He could sit contentedly all day and watch her make mud pies. He was the one she told her secrets to and the one she hugged when happy or sad. Years later, during his last moments of life at the veterinarian’s office he felt her tears on his face. He knew what her tears meant.
Loretta had a wonderful childhood. She was raised in a tiny little town. A kid could not go too far astray when everyone knew your Mom and Dad. The citizenry had no compunctions about ratting you out to your parents. The local kids had lots of freedom, but eyes were always on them. A balloon tire bicycle with a basket was all that was needed. Bend the wires on the basket to accommodate a bat and position it so it locks down a glove and baseball. You have all that is needed for a traveling game in the summer. A red wagon to pull around with all the belongings that are needed for the day’s activities was Loretta’s modus operandi. She carried the most necessary of dolls in her wagon, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and small beach pails for any mud pie opportunities. She tried to get her dog to pull the wagon. There was no harnessing arrangement that suited the dog for long. He would quickly tire of the effort and just sit down, refusing to move. He figured that this was a job for those with opposing thumbs. Besides, he felt his job was to reconnoiter the surrounding area when they were on the move. A lot of sniffing was involved.
This was what summer was for the kids. Play all you want but be home before dark. If you transgressed, you risked being kept in the house the next day doing chores for Mom. If you were late coming home, you risked the wooden spoon. Summers were glorious times to be a kid.
For Loretta, the best part of summer was Uncle Mike. Mike was a traveling salesman and quite a good one. He sold home carpeting. Wall-to-wall carpeting was the in thing for the 50s in America. All those hardwood floors were soon to be covered up. These carpets had far-reaching changes for the country. They brought with them vacuum cleaner salesmen. Services that cleaned those carpets. There were even products for when your dog peed on the carpets. All over America, people were converting their garages into dens. Carpets go great over a concrete floor. Much later Mike was fond of saying he was going to write a book, “How to Change Your Den into a Garage.”
Uncle Mike stopped by the house often to visit his sister and her family. He would entertain the family with new jokes he heard. Recounting the news of the Grandparents and his opinions about the state of the world in a humorous way. Loretta loved having him there. He was the first person in her life who listened to her as someone with something worthwhile to say. She could talk to him all day and he never seemed to tire of listening to her, unlike everyone else. She was the apple of his eye and he spoiled her. Plus, he loved Cadillac convertibles and she loved riding in them. He always said first impressions are what last. Being a sharp-dressed man in a Cadillac makes for a successful salesman. Les would say, “Looks like a Buick would do.”
Loretta always hated it when his visits were over. As he was leaving each time, she would hug the oak tree in their front yard and watch him back out of the driveway and go out of sight in that car with the top down. Sunglasses, a fedora, and a huge smile as he waved goodbye to her. The smaller he got the tighter she hugged that tree and the harder she cried. Decades later when he passed away. As she was looking down at the husk of himself that he left behind in the casket. She felt that rough bark against her face and arms again.
The summer times meant she got to spend a week or two with her Mother’s parents in Dallas. She did the same with her Dad’s parents, but they lived close by, and getting there was not a big adventure. Uncle Mike would pick her up and bring her back to Dallas in his car. That meant a three-hour drive one way with the wind in her hair. She loved it. The slight sunburn on the top of her legs was well worth it. The first time she took the trip to see her grandparents, she peed in the car on the front seat. Ole Mikey lost his sense of humor over that one. When he brought the subject up with his sister.
Mary replied, “I thought I sent my child out with an adult. What goes in must come out. Don’t buy her a soda pop every time she wants one, and you won’t have that problem.” “Drinking responsibly is a good rule, but when dealing with a child, the bartender has responsibilities too!”
She became her Uncle’s running buddy. She loved her time on the road with him. The only thing that could make the trip bad was when he brought one of his girlfriends along. He was quite the ladies’ man and would bring a woman with him from time to time. Loretta hated that. They would sit in the front seat with a scarf tied under their chin and cat-eye sunglasses on. When one of them would look back at her with a cloying smile was when she wished that this was the car she peed in. She was jealous and wanted her uncle all to herself.
Loretta worked hard at making herself of use to Mike on these trips. When he would stop to make a sales call, Loretta was a well-behaved young lady. Yes, Sir and Yes Ma’am was how she spoke to the potential clients and her uncle. They would all comment on how she was such a well-mannered young lady. She had his sample books handy when he needed them. Business cards were at the ready and she had a tablet to write down phone numbers. She also made notes of the clients’ names, kids’ names, sports they played, hobbies, and anything else she thought he might need if he were to see them again. After a quick glance at the notes, Mike could impress potential clients during their second meetings. He kept up on the note-taking when she was not with him and used it to expand his customer base. Mike told his sister that Loretta was a big help and she was as tough as their mother was.
When Loretta was 18 years old, she witnessed a man exposing himself to a school bus filled with children. It was at a convenience store parking lot in Dallas. She made a statement to the police and they caught the man because she also got his license number. Several months later that man was going to trial and they wanted Loretta to testify. For the first time, she was given the family car to drive to Dallas by herself. While driving around the courthouse looking for a place to park, she turned the wrong way down a one-way street. She was immediately stopped and given a ticket. She finally found a place to park, with the help of the police officer who wrote the ticket. She testified and the man was found guilty.
Loretta was left with the aftermath of a ticket. When she found out the ticket would cost $125, she was panic-stricken. She did not have that much money and she hadn’t told her parents about the incident. She wanted to be able to use the car again and this did not bode well. She called her Uncle Mike and told him about her predicament. Mike laughed and told her he would pick her up and drive her back to Dallas. Be sure to bring the ticket with her.
The first place he took her to was a sleazy-looking pawn shop. Mike showed the ticket to the guy behind the window bars. He looked at the ticket for a few moments and then pushed it back out to Mike. Then he said, “No accident involved?”
“No sir.” She replied
“Well, I can get this fixed for 500 dollars. There will be no record of it afterward”, he said.
Mike said, “No thank you, a little too steep for our blood.”
Their next stop was a lawyer’s office, across the street from the courthouse. After a wait of an hour, the lawyer had them brought into his office. He looked at the ticket and talked to her about the circumstances of the infraction. He said, “I can keep this ticket tied up in the courts for so long that they will eventually drop it. I will require a flat fee of $1000.”
Mike said, “No thank you. We would be better off paying the fine.”
Then they walked across the street to the courthouse. Mike stopped in the lobby to study the directory of offices on the wall by the base of the steps.
He looked at Loretta and said, “We need to go up to the fourth floor.”
After a brisk climb of the stairs, they found themselves walking the hallway of the 4th floor. Mike was looking into every office that had an open door. He finally found an office with a distinguished-looking man who looked like he was organizing his things to leave the office.
“Your Honor, in hopes that justice isn’t truly blind, I am looking for answers for this young lady.” He then proceeded to explain the circumstances of the ticket and how a simple country girl wouldn’t have been driving in town flustered. If it had not been for the need to be a witness against a man who was convicted of exposing himself to children, she would not have been here.
The judge said, “Give me the ticket, and I’ll take care of it for her. Please shut the door on your way out.” The judge was miffed to be disturbed in this way, He and Mike exchanged a look that said, “OK this time.”
Mike and Loretta didn’t say a word about the incident on the way home. Mike did tell her when dropping her off at home, “Next time, be more careful driving, look at the signs.