Memories
After reading the article that Noreen so skillfully wrote about Mary Ulen, I decided that my next column should follow up with more about the Ulen family.
I first met the Ulens when I was only a child at the age of eight. My father, who many of you have come to know from my writings of him, moved our family to a lovely, unique house on the Ulen farm. My dad, a World War II veteran, spent the next three years helping Mr. Ulen on his farm.
My very first writing about a fluffy little white cloud was formatted in my mind while lying in the grass at that old homeplace.
I enjoyed most everywhere we lived, and we moved frequently, but the Ulen farm was one of my favorites. There were five of us children at that time and I was the oldest.
We had never owned a television, but the Ulen family had one. During those years, a circus show was on every Saturday called Under the Big Top. I can't remember if Mr. Ulen or Mrs. Ulen initiated it, but they asked Mom and Dad if it would be okay if they picked up my sister, Linda, my brother Farrell and me each Saturday to watch the show at their home. We were so happy to be invited into their home to watch this very exciting show. I can remember us sitting together on their sofa and loving watching television, which was a new venture for us. Later, Dad bought us one of our own, but I sure missed our Saturday treats with the Ulens.
I learned to embroider sitting on what I recall as a grand old front porch. That also, was where we lived when I received my first pair of red shoes. Dad took me to Mayberry's store at Frisco, and I can remember sitting on the counter while Dad kept trying those shoes on me. They were way too small for me, but each time Dad asked if I was sure they fit, I would answer very plain and clear, "Yes Dad, they fit me real good." My little feet sure suffered in those shoes, but Mom and Dad never knew until I was grown. I just had to have those red shoes.
The two Ulen daughters, Linda and Judy, were just as kind to us as their parents. Seems to me they were always smiling and in girl scout uniforms. My sister, Linda and I were the recipients of their bicycles for Christmas one year. Oh my, I can still see the smile on Dad's face when he pulled into the drive way in that big ole black and white car. He opened the trunk and pulled out two used bikes, a small one for my sister Linda and a large one for me. They represented the younger and older of the Ulen sisters. You would have thought we had just gotten brand new bikes, and to us they were. The picture of Dad putting Linda on the seat and holding her up while she peddled down the driveway is so vivid in my mind.
What precious memories. Linda and I rode those bikes for several years, in fact, they were the only ones we ever owned.
Another memory is of Mary giving Linda and I each a porcelain lady figurine. One was dressed in pink the other in blue. I gave mine to my sister Linda when I left town for a few years later. When she and her husband, Mike, lost their home and all they had in a fire six years ago, those little ladies were also lost. That is how long those little beauties were in our possession, close to some 52 or 53 years.
There are so many more stories I could tell about our lives on the Ulen farm, such as ones about our cow named Strawberry, or the time a plane landed behind our home. But again, space won't permit.
I just want to say to Mary and Judy, "Thank you for all the wonderful childhood memories you gave to me. I think and speak of you often. Those were some precious years to me and your kindness to a poor family will never be forgotten."
May God richly bless you, and a belated happy 99th, Mary.
And yes, the Ulen family are my heroines and hero for this column.
See ya next time somewhere in a Korner. Remember, you never know when you
may be my next hero or heroine.
kdover28@gmail.com - 573-820-2404 - www.dailystatesman.com
Comments
- -- Posted by TNMom2 on Tue, Dec 3, 2013, at 10:22 PM
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