The End of a Busy Day

In the spring of 1968, Mother was beset on all sides with responsibilities that she always felt so keenly. She was teaching full time, had my five children and me in the house. with Tony being the baby with allergy problems requiring constant rocking and care, Brig and Pat, whom she was determined would learn how to do dishes properly; she was also planning the house to be built on the acreage on 93rd South in Washington, contemplating changing teaching positions from Powell to Little Rock, counseling me, helping Dad plan for the move, and also keeping Steve and his brood who were living in Powell in her sights. There were the gladiolus and dahlias to be planted so that they could be harvested in the fall and moved to Washington, garden to be planted, and on and on and on. This was also the spring that Uncle Norman became very ill, and Mother and Dad were worried about him. I think about this time, and think about how she was spread so thin, and still managed to oversee all the details that were necessary to their future. Mother had a tremendous capacity for work and organization.