Catherine Sevenau's Blog: Writings~Rambles~Rhymes, page 49

1.53 Holy Cards, Hell, and High Water

Summer 1949 • Sonora, California ~ Sonora was a backwater with no Catholic school, so every summer a fleet of young Franciscan nuns in black habits and white wimples were imported to bring the local schoolchildren a proper Catholic education, as much as they could cram into their small heads in two weeks anyway. And for […]

1.52 Larry’s Diary, July 1949

1949 • Larry’s diary (age 15) Jul 1  Raked the leaves up on the ground for garbage man, took walk around town and up to Grammar School with Peckham Jul 2  Sold all sparklers but had about 2 gross of them. Took some out for kids. Got $10 for cleaning off roof. Got 8 pack […]

1.51 Larry’s Diary, June 1949

1949 • Larry’s diary (age 15) Jun 1  Cut Spanish because I was 20 minutes late. Watched some practice for pageant. Got impressions for new tooth. Windy. Jun 2  Had last big meal at R&B. 3 weddings, 3 engagements, 1 pinning. I announced Mary Alice engag. with borrowed cat. Chased cat all over. Jun 3 […]

1.50 Benedict Arnold and Eleanor Roosevelt

“Bettyyyy. Claudiaaa.” Mother’s nightly yell for supper bounced across the yard until it floated down to the soft shadows of the creek where the girls fooled away their afternoons with tadpoles, skimmers, and leaf-hoppers. Betty paid no attention to Mom whatsoever. Claudia, emptying her large Mason jar full of polliwogs back into the creek, was […]

1.49 Dad, God, and the Holy Ghost

1949 • Sonora ~ Our parents never argued about how to raise their children. They argued about my mother’s smoking and drinking and about her housekeeping, but not about the kids. Mom gave the older ones a swift kick or a snapping backhand when they didn’t move fast enough or do as they were told. When […]

1.48 Larry’s Diary, May 1949

May 1949 • Larry’s diary (age 15) May 1  Days went back to Redwood City. Took bath. Dad owes about $10,000 in bills has to pay bank $1000 tomorrow, only has $800 May 2  Grammer Schools of county came to the High School for play day. Saw show Three Godfathers. Took bath again. May 3  Went […]

1.47 Larry’s Diary, April 1949

April 1949 • Larry’s diary (age 15) Apr 1  Freshmen’s return was given, but it was so bad I left it to watch the baseball game with Livingston. We won 3 -1. Apr 2  Had tooth taken out, very large molar. He sawed it up and had to take it out piece by piece. Got pills […]

1.46 Larry’s Diary, March 1949

March 1949 • Larry’s diary (age 15) Mar 1 – 8  no entries in diary Mar 9  Joe Drabkin won Lion’s club speaking contest. Mar 10  no entry in diary Mar 11  Second night of East Lynn, I went tonight and sat about in the middle of the auditorium with some boys. Mar 12  no […]

1.45 Death of Gordon Chatfield

Just two months after my arrival, my mother—along with losing her mind—lost her brother. Gordon Gregory Chatfield, at the age of 42, died in Letterman’s Veteran’s Hospital in San Francisco from his WWII injuries. Gordon lived in Chico the three years he was married to Hylda Hughes, then joined the Army Air Force, serving in […]

1.44 Plucked From the Womb

August 1948 • Sonora ~ I was welcomed into the family two years after Mom’s first breakdown, though not by her. She didn’t want another child, she wanted out. As far as she was concerned, I was a fifth burden tacking on another eighteen years to her prison sentence. Another eighteen years of not wanting to […]