C.Y. Bourgeois's Blog, page 8

Let Her Sleep on the Couch

6/18/1962Fairbanks, Alaska(continued)
Got a letter from Mom and also Ruthie and Bill today was sure surprised to hear from them.  Glad the plans for their house are going so well.  Ruthie didn’t have too much to say except about the house and that you and the kids were going out for dinner Sat.
Neil likes his job, well enough because he’s going to be a big shot in a short time.  Bub is really a good kid and he likes his job alright too.  He’s helping take care of the airport working for the state.  Jerry finally got lined up with a job his morning but don’t go to work till Thur.  He’ll be an apprentice meat cutter at Safeway’s. 
Bob did loan Neil a car for 2 or 3 days till we got jobs that was all.  Neil was in charge of it.  He even took the two trucks we brought up and drove them to Anchorage for Bob. 
Glad Tiki’s feeling better cause she’s probably a lot of company to you and the kids.  Sure hate for anything to happen to her now.  So, go ahead and let her sleep on the couch but not on the bed.  You might get shot at that, when I see you.
(Conclusion in next post)

You Could Probably Use the Money

June 16, 1962Fairbanks, Alaska
(continued)
Sure wish I could say you were coming up in a couple of weeks but I can’t. Darn it.

Glad to hear the kids are being so good will try and send them something from here soon. Got in a full week last week and only got 12 hrs this week but will be able to send you some money. Have you had any luck getting rid of the boats or old Ford, hope you have, you can probably use the money.

Glad for you the kids are being so good and that Billy is going to Bible School, too bad Carla can’t go too. It’d sure get her out of your hair for a while. Give them both a big hug and a kiss from me and tell them I love them very much.

Sounds to me like you might as well go to Sears and get a new T.V. seeings I’m so uncertain right now about when you’ll be coming up. I know you miss it and it’s a lot of company for you. Go ahead and get it on credit of you want.
(to be continued...)
Note: I had to laugh at the comment about getting me out of Mom's hair for awhile...makes me sound like a real terror. As far as I know I wasn't, (my brother might have something to say about that) but I do know Mom was totally stressed out about the lack of money and Dad being gone. She certainly was a trouper!

Pecan Crispies

Here's a recipe that reminds me of Mom's magic as a baker. Her stuff always tasted so damned good. These were one of my husband’s (Paul) favorites (as long as Mom made them and not me).

I’m typing the recipe word for word, but I warn you, mine have never, ever turned out like hers did. Hers always came out flat and really crispy (like in the name), but mine are always soft and chewy.

I have no idea what I’m doing wrong, but I know this is the recipe she used because I watched her make them! From this recipe!

Lois’s Pecan Crispies
½ cup butter or margarine6 T brown sugar6 T granulated sugar1 egg½ tsp. vanilla1 ¼ cups sifted flour1 tsp. baking powder¼ tsp. each baking soda and salt1 cup chopped pecans
Cream butter and sugars until light. Beat in egg and vanilla Sift together dry ingredients; blend into creamed mixture. Drop from teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from pan. Makes 2 ½ dozen.
Don’t forget to add a pinch of love and enjoy!
Good luck!

WIsh You Were Up Here

June 16, 1962, Fairbanks, Alaska
Dearest Lois & kids:

Got your letter last night. Bub brought it from town. Was sure glad to hear from you.   
Thanks for the pictures they’re really good. Judy sure looks nice in her gown and I’ll bet it was a nice wedding. Sorry I wasn’t there. Carla and Billy both look real cute too.  Sure wish you all were up here.

About the job I don’t know for sure if it’s going to be year round or not. The moving racket is kind of seasonal but the guy I work for has a big contract for the Gov’t bases here moving the personnel in and out but am going to try and find out. If not am still trying to find a year round one. 

Neil’s job is working for a furnace man and he moved out of the Boatel and in with his boss. He told me his boss is going to let him have his apartment rent free and he (Neil) said he was going to be a partner in a short time. Also said they were going to give him money to bring his family up in a couple of weeks. Guess he’s going to do some big things in a short time. Even said he’d try to get me a job working with him if they needed any help.

Guess his boss’s wife even thinks he’s an ex-cop from what he said.  Sure must have snowed ‘em.

To be continued....

Waiting

Lois spent the three-plus months waiting to go to Alaska missing her husband, worrying about their financial situation (mainly lack thereof), and taking care of the kids and their sick dog, Tiki.
Poor Tiki, every time they thought she was out of the woods, she ran right back in.  They had very little money to live on ~ some in savings ~ but not enough to cover unexpected expenses like a broken television or extra trips to the vet.
Bill sent money when he got paid, but he knew it wasn’t enough. Lois made do with what little they had and her family helped out when they could. But it was a struggle on both ends.
Still dreaming big, Bill was very happy about having landed a union job moving furniture. His friend Charley landed a good job with the state, and Neil was working. Jerry was still looking, but there was so much talk about all the great job opportunities that they all had high hopes he'd find something very soon.
In his letter dated June 6, 1962, you may remember him writing that they were all having pretty good luck on the job front.
Or so he thought…

Don't Forget (Me)

June 6, 1962, Letter to Kids #1Fairbanks, Alaska 

Dear Billy & Carla:

Miss you both very much.  Sure wish you were here.

Hope you are helping mommy like I told you too (sic).  Be a good boy and girl and I’ll send you something from Fairbanks real soon.

All my Love,Daddy


P.S. Don’t forget to be good.  Remember you promised daddy you’d eat like a big boy and not cry too.
Love, Daddy
[image error]Dad & Billy (1959-ish)
P.S. How’s daddy’s girl behaving.  Good, I hope.  Don’t forget to help and take your nap like a big girl.
All my Love, Daddy
[image error]Dad, Billy & Me (1960)

Note: According to Mom, one of Dad’s biggest fears was that his kids (Billy - 4 years old & Carla [me] - 2 years old) would forget him while he was away.

No need to worry, Daddy. We didn’t!  

The Breakdown

Lois had always taken good care of herself and was proud of her appearance, to the point where she let herself get a bit underweight at times. After two kids, though, the weight started piling on and she couldn’t get it off.
Bill reassured her that he loved her and would always love her no matter her weight. It just wasn’t important to him, but most of all, he just wanted her to be happy. 
But, gaining all that weight made her unhappy, so she went to her doctor for help. He put her on diet pills, or what we know today as speed.
The pills gave her bouncing-off-the-walls energy, but after they wore off, she became anxious and depressed. The longer she took them, the worse it got, so one day she stopped taking them. Cold turkey.  
A few days later, Bill came home to find his wife in tears and the kids upset and worried about mommy. Mommy had been crying most of the day and couldn’t stop.
He rushed her to the doctor who decreed that she’d had a nervous breakdown from stopping the diet pills (no shit!) and finished up their visit by prescribing more pills. Antidepressants. She took them for a little while but those pills made her feel like a zombie, so she quit taking them too.
And guess what? After a few days without all those pills she was fine.
But, in the back of Bill’s mind lurked the shadow of the diet pills, and so he worried about her. That’s why he always made light of his troubles. He figured she had enough on her hands without worrying about him too.

Goodnight Sweetheart

The rest of the letter from June 6, 1962Fairbanks, Alaska 
Meals are high but we found a couple of places where you can get good meals for $1.75.  Rent is also pretty steep.  This Boatel where we’re staying said they’d let us stay for $75 a month.  They generally get that for one person but gave us the same price for 2.
How is everybody there, all are well, I hope.
Tell everybody I said “Hello” and give them my love.  If anything happens let me know.
Pass the news along as to how I’m doing and will write to the rest of the folks soon. 
By the way I’ll only get paid every 2 wks. But will send some money home then.  I think we could both probably use some.
It’s awful hard getting around without a car but have been doing alright so far.  Got a little better than 2 miles to go to work but have had good luck getting a ride so far.
Am going to try and get the film mailed before the end of the week.  Hope they turn out good.
Will close for now and hit the sack.
Goodnight sweetheart and don’t worry about me.
All my Love,Bill
P.S. Rec’d your letter and was sure glad to get it.  Hope Tiki gets well.  By the way she hasn’t had any distemper shots.Love, Bill

Note: Dad was still a bit depressed, even after getting a job. He knew by then, that this was going to be a lot harder than he had originally thought and he was already missing his family terribly after being gone for only one month. 

I wish I could reach back in time, give my young father a hug, and tell him not to worry, let him know it would all work out.

Every Recipe Contains a Memory

In an earlier post I wrote about Mom’s brown recipe box. It got misplaced during her move into Palmer and she fretted for all the years she lived there and right up until her death about that recipe box. We looked high and low in her new house, but never found it.
We used to kid her about how attached she was to that old recipe box. She’d just smile. A few weeks or a month later, she’d ask one of us to look again.
It wasn’t until after she died that we found it packed in a box marked “Slide Projector and Slides.”
Oh, we’d all looked in that stupid box numerous times, you know, opened it and looked inside. But the recipe box was all the way on the bottom, hidden under 50 years’ worth of slides and a big old honkin’ carousel slide projector. The writing on the box was in the hand of our dear Unkie Roland (Fall). One last “Unkie” joke on us.
I couldn’t bear to look inside for a long, long time, but when I did, I realized why that box was so precious to Mom. It contained recipes she gathered from her sisters, her mom, and from friends. Each and every recipe contained a memory and losing them was like losing a piece of whomever had given it to her.
I get it now.
This one is from her sister Florence Edinger. Our beautiful aunt who taught Mom how to bake.Grannies Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
½ C shortening¾ C brown sugar¾ C white sugar2 eggs1 tsp. vanilla1 C peanut butter1 ¼ C flour2 tsp. baking soda1 ¾ C oatmeal
Cream together shortening & sugars. Mix the eggs, vanilla & peanut butter and add to the shortening/sugar mix. Add flour, baking soda & oatmeal. Mix well & drop by spoonful (your choice of size ~ Mom made big cookies), and bake for 15 – 18 minutes at 350 degrees.
Remember to add a pinch of love, and enjoy!

A Little Luck

June 6, 1962Fairbanks, Alaska
Dearest Lois, Billy & Carla,
I love you all very much and sure wish you were here. It really get[s] lonesome without you.
Well, so far we’ve all had pretty good luck at finding a job.  The people where we’re staying have really been swell to us. They helped us find most of our jobs. 
I got up Mon. Morning about 7 and was talking to the man who runs this place and he asked me if I’d ever handled any furniture. I said I had and he called Bill Montpetit and told him he’d found a furniture man.  Bill said to send me up. I went up and talked to him about 2 minutes and he put me to work.
I’ll have to join the Teamster Union tho. It costs quite a bit but maybe it’ll be worth it.The pay is about $4.08 per hr. Worked 9 hrs. Mon., 13 hrs. Tue., and 8 hrs. today. Neil also got a job with some furnace outfit. All his papers didn’t do him a bit of good.  In order to get into the airport you have to have a license, he didn’t.
Charley got a job with the state and was real tickled. Jerry hasn’t found anything yet, but has to go for an interview tomorrow. So much for that.
Jobs aren’t as plentiful up here as they try to make it sound. Guess you need a little luck too.
To be continued...