Audrey: Buddy, he is under a big umbrella, and he shakes to get the water off him. The cat sleeps 18 hours a day. I guess the cat is bored. I’m feeling fine. No pains. No aches. Looking out the window, there are no birds in the rain.
Audrey: It is raining and the leaves are dropping. The trees will be bare pretty soon. I’m getting old. I’m happy I’m here. I have the cat and Buddy (the dog) for friends. Buddy carts a rag baby around in his mouth, and he looks so happy every time he finds it.
Brenda looks good. She says she is not dying with cancer. She is living with cancer. She has had the water drawn off. She is a fighter. I’ve never seen her look better. She wears the hats that Deardra designed and everyone is asking about those hats. They make her look so pretty. Spencer is fine. He’s determined that Brenda will live and he will not think of her dying. She is a fighter and he is right with her.
MaryJane Vaughn Spencer and William J.B. Spencer at their home at 742 Washington Street, Coventry, Rhode Island
John Edward Spencer
Audrey: Yes, this is the first snow like this since I was a little child. It’s the first bad snow storm since I’ve grown up. The snow is twelve inches high next to the wall, but the streets are all right. Ernie shoveled by the door and Buddy went out and got stuck—he hopped and wiggled a little. (Laughter)
When we lived on the farm, we had to shovel a path to the outhouse. When we moved to Anthony (742 Washington St. in Coventry), we had a bathroom in the house! I was twelve years old and I moved from the country to the town! The Anthony house had one acre of land, I think. We had a garage, a barn, a hen yard and little building and shops. Spencer was a baby then and I can remember uncle Ed come down and took a bath and steam would come out of the bathroom.
Mother, she never would run down anybody. Mother was a very peaceful person. She, unfortunately, let everybody run all over her. She was a quiet woman, never opened her mouth. She liked to be called MaryJane, not Mary or Jane. She was a sweet, gentle person who was friends with all ladies around, even Annie Mertz and Lizzie.
Now Father was quiet but stern. Nobody got away with anything. He led a quiet life. He joined the Sons of Veterans and was busy doing things with Freddie Arnold. I never heard him holler at anybody. He had a nice quiet life. Once a week he played cards. He would milk the cow every day and a Mr. Smith came daily to get a quart of milk. They would talk for about an hour.
As for me, when I was a child, I would sit there and draw from the funnies in the newspaper. I drew Lillie the toiler*. She was so pretty.
Audrey: When are you coming out here again?
(Heather: I plan to be in R.I., for your birthday, March 19th.)
* (Crystal’s explanation of Tillie the Toiler: Tilly the Toiler is the name of the lady that Mom designed outfits for. She found Tilly in a magazine or newspaper. It may have been an advertisement for ladies clothes or a cartoon. I’m not aware of any paper or magazine around in 1924 to validate where Tilly the Toiler came from.)
|
Glimpses of the Past: Morning Conversations with Audrey
Copyright © 2004 by Heather D. MacDonald |
Powered by WordPress The Aesthete theme by vatuma.com |