Bless Your Heart's

Christmas 1949 By Madelyn Shields      I was five so my sister Karen was seven.  We lived in a little white box shaped house in a community call Vandercook Lake, just outside of Jackson, Michigan. Daddy called our house a "cracker box" and at five years old I could not quite get the picture...you know...I would go outside and study the house trying to see the "Saltine" cracker box. It just wasn't there.      Vandercook Lake was a beautiful lake great for its fishing, both summer and winter. In the summer there would be people out along the shores fishing with cane poles and a bobbin and sinker. We loved the Blue Gill and Bass. We would fish and fight the mosquitoes that were as big as elephants, flying in formation, bombing us as they went. Talk about mosquito bites!!!! In the winter there would be ice fishing shanty's set up out on the ice that also provided a fun sport but we were not allowed to go out on the ic...

The Tub by Madelyn Shields      I was probably seven which would have made my sister Karen nine years old. Karen and I was all excited because we were going on a shopping trip with Mother.This didn't happen often so we were relishing the importance of getting to go shopping downtown. It was warm summer day in Jackson, Michigan making it the perfect day for such an adventure.      We were so proud of mother because she had taken her driver test, passed with flying colors, and could now go on her own, if necessary. Our Mother could drive...WOW! This was more than a status symbol...our mother was a lady of the future, considered extremely progressive. We had bragging rights!      We dressed in our prettiest dresses and Mother french braided our hair, turning the long braids in loops held up with rubber bands. Then she tied ribbons into big bows around each braid. We put on our good socks t...

The Corn Chips by Madelyn Shields          The year was 1949. I must have been about six years old, so Karen would have been eight. Daddy was an adventurer and always was ready for a new conquest. He made so many ordinary things pure fun and that is where my story begins.       It was a cold night in Jackson, Michigan, and we were on our way home from church. Mother was on a diet; Mother was always on a diet of some kind. At this particular time it was the amazing Special K diet...understand that Special K was a brand new cereal just out on the market. But Mother kept up with all the new diet plans and this was THE ONE! Kellogg's was also offering beautiful initialed silverware in a fabulous wooden chest for so many boxtops and a small remittance (the cost was probably more than if she would have just bought the silverware).  Anyway, this cereal was good for you t...