Day 13. Errands Run

When I was nine years old my father remarried adding to our five, three more sisters and two more brothers. Yup - the house now had ten children. Laurie was now the youngest. She had lost her father at the age of one. I at least had six years with my mom.

I loved having a younger sister at school, even before our parents were married we would talk on the playground. I would watch out for her and make sure no one messed with my little sister, I got picked on a lot in those days so I knew how important it was to have some one to look out for you. 

Besides being the youngest of our respective families, we also had another similarity. We both have the same middle name. Jean. 

We were the flower girls for our parents wedding, we got to have special floor length peach dresses that
looked just like the made of honor's green and my new mom's blue one. We started slowly walking towards the alter, and then it happened. Everyone turned and looked at us. Nervous laughter came up through my throat, then Laurie started laughing. It was done - we giggled all the way down the aisle.

Laurie and I were now the youngest and from the beginning it was the plan that we were going to be great friends and allies. We shared a room in the new house on Van Norman. When we went shopping for new back to school clothes our mom was forever dressing us the same like some odd set of twins. 

I guess Laurie was my first test subject for my schemes. Our bedroom was on the first floor, right across from a full bath. It was almost like having our own guest wing. The room, which was really a den, was just big enough for a chest of drawers and a brown bunk bed. I had the top bunk and Laurie slept underneath. For the record this would be the case until I broke it when I was a Junior in High School - that is a story for another day. The bunk bed came complete with a ladder you could hang off the side to make it easier to climb up to the top bunk. 

It could also be used to climb out the bedroom window and escape into the night. Now before you get too concerned, we only did this when our brothers and sisters would escape from their windows (on the second floor, mind you!) to head up to Dutchland Dairy, an ice cream parlor on Packard Avenue. 

My brother, Ricky had a paper route and every now and then would treat us all to ice cream. This meant we had to wait for the parents to go to bed first. Then you'd hear Gary, Rick and Mike climb out the basement window and Ginny, Judy and Cathy climb  down from the second floor (Karen and Bonnie were Seniors in High school - so they didn't join us, they were too cool for that!) 

I would help Laurie out the window and then climb out myself, then I'd grab the ladder and hang it outside the window ledge so we could get back in later. We would walk down the street - 8 kids of varying ages so proud of our sneakiness. I love that memory - all of us together, one big happy family.

We found out many years later that we weren't fooling anyone, our parents actually knew that their kids had just escaped the confines of their bedrooms, and didn't care.

Laurie and I spent many hours in our bedroom, listening to the two records we had on her record player.

One side was 'how much is that doggie in the window' and the other was a song/story about a boy painting his wagon. I still remember the line 'I had no brush, so I used my hand' and hum it to myself when I'm painting, because it always looks like I used my hand instead of a brush.

The record collection would expand as the years moved on, my favorite being the Gene Autry Christmas Album. Every now and then I hear one of those songs in my Pandora feed and I am taken back to that room on Van Norman.

For some reason my life revolved around making money. I had many ideas, which Laurie was all to happy to go along with, most of the time. I arranged for us to shovel the sidewalks of a few neighbors. Thankfully the sidewalks were small and very few of our neighbors had the driveways that we have in Oak Creek. Only the apron in front of the garage that lead off the alley. We did this whenever there was snow, most of the time. I mean, we were kids and those early morning cartoons were not going to watch themselves.

In the summer we had to come up with other ideas to earn money. We weren't allowed to use the push lawn mower and both of us were too short to wash windows. We required babysitters ourselves so that was out. 

We had been to the local pet store and had decided we really wanted to add a goldfish to our bedroom. Laurie had put her record player away so there was just enough room for a fishbowl. We had priced it out and a it would be a little more than $20 for fish and supplies. After checking our stash we realized we were about $18 short. 

We never got allowance so any money would have to be earned or found. We tore apart the upstairs and downstairs furniture looking for loose change. Rummaged through every pocket in every coat, even checked the laundry to see if anyone had left cash in their pockets. We were now 85 cents closer. 

We had to figure something out. We decided we would put on a show for our brothers and sisters. Our parents bowled every Sunday so that would be the best chance. We made up flyers using crayons and school papers and sold tickets. 

Then we put on some records and did our best to memorize the songs. I know I did a dance to 'Reeling in the Years' but can't really remember what else we did. Mike, Rick and Judy attended. We were still $17 short.

Putting our heads together we came up with 'Errands Run - 50 cents'. We posted a sign on our door and offered to run errands for our brothers and sisters. We ran for doughnuts, newspapers, candy, even to Woolworths for school supplies.

Another count of the money proved we were still a long way off from our dreams of a new roommate. 

Let me tell you, if you want to earn money fast, and you are a 9 and 6 year old the best way to do it is to bug your older sisters boyfriends!

Ginny's boyfriend, Dennis gave us $7.50 each to wash his car. This would only need $2 more and the fish would be ours. Cathy's boyfriend, Neal was more than happy to help us out. 

We jumped on our bikes and pedaled as fast as our legs could go. Since Laurie was giving up her prime record player spot I let her pick out the fish. We bought gravel and food and walked our bikes back home.

Our brother, Ricky, had a fish tank in the basement so we knew a little about taking care of a finned friend. Setting up the bowl was the high point of the day. We sat and watched the sun shine through the water and proudly agreed we would take turns feeding our new friend

The next morning we woke up (nope, the fish was still alive) and began thinking of our next money making plan. We had our eyes on a hamster we saw at the pet store and would need twice as much as we did for the fish. 

I wonder if Dennis needs his car washed again?