The McGowan Family
Those simple three words never fail to warm my heart and flood my mind with fifty-four years of memories. Memories that make me laugh, cry, rejoice, regret, and above all feel love all at the same time.
At the tender age of five, life or fate ripped a major player in my immediate family out of the lives of the remaining three players. The very wise young mom of twenty-five, Dorothy, moved back to Arkansas to be near her mom, Blanch McGowan.
Blanch had lost her life-mate a couple of years earlier. Devastated, she moved from her home in Joplin, Missouri to Lowell, Arkansas. Her third child, Ruby, and her dear husband, Melvin, asked Blanch to live with them. They said they desperately needed a babysitter, and who could better perform the job than the lady that raised twelve children of her own!
Ruby and Melvin Clark rented a house in the rural community. It was small, but to the new five-year-old resident, it seemed a magical castle. Just remembering bedtime brings a flood of warm memories. Everyone had a bed at night even though many were in the same room and two people to each one. Ruby and Melvin were the only two that shared a bed in a room by themselves. They surely missed out on the fun we had in the other rooms!
Outside brought many adventures. Somewhere Melvin had a garden. Ruby and Mom put the veggies into jars they cooked. Then cousin Eddie and I got to help Grandma, Ruby or Mom carry those precious jar into a mysterious place called the storm cellar in the side yard! The yard was full of frogs, turtles and it even had a few snakes. We had fun there for a very short time.
The Clark’s landlord decided the rent house had increased in value. Based on that piece of information, Ruby and Melvin found a slightly smaller castle for sale in which to move their immediate and extended family. Ruby and Melvin still shared a bed in their own room, but this time all the rest of use shared one bedroom. Grandma and the youngest, Harvey slept in a double bed next to bunk beds. The top bunk was filled nightly with two five-year-olds, Eddie and Randy. The bottom bunk housed Dorothy and her three-year-old son, Dale. Several months down the road, Dorothy moved with her children to a three bedroom rental house within easy walking distance of the castle.
Both houses functioned as one. A garden was maintained close to the castle grounds. Grandma eventually bought, moved and occupied her own piece of heaven on the castle grounds. The rental house kept the laundry going for both households. The McGowan family gathered in and around the castle regularly. I now enjoyed the love and direction of three women (Mom and mom figures) and one man (father figure). Eventually additional parental figures were housed closer to the castle; Hazel (with son Paul) and Willie and her husband Earle (with sons David and Danny). Then another regular was Alice, her husband (David) and three children (Wayne, Doris and Jonnie) as transportation allowed. Occasionally the castle was honored with the presence of other McGowan offspring. Eileen brought her husband and four children, Luther came with his wife and four children, Velma and her husband Bob visited (they even settled close for a few short years) and Norma June brought her three children around once or twice.
Children’s laughter was often heard. The children laughed as they jumped from the top bunk bed to the double bed. They laughed as they went into the neighbor’s garage. They laughed as they threw toys at the yellow-jackets’ nest in the rose bush. They laughed as they helped put seeds in the ground of the garden. They laughed as they played games with the neighborhood children or random cousins on the castle grounds. They laughed as they bounced balls inside the castle walls. They laughed as they sat on the back of the couch. They laughed as they snuck cookies from the cookie jar. They laughed when they played in the ditch in the front yard.
Tears, silent or not, could be heard when they children were caught doing anything they had been told was not permissible. The moms loved to swat. Melvin was different. He found it amusing to make the small tikes repeat the offense. It was amazing how the laughter turned to tears so quickly. But, the life-long lessons were learned.
Other life lessons were learned with much frustration on the part of both children and adults. Subject-verb agreement, or rather disagreement, seemed to prolong many conversations! I remember hating to hear Ruby’s broken record, “What?” until the correct usage was found by the child attempting to tell a story. Making me stand up straight seemed to be the focus of both my mother and Ruby during my teenage years. I can still feel the whack across my back as I walked by either of them with my shoulders slumped. Transferring the love of reading came from all directions. I hated the written word. In spite of the fact, Mom modeled her love, Ruby read to us daily and Grandma talked about the books she read and reread. Now I teach others how to read.
The love for each just came and stays today. Thank you Momma.
