My father asked my sister, Pat, and I to go get our mother’s Christmas gift. He had ordered a new Singer sewing machine for her. He told us to bring our savings with us. I used to make potholders on a special loom and my father would sell them at work so I would have money to buy gifts for family and friends. That year I learned how to make special Christmas pins at the Lighthouse for girls. I made these for family and also sold some to make money for gifts.
Well, on Friday night, Dad took us to a store on Germantown Avenue that sold the sewing machine and also material for my mother so she could make clothes for us. Dad had been working a second job to save for the sewing machine. He was paying for it on time as many people did in those days; they didn’t have credit cards. Then my sister and I looked at material Mom would be able to use to make us new dresses. Then Dad said my sister and I could pick the pattern for the dress we would like. We would help pay for the pattern and whatever was needed to finish the dresses. We both said OK.
Then the lady in the store added up the cost of the things he, my sister and I would spend. My father told us to take out our purses so he could take the money we would pay. First, he took my money, which I gladly gave him, and then he asked my sister for her purse. When she saw my dad take some money from her purse she screamed at the top of her lungs, “You’re stealing from me!” My dad was so embarrassed and I tried to tell my sister that was how you pay for gifts. She cried all the way home at least 2 miles.
Rowan writes from Avalon.
