Just Another Day

Life at Granny Ewen's house was always fun.  At any one time, you would have a number of first cousins ready to join in the day's activities.  Such is the picture shown.

Let's see now...on this day there was Stella Ewen to my left who was a couple of years older.  Then my older bother [Henry] is almost directly behind and above my glowing face.  Next is Evelyn Jean who was about two years older, and was the only "girl" who could keep up with me on most of these days. She would wear jeans instead of the usual dress expected.  And finally David Ray, who was just one year older.  [We became best of friends.]  He only had one finger in his mouth, but I had both fingers in mine!

The black and white TV set is above us all.  They were just coming out, and I am not sure if this picture was taken to show this phenomena and we just happened to be in the picture.  The youngest among this group of first cousins I am. [Probably why I had both fingers in facial derangement mode.]

At any rate, here we are.  Our shirts checkered and colorful, the girls in white blouses and dresses...oops except Evelyn, and maybe we were just getting ready to watch this amazing square box called "TV".  At Granny Ewen's, it was just another day.

Calm Before the Storm

Sitting still for very long was not one of my favorite things.  You had to be ahead of the pack at Granny Ewen's since there were many first cousins to contend.  This must be one of those pictures of the "the calm" before "the storm".

 It was taken at Granny Ewen's house when she and Grandad lived in Lexington, KY.  My can't wait to get going look is clearly present.  Just inside the front door was this large, comfortable chair with a pillow, and Granny Ewen's crochet underneath. [crochet = needlework consisting of the interlocking of looped stitches formed with a single thread and a hooked needle.]  She did a lot of this crochet, and I have a number of her hand sown pieces.  At any rate, my white shirt is neatly in place, along with my belt and suspenders.  An ash-tray stand is to my left, and a newspaper rack is full of the days information.  I would call it "the calm".

Moving on along the days adventures is the following picture taken pretty much in the same location.

You can see that Granny Ewen had stopped the day's proceedings.  My usual condition is shown, with a great big smile, shirt hanging out, and only one suspender still hanging.  She is holding down my first cousin's hands, and my brother is standing innocent looking to his left, with some sort of object held in his mouth.  I was holding high something that must have been the prize of the day since my cousin seems unhappy that I am holding it.  What else is waiting I must be thinking.  To the next prize of the day...no more calm before the next storm... I still have one suspender to go.

The Later Days

Ten days shy of her 95th birthday, Granny Ewen (Stella Morton Ewen) died March 1, 1994. At my present age of 60 years, that means she lived longer than my childhood, high school, college years, medical school years, residency, 2 year fellowship, and a few years faculty, as if I were just now starting them! Wow, that is a long time.

"Granny", as we usually called her, lived in a log cabin as a child. She grew up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky, and saw the world change as we never knew it. I once asked her what she thought was the most amazing change she had experienced during her life time. "The light bulb", she said. Who would have thought?

She birthed 12 children, mostly all at home. She lived in Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Indiana, and moved the family roughly 35 times. She loved flowers, cooking, and making fruit cakes for Christmas. She was a Kentucky Colonel!

The picture to the right shows Granny at my Mom's home during the last years of her life. She was very hard of hearing, and refused to wear one of those ear gadgets. My Mom, and her Mom shared these later days. At my very last visit to Granny's bedside, she did not really recognize me, and thought I was a minister. I held her hand, and we prayed, thanking God for these later days.

Busted

Life and times at Granny Ewen's was always an adventure. Lots of cousins to play, lots of uncles and aunts to ask questions, and lots of places to explore were all part of the activities. Finding an unclaimed bottle of "ALE-8-One" was always an unexpected treat.

Ale-8-One (a soft drink) had been part of my families' drinking choice well before I was born. In fact, it had been around since 1926, when a man named G.L. Wainscott first made his brew. Mom and I would walk past his bottle making place on our way to Kroger's. It was located on West Broadway behind the old post office. The large doors would be wide open, and you could watch the racks of green bottles run their course from one side of the building to the other. It made all sorts of clanking, and bumping, noises that provided an interesting side line to our trip for groceries.

Now "finders, keepers" was an acceptable saying around Granny Ewen's house. That is unless you got caught. The picture to the right shows Granny and me with that look. Hand on the hip, grim reaper type expression, and my "oops" got me look on my face. [It must have been early in this adventure since my shirt tail was still tucked in!] I have the Ale-8-one bottle in my hands, and I suspect that I had downed most of the unique mixture ginger and carbonation. Birthing and raising 12 youngins', keeping watch over more than 30 grand kids, and especially watching out for me would, gave her extra knowledge and know how to keep my findings to a minimum. Anyway, who would want to take such a picture of Granny and me...well...busted.

A Picture in Profile

Family pictures have a way of telling our family's stories. The picture to the right shows Granny Ewen, with her second child May Millicent born December 7, 1920. The picture was taken March 26, 1921, which would make Millicent around four months of age. The lady she is sitting with is not identified, but I would guess it is Granny's mother, Malaha Morton, nee Howell. The most striking thing about this picture is that Granny is sitting in profile. Almost every other family picture that I have show the folks sitting forward and facing the camera. Here Granny is gazing at Millicent who seems a bit shaken at this picture taking experience. Malaha is looking to the camera with a gaze that seems to say, don't you hurt my girls, or your life will be forfeited. The date of this picture gives the context. Granny had just lost their first child, Minnie Thelma Clay Ewen. In Granny's hand writing, she records "Minnie Thelma Clay Ewen - born March 24 1919 - Died March 11, 1920. age 11 mo. 16 days." Therefore, this picture would be taken around the anniversary of the death of her first child, and holding the hope of her second. No wounder Granny's gaze is to her daughter, and not to us. Her contented look seems to say, life goes on, and she is sitting in my lap...a picture in profile.

Granny Ewen's Childhood

Having pictures of your grandparent's childhood is special. I just can't imagine what it would have been like to have spent the earliest part of your childhood in a log cabin. The picture to the right shows Granny Ewen (Stella nee Morton) and her brothers and sisters. She is the oldest daughter, b.1899, standing to the left in the dark skirt. Lemon Morton, b. 1896, is the oldest, standing in the dark cloths to the right. Between are Myrtle Morton, b. 1901; Bruce Morton, b. 1907; and Moses Morton, b. 1905 all dressed in white. Bruce seems to be sitting on a small chair which is sitting on a larger chair, which is used to make everyone about the same head level. All those standing have shoes, which they seem to be carefully displaying. All seem to have a sad look about them, uncertain about this picture taking business. Caught in time, around 1907-1908, is this picture of Granny Ewen's childhood. How many childhood memories are caught in time but never passed down to the next generations.