Thursday, February 27, 2014

Anticipating California

My mother baby sat Shelly, the granddaughter of Mom's cousin, Norma. Noreen, Norma's daughter, drove Norma and Shelly to our house one Sunday in August of 1978. Mom, of course was happy to see her older cousin,Norma, the daughter of Grandpa Evans' older sister Edith. She was older than Mom, consequently, her daughters also were older than Mom's kids. Well, everyone was older than I.
We had a pleasant visit. At the very end, Noreen or Norma mentioned that Shelly needed a babysitter. Noreen had a well paying job at Packard Electric plant, working various shifts. Shelly was eight. She had lived with a babysitter in Wheatland, but that lady was unable to continue. Shelly would live with us during the week. Mom and Dad always had a heart for children, so with little discussion, they said yes. Shelly's bags were packed and I had a little sister going into my senior year, who didn't live with us on the weekends, often. Some weekends, she stayed.
Now, from my journal:

March 27, 1979
Yesterday Shelly got a belated birthday card from Diane. In the message were some words for me, advising me to bring my camera and plenty of film. She named all the places we would visit and excitement filled my eyes, even though I was sick. Magic Mountain, Hearst Castle, Death Valley and a lot of other great places are some of the attractions we will be attending.
These last couple of days will seem an eternity even though I have been looking forward since last year and now it is a reality. Thursday I'll go crazy from anticipation.

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