Grandmother comes to visit
In the early 1950's our Kansas Grandmother and Aunt Vivian came for a three week visit. Grandmother is second from the left in the photo, and Aunt Vivian is on the far right. They were lovely women, who wrote us weekly letters to keep in touch in those days before email, when long distance phone calls were reserved for death notices. Grandmother had been a farm wife all her life, and did not know how to live the life of idle visitor. We woke up every morning to the smell of yeast rolls baking for breakfast (yuuuuuuum) and after a day or so of doing "nothing" she finally asked my mom in desperation if she didn't have any rags. We had a large rag bag, so for the remainder of her visit Grandmother was happily occupied in turning those rags into rugs. These oval rugs were crocheted from our cast offs, and were used for many many years around the house, in the bathrooms and in front of the kitchen sink.
Aunt Vivian, just as industrious, occupied her time in doing needlework. It was on this visit that she taught me how to tat. Now tatting is a fairly obscure form of needlework, being a very fiddley and tedious way to make lace. Over the course of their visit, she very patiently taught me this old art form, and when they left I had my own tatting shuttle and a new skill. Aunt Vivian made a tatted bedspread, and was also skilled in quilting as was Grandmother. Joy and I have some quilts and quilt tops that were made by them. I also remember doing embroidery with Grandmother and Aunt Vivian, but this was a skill that had been taught to me by my mother.
Aunt Vivian was a maiden lady who never left home. She had a college degree from Pasadena Nazarene College, then returned home and worked in an office until her retirement. She supported her Mother after her Dad died in 1945. I don't know if Aunt Vivian had any male "admirers", and both she and Grandmother were much involved in their family and church circles. Aunt Vivian was a very shy, sweet and gentle lady who always took an interest in Larry, Joy and I. She wrote us frequent letters, and I can remember being reminded by Mom to write to Grandmother and Aunt Vivian each Saturday. When Aunt Vivian died in 1965, we found that she had a life insurance policy with us children as beneficiaries. It doesn't sound like much, but each of us inherited $1000.00 from Aunt Vivian, and it was enough for George and I to buy a house in Pacifica. The $1000.00 covered the down payment and closing costs on a $13,500.00 house in Sharp Park.