I know, I am falling down on my blogging this spring. We have been sitting stationary for a month now and I just don’t get much chance to get into trouble and therefore have something to write about.

Lets give a hearty cheer for mothers. I have been scanning some really old photos and I have a good one of our young family in 1967. Take a look below.

Judy was about half way through her 20th year when got our first look at Glen, our first born child. At that time we were living in a 43 foot by 8 foot mobile home that we towed ourselves behind a 1947 one ton pickup. I was working as a telegrapher for the Northern Pacific Railroad and taking classes at Washington State University. A little math manipulation and the Consumer Price Index, (CPI) shows that we are making about 50% more today as a retirees than we did that year in Pullman. Our current home, although about the same size as that mobile home, is many times more convenient and mobile than our first home.

Now we were a one income family throughout those early years, but I have always maintained that Judy’s contribution was easily worth a second income in the household. Our clothing and groceries were routinely supplemented by Judy’s sewing and canning activities. Judy had a full time job in the home that we jokingly called household engineer. She shopped at multiple stores to max out the coupons. We bought or picked our fruits at the fruit stands in season and canned all kinds of fruits and jams.

Once we sold our mobile home and bought our first stick home we got along on one car. I car pooled so Judy could have a car every other week. She planned her activities around that schedule. One week when she didn’t have the car, she got called to jury duty. She explained her situation and told the caller she would try to get there in time. She arranged babysitting for Renee and rode her bicycle over to the courthouse. Even though not chosen for the jury, she still got six cents per mile for her travel on the bicycle. They had offered to send a police car over to pick her up but she just couldn’t see herself riding in that style.

When I returned to college to get my degree Judy had an even bigger challenge. Virtually every dollar we spent ran up our college loan. I remember that she used to mix 50:50 regular milk and powdered milk to stretch the budget. Glen was just five and Renee was just two when I finished that degree. We have never regretted those lean times.

We have now come full circle. Renee now has a girl, Georgia, who is 20 months old tomorrow. That means we have two mothers to celebrate Mothers’ day tomorrow. So lets take a few moments and ask for a blessing on Mothers everywhere.

Love to all from Gary and Judy in Hillsboro Oregon.