A Woman I Don't Know

I don't really know much about her, except a few of the stories told by others and two or three she herself quite briefly shared with me. She married a farmer in her early teens. She had ten children, five boys and five girls and raised them all in a small one bedroom house with dirt floors out in the country somewhere. As the children grew they watched over the younger ones as she cooked and slept in the afternoons. No finicky eaters in this house. The children ate whatever was served and often times one or two of them would go to bed hungry, too many mouths to feed I guess and not enough food to go around.

Her husband would leave, sometimes on foot other times on horse and carriage, for weeks to sell his crops and when he returned she was there. Everyone knew about his adventures and his travels, so of course she knew too. She once told me how he returned from a trip and candidly informed her how much he had enjoyed the women there. She, on the other hand, never traveled, shopped, attended a dance or visited a restaurant. Poor woman, she stayed home and made babies. This was her life as it was for many women around the world in the 1930's and 40's. She asked for nothing and expected nothing.

Once they turned twelve and thirteen, two of her daughters quit school and worked as maids in town. These young girls could not get an education because they had to feed themselves and their younger siblings because mother and father could not. After a few years of saving and with the help of one of their brothers the two girls purchased a small home with an extra bedroom and a floor. It took the daughters days to convince the father to move to this new home, for he was a proud man who insisted his home served them well. Eventually he accepted and the family moved. Now, when the lady of the house in town humiliated or treated the young women harshly, they could at least go home and sleep on a bed in a house with a floor, a reward they savored for many years.

In her 70's this woman awoke to find her husband missing. He had gotten up early, showered and shaved and dressed in his best. He took a rope, tied it to the tree in the backyard and took his life. No one knows why, and if they do they never told. In her 80's she lost a son and in her 90's she lost another.

She never wore fancy clothes, never had jewelry, never drove a car. She used no expensive creams to scare away the wrinkles, no dieting, no exercising and no vacations. This very tall woman that I really don't know very much has never had any aspirations, dreams or illusions; she just lives. And how does she live? In her late nineties, she still listens to the radio, sings and enjoys her afternoon naps. Occasionally, she mentions that she is tired and wonders why God has not come for her yet. The years have not destroyed her though, for she still dresses up and pats some powder on her face before leaving to the doctor's office. She jokes with the doctor and with the girls in the office before returning home to her rather large apartment where she has her own room, her kitchen, living room and dining room. Her remaining children watch over her, clean her house, cook for her and run her errands. Seldom is she alone. Yet, she asks for nothing and expects nothing. She simply waits patiently and quietly as she has all her life, never stressed, never hurried, never wanting and always accepting of her life as it is.