WALKING BY FAITH - I KEEP CLIMBING
MOTHER WAS A LADY
by June Estelle Cash
My memories of my mother was that she was a lady.
She fought for her kids. She kept her integrity. She stood on her ground when the question of her "morals" came up.
To begin with, Mother's name was Vida May Carpenter, born April 8, 1915. It was a time of uncertainty, and yet of optimistic hope. 1914 was the year Forrest married Lillias, in the very beginning of a year when our country went to war. Her first memory is of her grandmother Vida May (Ingalls) Brewer who cared for her while her mother "recuperated" from having this little girl. The love that Grandmother gave her was so unconditional that my mother fondly remembered as the R O C K of her family.
Forrest Raymond Carpenter, Mother's father, was working with the Electrical Company of the mill in Shelburne Falls, MA.
This was Lillias May (Brewer) Carpenter
with her daughter Vida May, April 1915.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g41809-Shelburne_Falls_Massachusetts-Vacations.html
SHELBURNE FALLS, MA
https://www.shelburnefalls.com/
HERE ARE TWO PICTURES, ONE OF PRESENT DAY LOOK AT
SHELBURNE FALLS OLD BUILDING, ALSO A PHOTO OF
WINTER AT THE AREA WHERE THE BRIDGE IN SHELBURNE
WAS. TODAY IT IS NEWLY FURBISHED, BUT THEN IT WAS
MERELY IRON GRID, EVEN UP TO 1987 WHEN WE VISITED THERE.
TODAY IT IS A FULLY CEMENTED BRIDGE, WITH MANY FLOWERS.
MOTHER'S SOON REALIZED THEY HAD A CHALLENGE ON THEIR HANDS.
SHE WAS A REDHEAD. HER MOTHER WAS A REDHEAD. HER GRANDFATHER WAS A REDHEAD. AND SHE ASKED QUESTIONS. INQUISITIVE, SHE WANTED TO KNOW
"WHY?"
Here we were. Both parents were perplexed.
In 1915 Children WERE TO BE SILENT
AND NOT TO SPEAK UP
Why?
She asked.
In that era of time, EMPLOYERS did not allow
their children to play with the children of the
EMPLOYED - the workers -
it just was not done.
She took in what people said, and thought about them. She was told, Vida, you cannot play with ..... The children of the
workers were not to be her playmates.
Your father, her mother declared, is part of the Employer's staff- working as the Electrician - and you cannot play with the children of those who are not on the staff. Why? she thought, was it B A D to play with the children of the workers?
Mother did not know that the reputation of the mill was not good. The conditions of the mill worker were less than what really was desirable. Her father did NOT WANT HER to associate with them, for it would be too much a difficult influence for them to deal with. And it could change her future. Mother did discover that they put great store by her, and that they took time to instruct her to "be good"....
Grandmother knew how to do that. She had gone to the State Teacher's Academy, and she had taught Primary School for 3 years before Forrest found her.
When I was 13, Grandmother showed me this photo of her primary school where she taught. She was an important piece of the puzzle of my life.
Here is Anne Brown - A dear friend of my Grandmothers as
well as being a cousin.
The Browns were "cousins" and as they grew up had been in the summers
right by each other on the famous tourist place at York Beach where
the rich and famous gather. At that time, however, there were about 8
families - close friends - and quite a few relatives
on that ridge that overlooked the beach in Maine.
This is where the Nubble Light House is. It no longer is operating,
but is kept for display there. Its horn sounds the warning automatically.
This was Lillias May on her wedding day,
such a lovely Bride.
Here is my Mother Vida with a lady that came to babysit her.
Her mother was quite weak after Vida's birth, and it was
a while before she began to resume her role as Mother.
My Grand-uncle Albert Carpenter visiting at York Beach Maine
probably on the Wedding Day - or when Forrest his brother visited Lillias before getting married in 1914.
This house still is there, I sat on the porch in 1987 when I went with my husband Henry Cash to see it. It seems to me I believe that Mother grew up knowing a strong family, knowing she was loved, and knowing that the family really dared to believe in a future.
I believe this is York Beach view from the Lighthouse,
because the bay is like a U shape and so it would be Eastham.
Eastham was on Cape Cod MA itself, and York Beach is
a cove on the shore of Mass.
Vida here on the left, with her sisters Althea and Esther.
Many happy memories in York Beach, Maine.
I believe that my residence in Blaine at Drayton Harbor WA is in conformity with the heritage I have with my Mother, Grandmother, and Great Grandparents.
My Grandmother Lillias Carpenter was a woman of strong faith. She had been raised by her folks in the Methodist Church in Eastham. Her father Luther Wilbur Brewer was a leather tanner who faithfully served the Lord as a deacon in his church.
This is a very old photo from 1914 when Grandmother and Grandfather got married. I don't know the details, but you
can see in this photo my grandmother in her wedding dress, with what seems to be grandpa, with others over closer to the water.
I understand they had to have three certificates of the marriage because they lived in different counties, and the work also was in another place.
This was the Waterworks in Shelburne Falls MA where Grandpa worked.
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They moved to Adams MA where Mother and her sisters were very close. Here is Esther on the right, with Me next to Mother - Vida May Donato.
I thought this my aunt not me, but my mother was just 17 when she gave birth to me.
So I believe this is me. It would 1934, because I look about 9 months old, it would be Spring.
God had His hand upon my life
because of my Mother.
How she loved me.
If you are a mother,
always be your child's best friend.
Let them talk to you.
Be there.
Listen.
Love.
and be firm to teach them God's Way not the world's way.
John 3.16
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD
THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM
SHOULD NOT PERISH
BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
and me 1933 June 11 I am two days old.
