A Long Time Ago....

The time I am thinking about was such a long time ago. I may have been six because I can barely remember it. It is so interesting because I watch and hear about children including my grandchildren going here and going there. I really don’t think they think a thing about it.
If in fact, I was six years old this outing was sixty years ago. It stuck in my memory all these years.
You have to understand that would have been 1949 or 1950 that my mom and dad and my little brother and I went to Sioux City, Iowa to see the Blackwood Brothers.
The trip was about fifty or sixty miles in our old car that may not always be dependable but I don’t remember ever having a flat tire, however. Our car looked kind of like the Modern P.T. Cruiser made by Chrysler.

The arena seemed huge to me. I smile to myself when I think about it. There were no plush chairs to sit in. The chairs were slat chairs, which I may add very uncomfortable for a wiggly little girl to sit in. I can vaguely remember my mother holding my little brother through the whole performance.
In those days I already enjoyed music. My mom and dad had a Victrola and a radio. Mother played the piano and played hymns and some modern music. She also hummed a lot. She hummed when she was happy and she hummed when she was upset and angry. That is so funny I just remembered that. I do the same thing. Anyway, I am rambling.
I loved the music that the Blackwood Brothers sang.
When we listened to it the music made you automatically want to tap your feet. Of course, mine couldn‘t reach the floor; or kind of swing back and forth in time. There was no sound of music that my father loved more than a bass. The Blackwood Brothers had a bass, tenor, and baritone. The harmony was perfect.
Well the end of this story is just amazing. After the music was over, my dad walked up to the front where the singers were and bought one of their books. I still have that book.
I learned how to play piano from that little book other than the Thompson books and our hymn books.
One of the songs in that treasure book was a song called, “Little Angel Put Your Little Shoes Away.” I played that song over and over because I could sing it and play it which is no small feat for a six year old. One day my mom had tears in her eyes and asked me to stop playing it. Seeing the tears, I did not ask “Why?” I just stopped it.
A few years before I was born my older sister had been killed in a sledding accident. I am sure that song made the picture of my sister appear in her mind.
Memories are amazing things, aren’t they? Some are pleasant, some are sad, and some are painful. This memory is pleasant and sad. I miss my parents, but have such a grateful feeling of having had them as my mom and dad.