More Family Memories - Pictures

The above picture is a  younger picture of my Mom and Dad taken around the late 1940's
Lenna Aileen Scoggins Luker and Edward Brazil Luker

Bobby, Mom, Dad, Allen and Kenny I was married and living in Nevada when
this was taken.  I bought the dress that Mom is wearing and the necklace
and sent it to her for Mother's Day probably around 1965

I took this picture of my Mom and Dad with my Brownie Camera
taken on the back patio of our Rose Park home sometime in the 1950's I think
I was around 11 or 12 so maybe 1953 

I can remember when we moved into our new Rose Park home.  I loved it because it was so big compared to the duplex we had lived in.  I always wanted a home with an upstairs bedroom.  The top floor was unfinished so Patty and I slept in a bedroom on the main floor. I can't remember where Bobby slept.  He was still a baby, so maybe he slept in a crib in Mom and Dad's bedroom.

One 4th of July Patty and I were playing with sparklers and there was a garbage can burning, where we lite our sparklers.  Patty was lighting her sparkler and some how caught her dress on fire.  It was horrible, as she did the worse thing you can do and that is run.  Finally Mom caught her and put the fire out.  Patty was burned pretty bad and I am sure still has the scar from the burn.  I couldn't understand why Mom and Dad didn't take her to the doctor.  I guess in those days we weren't taken to the doctor like now.  I remember going into the bedroom where my sister was and  I felt so bad for her.  She had to be in a lot of pain as the burn on her stomach looked really bad. Patty's birthday is on the 5th of July and this had to be the worst birthday ever for her.

Finally, Dad had our upstairs finished, and Uncle Mike Luker was the one who did it.  Some kind of a big disagreement happened between Dad and Uncle Mike and they didn't speak for a long time.  I think my cousin Jimmy Provost finished the project.  Not sure about this but I seem to remember Jimmy being there and doing the work.  Patty and I had a huge bedroom, and then there was a smaller one, and a bathroom on the other end. At first Patty and I shared a bed.  I hated this as Patty had some kind of a kidney or bladder problem and would wet the bed.  It never failed, she would be on my side of the bed when this happened and I would be the one to get up and have to change, my PJ's etc.  After this happened way too many times, I remember one time, I started to hit her and woke her up.  I was just tired of the whole mess.  Finally Dad bought another bed and Patty and I had our own beds.  This was so much better for me to have my own space.

Allen, and Kenny were born while living in this home.  I would get up in the night and go downstairs to Mom's bedroom and help her take care of them.  I loved my baby brothers and I didn't realize it but  I became like a second Mom to them.  I will never forget when Larry and I got Married, my brothers cried as they thought they would never see me again.  I remember telling them that I would be close by as we rented Aunt Mary's little home a few blocks away.  We had the upstairs and Jean, Aunt Mary's daughter, had a basement apartment.

When I was going to West High, I had to leave the house earlier than Patty.  So she would wait until I was gone and then raid my closet and wear my clothes.  I had bought most of my clothes with my baby sitting money.  The clothes back then had to ironed and Mom had me do the ironing of my own clothes.  One morning I went to my closet to chose my favorite a black dress that I knew I had ironed and was ready to wear.  Much to my disappointment, it was wrinkled, and had been torn in one of the seam lines.  Needless to say, I knew what had happened, and I am sure I got into it with Patty.  Even though I was the oldest, I was the smallest.  Patty was a lot taller, had bigger boobs, etc.  So my clothes really didn't fit her.  I was around 5'5" and Patty was around 5'8" or 9" not sure.  Mom was taller than me too.  I guess I was the runt of the family.  Every time Patty calls me, she brings up the black dress episode and apologizes.

Another bad memory is that I was a late bloomer, and I had one of my first dates when I was a Jr. or Sr.  I think his name was Glen and when he came to pick me up, I was upstairs getting ready.  Patty was downstairs in the living room where he was waiting for me.  She blurted out to Glen that I had to take laxatives and I don't know what else she said.  I wanted to bury myself someplace, and was never so embarrassed.  I overheard this as I was coming down the stairs.  I somehow hoped he hadn't heard the remark. We went on our date and he never asked me out again.  I blamed Patty for this.  It is good that Glen was there when this happened as I would have beat the crap out of her. You have to realize that I was so shy to the point of being painful.  I was told by one of my close friends that when I was around boys, If  I would just act like I did around them, I would have all kinds of dates. I was a crack up and would always make my friends laugh.

I used to love to roller skate and my friends and I would go once a week to the roller skating ring on State Street.  It was a good place to meet boys.  I met this really good looking boy, and we ended up going on a date.  I found out he was much younger than me.  So he ended up dating Patty, and I was introduced to his brother, who was in the service.  I ended up meeting Larry around this time, and that is who I ended up marrying.  I don't know what happened between Patty and the good looking guy, but I do know he was very upset with me for hurting his brother who was wanting to marry me and have me go to North Carolina where he was stationed. He was saving money for this. Sometimes I think things work out the way they are supposed to.

I will never forget one time when my Dad was mad at Patty for something, and he said to her "Why can't you be more like your sister Donna and have some common sense."  I overheard this, and I hated it that Dad was comparing Patty and me, I feel it caused a big problem between us.  Patty always says that she was Dad's favorite, but I don't think that was the case.  Maybe it is good that she felt that way.  After this happened Patty came upstairs to our bedroom and I hugged her and said.  "Don't feel bad, Dad didn't mean it."  I don't know what else I said, but I did try to console her.  There is three and a half years difference in Patty's and my age so we weren't really close, and we had a lot of conflict because we were so different.  Even the West High teachers who knew me, couldn't believe Patty was my sister because we had such opposite personalities.