Life with Lily (17 page)

M
ama had hurried extra fast through the morning work. Lily tried to keep up behind her. She knew today was a special day. She helped Mama gather a bouquet of daisies and black-eyed Susans and put them into a little vase. Mama tied a pretty pink ribbon around the top of the vase.

“Lily, I think we're ready to go,” Mama said. She looked Lily up and down and frowned. “On second thought, we will be just as soon as you wash your face and hands.” As Lily bolted up the stairs, Mama added, “And don't forget your bonnet.”

“Face and bonnet,” Lily repeated.

Lily ran to the washbasin to splash cold water on her face and hands, then dried them on the fluffy blue towel. She glanced into the mirror to make sure there was nothing on her face that would make Mama spit on the corner of her handkerchief and wipe it off. She did
not
like that. Satisfied
that she could pass Mama's inspection, she ran back downstairs, took her heavy black bonnet off the wall hook, and stood quietly while Mama tied the ribbons under her chin. If only she could wear a straw hat like Joseph did instead of the hot bonnet. It held her head in a tight grasp and made her feel as if she were in a tunnel.

Today, they were going to Grandpa Miller's to see a special visitor. Mama's grandmother was visiting! Mama couldn't wait to see her. Lily tried to imagine how old Great-Grandma must be since she must be older than Grandma. And Grandma Miller was old. Almost fifty. Grandpa called her his little antique and she would swat him, playfully, when he said it. It always made Lily laugh.

When they arrived at the farm, Grandpa came out of his harness shop to unhitch Jim and put him in the barn. He took Jim out of the buggy shafts whenever the visiting would last a long time. Lily saw Uncle Elmer's buggy next to the barn. She knew that Aunt Mary and Hannah must have come to see Great-Grandma too. What a happy day!

Mama knocked on the door. Lily could hear voices inside and then Grandma's quick footsteps as she came to the door. When Grandma opened the door, Lily caught sight of Hannah in the kitchen.

Hannah jumped up and ran to Lily, whispering furiously to her.

Lily couldn't understand what Hannah had said. This awful bonnet! She couldn't even hear right. She yanked the ties and pulled it right off. “What did you say?”

“Great-Grandma is sitting in there,” Hannah whispered, pointing to the living room. “She's scary! She has a big cane and she keeps poking it at people.”

Lily did not want to get poked by a cane! She wasn't sure she
wanted to go into the house, but Mama held the door open. “Come in, Lily. I want you to say hello to Great-Grandma before you and Hannah run off to play.”

Lily followed Mama into the house but tried to hide behind her. She could see Great-Grandma sitting on the rocking chair. Her hair was snow white and her leathery face was lined with deep wrinkles. Her hands looked bony and wrinkled and covered with blue veins. Most concerning to Lily was the wooden cane held across her lap.

Mama went up to shake hands with Great-Grandma. She set the vase of flowers they had brought along beside the rocking chair so Great-Grandma could see them. Lily was surprised how happy and pleased Mama's voice sounded. Great-Grandma seemed glad to see Mama too. Lily decided that Hannah had been playing a joke on her. Great-Grandma wasn't scary. Not scary at all!

Just then, Great-Grandma lifted her cane and looped the crooked end around Lily's neck. She pulled it forward. “And who is this little girl?”

“I'm Lily.” Lily's voice surprised her. It wobbled, barely above a whisper.

“You'll have to speak louder so I can understand you,” Great-Grandma said. She tugged the cane closer to her. Lily stumbled forward.

“My name is Lily,” she said, relieved that this time her voice was clear and Great-Grandma seemed to hear her.

“So you are Lily. I hope you are as sweet as the flower.” Great-Grandma leaned forward in her rocking chair and peered at Lily over her wire-rimmed spectacles. “Tell me. Do you know how to gather seeds for summer geraniums?”

What an odd question! Lily nodded her head. “Yes. I help Mama gather seeds every fall.”

Great-Grandma smiled. Satisfied, she released the cane from around Lily's neck and settled back into her rocking chair. “Summer geraniums have been a part of our family for generations. Every year we plant them in our garden and enjoy their pretty pinks all summer. We harvest the seeds in fall to save and plant next year. Those seeds come from the only pretty things my grandmother had and her mother before her. They've been handed down from mother to daughter, generation after generation. Who knows how long our family has been raising those flowers?” She shook a boney finger at Lily. “And you are part of this family of women. When you are old enough to have a garden, I expect you to plant a row of summer geraniums every year.”

Mama gave Lily permission to go play with Hannah and Aunt Susie. As Lily turned to leave, she decided that Great-Grandma was definitely scary, but not quite as scary as Hannah led her to believe. But Lily wished Great-Grandma would use her cane only for walking. She did not like having it hooked around her neck like she was a little lamb.

Mama and Aunt Mary helped Grandma cook a nice big lunch. After they had eaten, Great-Grandma said to Grandma, “I would like to go outside to see your summer geraniums.”

“Are you sure you want to walk in the garden?” Grandma said. “The path is very uneven to walk on.”

Great-Grandma sat up tall in her chair. “I may be old and I may shuffle when I walk. But I'm not so old that I can't be the judge about what I'm able to do.”

Grandma and Mama exchanged a look. Even Aunt Susie looked surprised at Great-Grandma's huffy tone of voice. But they all went out to the garden. Slowly. Ever so slowly. As slow as a caterpillar. Lily thought she had never seen anyone walk as slowly as Great-Grandma did, shuffling along. Once they
reached the garden, Great-Grandma walked along the row of summer geraniums. Lily wondered what she was thinking. Was she remembering herself as a little girl, or thinking about her own mama and grandma? After all, these flowers were just like the ones she had gathered seeds from as a child—in fact, those flowers were the great-grandmothers of these very geraniums! Lily looked up and observed her mother's face, her grandmother's and great-grandmother's, her aunts', her cousins'. These geraniums were just like the women in her family—all ages, all shapes and sizes, all belonging together. Same thing.

Great-Grandma moved along the rows, admiring the pretty blossoms and pointing out a few fat bumblebees that flew lazily from blossom to blossom. One bee started to buzz
around her. Great-Grandma waved her cane at it. There went that cane again!
Watch out, bumblebee,
Lily wanted to say,
or you'll find yourself with a cane around your tiny fuzzy neck!

Suddenly, Great-Grandma crumpled to the ground in a heap.

Mama and Aunt Mary tried to help Great-Grandma to her feet, but she couldn't get up. Her eyes were open, but she was listless. “Run and get Grandpa, Lily,” Mama said. Her voice sounded filled with worry.

Lily ran to the harness shop to fetch Grandpa. As she opened the door, Grandpa looked up from the sewing machine where he had been mending a harness. “Great-Grandma fell in the garden and can't get up!” Lily said.

Grandpa bolted to the garden. Lily ran after him. She had never seen Grandpa run that fast before and could hardly keep up. He knelt beside Great-Grandma. Her mouth looked funny and twisted and her eyes didn't look right. “I think something more happened than just a tumble. I'll go call an ambulance.”

Mama sat in the garden and held Great-Grandma's head in her lap. Grandma and Aunt Mary crouched down to talk to Great-Grandma even though it didn't seem as if she could hear them. Her cane lay on the ground next to her. Lily wished that Great-Grandma would sit up and wave it around—even if it meant that Lily would be hooked around the neck. That would be better than having her lay here in the garden like this.

The wail of the ambulance's siren came closer and closer. Grandpa came running back from the neighbor's house just as the ambulance flew up the driveway. The ambulance stopped near the edge of the garden. Two men in blue uniforms jumped out and hurried over to see what was wrong with Great-Grandma. One man checked her pulse as the other
pulled a stretcher out of the ambulance. Together, they carefully lifted Great-Grandma onto the stretcher and rolled it into the back of the ambulance. Grandma asked if she could go along. They motioned for her to quickly climb in. Then they shut the doors of the ambulance. The two men climbed in the front cab and the ambulance hurried back down the driveway, siren wailing.

Everyone stood there, listening to the siren's sound as it drove down the street. It had all happened so fast. One minute, Great-Grandma was looking at summer geraniums. The next moment, she was being taken away in an ambulance. It was too much to take in. Aunt Susie started to cry. Mama put an arm around her sister.

“It will be okay, Susie,” she said, patting her shoulder. “Let's go back to the house and help do the dishes. I'll wash them if you'll dry them.”

Aunt Susie wiped her tears and smiled. She liked to wash dishes. Having everyone help would be even more fun.

Grandpa decided he should go to the hospital. “Rachel, would you mind taking Susie home with you?”

“We'll be happy to have her stay with us as long as necessary,” Mama said.

Lily was glad. It would be fun to have Aunt Susie stay with them.

Later that evening, Lily was getting ready for bed when Grandpa stopped by Singing Tree Farm. “Great-Grandma had a stroke,” he said. “She will have to stay in the hospital for a while. I guess Susie and I will have to do the best we can while Grandma stays with her.”

Lily was happy to hear that Great-Grandma would be all right, but she was sorry Aunt Susie was leaving. She understood that Grandpa needed her. As they said goodbye at the door,
Mama said, “If you need any help with cooking or doing laundry or anything, anything at all, just let me know.”

“I think we'll be fine,” Grandpa said. “Susie is a good helper.” His eyes twinkled as he added, “But if you ever feel like baking a cherry pie, I won't turn it down.”

Everyone chuckled. Cherry pie was Grandpa's favorite. Everybody knew that. It felt good to laugh a little. It had been a long, hard, and sad day, but laughter made everything feel a little better.

E
arly on Saturday morning, Mama hurried everyone along at breakfast. “It's time to get ready,” Mama said, as Lily and Joseph finished their last spoonfuls of porridge. “Papa will soon be driving up to the house with Jim and the buggy.”

Lily ran to her room to change into a fresh everyday dress and apron while Mama helped Joseph and Dannie change their shirts. They were back downstairs just as Papa drove up to the front porch. Lily climbed into the back of the buggy and knelt on the seat beside Joseph, peeking out the back window. They were going to Isaac's house today to help load a big truck with all the family's belongings. Lily had been sad to learn that Isaac and his five younger brothers were moving away. The schoolhouse would seem empty without them.

This summer, three other families had moved away. Ten more children, besides Isaac and his brothers, wouldn't be
going to school this fall. Lily wondered what school would be like with so few children. What would they do at recess? What games could they play without Isaac? He was the one who always invented new games. The only children left in the district were her cousins, Levi and Hannah, Mandy Mast, and Joseph and Lily. Poor Joseph. He had been so excited to start school. Lily had been looking forward to having him in school. She wanted him to see how much fun school could be, but a school made up of only five children—one of whom was Mandy Mast—didn't seem like fun at all. And the school board still hadn't found a teacher. That was the biggest problem of all.

Two nights later, Lily had just finished cleaning her plate of the last spoonfuls of potatoes and gravy and then sat waiting, patiently, as Joseph and Dannie finished up. Mama was feeding Dannie from his little bowl. Papa sat back in his chair and told Mama about his day. He was building a shed for an older man who liked to tell stories while Papa worked.

As soon as Dannie ate his last bite of food, everyone bowed their heads to pray a silent thank-you to God for all they had eaten. They thanked God before a meal, and they thanked God after a meal. Before and after. Twice.

Afterward, Lily quickly gathered dishes from the table and carried them to the kitchen sink. Monday nights meant that Lily didn't have to dry dishes for Mama like she usually did. Monday nights meant that Lily and Joseph headed downstairs to the basement and filled the big iron kettle with water. Papa fastened the green garden hose to the faucet in the basement and turned it on, full blast. Lily held the hose so that the arc of water landed inside the big kettle. It would have to be filled all the way to the top with gallons and gallons of water.

After Mama had washed the dinner dishes and put them away, she came down to the basement with the clothes hamper. She carefully sorted all the dirty clothes into piles. Once sorted, she put each pile into its own big five-gallon bucket. After Lily and Joseph had finished filling the kettle, Mama took the hose and filled each bucket to the brim with water. The clothes would soak overnight. Tomorrow, Mama and Lily would do the laundry.

Early the next morning, Papa opened the little door in the bottom of the iron kettle and stuffed an armload of wood inside. With a match, he lit the wood on fire and closed the door. The fire would heat the water while the family was upstairs, eating breakfast.

After breakfast, Papa checked the water in the kettle and found it bubbling hot. He picked up an empty five-gallon pail and carefully dipped it into the boiling water. He poured the hot water into the washing machine until it was almost filled to the top. He checked the gas supply in the little motor attached under the machine. He made sure the exhaust pipe, snaking from the motor to a specially designed hole in the wall, was snug and secure. Satisfied, he went back upstairs to the kitchen.

“Everything is all set for the laundry, Rachel.” He peered out the window. The sun was just rising. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. “Looks like a beautiful day. It won't take much time at all for clothes to dry.”

Mama handed Papa his lunch box and gave him a special smile, one she had just for Papa. “Thank you, Daniel.”

Papa whistled as he walked down the steps, on his way to work. Papa was always whistling.

Mama gathered up the pot holders and tea towels she had used for breakfast and handed them to Lily and Joseph. “Run down to the basement and put these into the pail with towels.”

Joseph and Lily carried the towels downstairs. Mama followed behind them with Dannie in her arms. She placed him into a large cardboard box, partially filled with sand and toys. Papa had created an indoor sandbox for Dannie to play in while Lily and Joseph helped Mama do the laundry.

Mama pulled the starter rope on the little gas motor. She lifted up the heavy pail filled with soaking clothes and started feeding them, one by one, through the wringer. Water ran from the wringer down on a little tilted tray and back into the pail. She started with white clothes. The last load of the day would be Papa's dirty work trousers. By the time they got to Papa's trousers, the water had turned from crystal clear to muddy-colored.

Lily and Joseph liked watching the agitator turn back and forth, back and forth. Steam rose from the washing machine. When Mama was satisfied that the clothes were clean, she added a little bit of bluing to make the rinse water nice and blue. With a big wooden stick she carefully lifted the clothes from the hot water and fed them through the wringer.

“Careful,” Mama cautioned.

Lily and Joseph stood back so they wouldn't get splattered with hot water. Then they pushed the clothes down into the cold water as deep as they could. Every piece had to be rinsed by itself. Mama lifted a big towel as high as she could, then plunged it back down into the water. She plunged it three times before she fed it into the wringer.

Lily liked to help Mama with the rinsing. Mama let her do the smaller pieces. Up and down. Up and down. A little river of water was squeezed out of each piece of clothing as it went through the wringer. The one thing Lily didn't like washing was bread bags. Mama reused store-bought plastic bread bags for her home-baked bread. The butter Mama spread
on top of her own loaves made the bags greasy, so they had to be washed, like everything else. Mama didn't want them going through the wringer—she was certain they would tear. But if Mama happened to turn her back, Lily would feed a bag through the wringer. They didn't tear. They never had.

Lily reached into the water to get another piece of clothing. She swished her hand around and felt one of the plastic bread bags. An idea popped into her head. If the bread bag were filled with water, the little river of water that squeezed out of it in the wringer would be like a waterfall! Mama was checking on Dannie in the sandbox and bent over to tie one of his shoelaces. Her back was turned. Lily quickly fed the bread bag through the wringer.

Mama stood up and turned her attention back to the washer. She saw what Lily was up to. She darted over to stop the wringer but—too late!—the bread bag burst, showering Mama with cold water.

“Oh, Lily!” Mama said, dripping from head to toe with water. “You should know never to put bread bags through the wringer. I was trying to save the ones I had left. Now I'll have to buy a loaf of bread the next time we go to town.”

Lily felt a little guilty, but not too much. She preferred store-bought bread to home-baked bread. But she
was
sorry Mama had gotten soaked. “I'm sorry, Mama,” she said truthfully.

Mama dried herself off. Finally, after all the clothes and towels and sheets had been rinsed, Mama tied her clothespin bag around her waist. Lily carried Dannie and followed behind Mama and Joseph. They handed pieces of clothing to Mama to hang on the clothesline. Mama sang happily as she hung up her clean clothes.

Now came the fun part. Mama carefully drained the washing machine into several big pails and carried them out the
basement door that led to the edge of the garden. Lily and Joseph dipped tin cups into the soapy water and poured the water over the cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli plants. Three cups for each plant. Mama said the soapy water helped to keep bugs and worms away. “Shoo, bugs!” Lily would say as she gave each plant some soapy water.

Mama dumped the rest of the water on the basement floor. She scrubbed it with her broom until it was nice and clean and all of the water was swept down the drain.

It had taken all morning to do the laundry. Lily was hungry.

Mama fixed a few sandwiches and chocolate milk for everyone. It was time for Dannie to take his nap. Then, Mama and Joseph and Lily went outside to see if the first batch of hung clothes were already dry. Mama piled fresh, clean-smelling clothes onto Lily and Joseph's wide-open arms. Lily ran into the house and piled the clothes on the table. She waited for Joseph—in case he needed help with his pile of clothes—before she ran back outside for another armload.

When the last of the dry clothes were piled on the table, Mama came inside to fold them. As she folded, she sang a little song she had made up for laundry days.

Thank you, Lord, for this nice day.

Bless us as we put away

All the garments clean and bright

That were dried by wind and light.

Lily and Joseph sang the song with Mama until the last pieces of clothing were folded and put away. Lily loved laundry day, especially on warm sunny days. She loved helping Mama. She loved plunging the clothes in the rinser. She loved the smell of fresh, sun-dried clothes in the house. Next week,
she would skip slipping a bread bag through the wringer. She definitely would skip that part.

But Lily
was
looking forward to eating a slice of store-bought bread, lathered with sweet creamy butter and dripping with Mama's homemade plum jam.