Posted:Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:30 AM CST
Chicken Every Sunday
Remember croaking a chicken,in the old days?I do-with a alot of dismay.In the beginning Ma, ruled the roost!!She`d stand with her feet apart,hands on her hips,& when she said something -you listened."Just wait,you`re gonna get it"!!(never found out what IT was).We just knew when she gave us the that,"eagle eye"& spoke through her teeth,& told me,I couldn`t tell Pa,that she borrowed money from a Polish lady down the street.( We lived in a "garage house",all 5 kids,in 3 rooms,no bathtubs)..WE weren`t modern ,Ma said.So, a FOR SALE sign disappeared across the street.(Ma bought it,without Pa`s knowing it).He`d get an allowance,though....for his tabbaco & pipe.Time progressed.It was before the 2nd world war,we had to be frugle.-Celebrations & Sundays,were for chicken dinners.I was 5,what a burden I had-to keep my mouth shut,I thought the mayor would send us all back to the old country.After a year passed,the woman was paid off,& asked if there was anything else she could do.Yipe!!!THAT was all the incentive Ma needed to borrow more money,"Whadda know,someone`s building a house across the street"Pa said.Meanwhile,he was recruiting neighbors to bring unused wood home,to build some small projects,with .When the projects got bigger,Ma`s rocker was rocking faster,& her,being more nervous than usual, on the porch,figuring out how to tell Pa,about the house.(Oh,boy)!!...One Saturday,My two sisters were supposed to keep me occupied,while my dad wacked at a chicken`s neck,on a tree stump,& I saw it!!!I was SHOCKED when the chicken ran off without it`s head through the neighborhood;I paniced & ran out the door screaming that the chicken was after me,for one reason or another,& the neighbors were trying to catch me,just when a modeT car ran over that poor chicken.-SPLAT!!!- I didn`t eat chicken for a really long while....But Ma HAD to tell Pa,what she had done....And soon after, they were holding my hands & I looked at the house,when we took a walk in front of the house,across the street,& I said,so innocently "OURS"!!???Ma Jerked at my hand,& she finally told Pa,& HE took the credit!Our entertainment was going for a ride,in our old Desota.But at every turn,there stood a sign that said "CURVE".(In Ukrainian,my mother,thought,"what kind of country is this, when a house of "ill-repute" is,at every turn...democracy goot,or not ???)"Look vat dat say. ,every time ve go `round"......I guess they had a lot to learn.As for me,I finally got over being terrorized by a chicken.And we actually had a new house.Only two bedrooms ,though.My two sisters,& one brother had married,and it wasn`t until my other brother left for the Navy,that I had a bedroom,all to myself-(but only on borrowed time, until he got home).None the less,I felt grown up.I even started to eat chicken again.The war ended,but the economy started to get bad.Guess nothing`s perfect.(I found that out at a very young age).Life is good,and sometimes you to try really hard. But when you do,you can appreciate it so much more.