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Gollee, I feel old sometimes.
Reading here and there about aprons has been really fun for me. I have a collection of aprons in a drawer upstairs. Many of these are too small to wear--from the days of the twenty-one inch waist, I fear. I bought a bunch at the thrift store one day for a quarter apiece--these were ironed, starched, and folded--someone dumped a drawer from an estate into the Goodwill box, I guess. Too bad--they were not in pristine condition, marks of use were on them. Someone's Life, here.
When I was little, my Mom wore aprons. She had at least seven, because she only did laundry on Mondays. On Tuesdays, she sprinkled the clothes, rolled them up, and put them in a basket, ready to iron. Then my job was to do the "flat" stuff--Daddy's hankies, pillowslips (I think that is prettier than "pillow cases"), and aprons. I had to fold them in half, fold the apron strings downward, then finish folding, ready for the drawer.
My mother was never Mrs. Helen --------. She was Mrs. Robert ---------. Even up to a few years ago, old ladies in my church referred to themselves as Mrs. (husband's name). I have an old Betty Crocker cookbook--the recipes have introductions: "This recipe comes to us from Mrs. Henry ------ who serves it at her bridge club luncheons."
I have no problem calling myself Mrs. Barbara -------. I think the doctor's office or J.C. Penney would look at me funny if I used my husband's name. But I like to look in our church directory, because it lists me as -------, Barbara (Mrs. K---).
My mother used to tell me that I needed to be Refined. This is a word we don't hear much anymore. Though I personally use its antonym, "crude", a whole lot, when speaking about tv or any number of things in the culture. It seems that no one strives to be "refined" anymore.
Now, I've decided I really NEED to start wearing aprons. Maybe I wouldn't get so many stains on my clothing--of course, aprons served a practical purpose. But, just like the more formal names, propriety in so many areas has just fallen by the wayside. Do you hear the word "propriety" used very often? I think I will look it up again in the dictionary, and begin to measure my life, using that as a scale. If I can act with propriety, and be refined, I think my Mother and Grandmothers would be pleased. And finally decide that I didn't let "everything" go in-one-ear-and-out-the-other. |
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