Dear Mothers,
This evening, Jimmy (age 39) our oldest son and his wife Alecksondra and their little baby will be here. We will all gather at my folks for supper. The kids around here and their families will be there, too. My Mom is making Tacos and I will bring my macaroni salad. Then for the 4th we will all go to my brothers who lives on an acerage. And John will shoot off firecrackers for all of us to see.
July 4th is John's Christmas! He presents the whole thing as if he is on stage. He introduces himself like he is a Show Host. And then he proceeds to blow things up. The explosives fly through the air and are way too much for the area. And the debris falls from the trees right on people's heads. Makes me wanna cry to just think of it.
Jimmy hasn't been home for July 4th in many years so he will love all of this. Alecks, who is much more sophisticated then the rest of us, will say to Jimmy, "Jim, I have a headache -- can we go home?" About the time things that are on fire start coming through the trees? Hmm, it ain't gonna be pretty. There is a big difference between the people who were brought up on the East coast and the ones who live in the Heartland. Alecks is very educated, too. People from the East are a lot more sophisticated. Jimmy, who is a wild and crazy Hultquist, acted like he came from the East to get Alecks to marry him; then he showed his true self.
One time at Thanksgiving at our house, Jimmy and his new wife of about a year were just getting out of the car to come into the house. It was pretty cold out and a bit muddy in the yard. As Jimmy was getting out of the car, the brothers threw Jimmy to the ground to wrestle him in the mud. Jimmy, at first, was taken by surprise but then really got into it and had fun. His poor wife stood in shock and kept screaming, "Jim, get up -- you are a married man!" She almost had a anxiety attack. Jimmy just kept on goin'. Pretty soon, the aunts and uncles were coming. My sister-in-law runs in the house and says, "Connie, you better go get those boys. The neighbors will call the police." I am, of course, in the house workin' like a dog to get the meal on and wasn't about to go out and make my boys be good. Jim thought it was funny so he didn't stop 'em. My sister-in-law told her daughter, "Those boys need a time out, right, Ashly?" She was brought up in a houseful of girls so she had never seen such crazy goin' on before.
Aunt Toot used to just about croak at my house. I would be serving coffee as if all was well. And Dan and David would be wrestling in the living room. Toot would say, "Connie, won't those boys get hurt?" Heck, I didn't even notice them.
Jimmy invited us all to his wedding in New Jersey in 1998. What a riot! Jimmy told his guests that we weren't his real family -- he had just rented us to make people think he was a wild and crazy guy. They played music from the 1950s for the wedding dance. Dan ran and jumped over Christian Joy's head, and she is about 5 ft 9 or 10 inches tall. Well he did that among other things.
My Mom used to have nightmares after coming to my house for dinner. For one thing, my little kids were always playin' under the table. And Mom would be talkin' to me and then she would lift up the tablecloth, look under the table, and say, "Are you sure you want those kids under there?" One time I wasn't watchin' the kids and Mom asks for a fork to eat her pie? They brought her a B-B-Q fork. I didn't even notice it. But later in the week, she brought me over a new set of silverware, as she thought I had lost mine. After that, she expected all of my silverware to match on the table. But I had the kids set the table and I just wanted all of the dishes to be clean and in order. Matching silverware was beyond me. Just before Mom and Dad would come in, I would tell the kids, "Make sure Grandma and Grandpa's silverware match." Well, the kids would do unreasonable things with my silverware!
And ya know, if the back end of the house didn't blow off and Papa could still put food on the table, he thought all was well. His view of all is well was a far sight different than the norm. What made our lives really hilarious is that I was so overwhelmed, in the summer especially, and I would just go ahead and submit to anything Wild Man came up with. I mean, most women will try and talk their husbands out of some things. But, heck, I didn't have time to do anything but keep truckin'.
After Jim got saved, I had 3 more children in about 5 years. Jimmy had joined the Navy and called home collect from Guam and other countries. We had phone bills of $500 a month. Jimmy would send the money to pay for it after the phone company was ready to shut the phone off. We were always runnin' like hound dogs to the phone company with a check, yellin' "Don't shut it off -- we have the money!" It was always in the nick of time. As our whole lives were spent in the place called "Nick of Time." Once, when Jimmy had just gone into the Navy, he didn't call or write. I called the Navy and asked where he was. He tells me later, "Mom, you are supposed to go through the Red Cross to get ahold of an enlisted man." They had gone into Jimmy's barracks with "Seaman Recruit Jim Hultquist?" Jimmy stands at attention. "Sir?" "Your Mommy called. She said you forgot to write home to the family. Write your Mom a letter." Well, Jimmy always kept in touch after that. At home on leave, he would remind me as he was leaving to catch the bus, "Mom, don't call the Navy." Well, what are ya supposed to do if you are a worried mom?
But, oh, that Papa. Ya know, even in his old age, I just felt like he could do anything. As long as he was with me, we would be ok. Often, as I would hug Jim and hold him tight, I told him, "You feel in my arms as you always have." Jim remained about the same weight as he always had been. To me, he was always 25 years old.
Dan said he dreamed of Dad the other night. Dan is still in NYC with Christian Joy. Anyway, Dan says over the phone, "Mom, I dreamed that we were at a family gathering. And Dad was there as usual. I thought to myself, 'He can't be here.' But I thought that, because he was, I would just hang out with him and be with him, as I have have missed him so much." The other kids have similar dreams. I have many daydreams of Jim.
I wonder if he will be watching Johnny's firecrackers in the sky with us on July 4th. It wouldn't surprise me.
Love,
Connie
