Still the Sixties

"You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."~~Walt Disney
She always called the false tooth a plug tooth. When she was old and lost some of her teeth naturally that tooth still hung in there. The man that had knocked out the tooth was from

Czechoslovakia. This means he was almost a Pollock according to her. Pollock’s were supposed to be dumb, but she described him as having a bad temper. Drinking made him even meaner. His name was Joe, same as her next husband. This was a fact that she mentioned many times in her life experiences. She was beautiful and dressed better than any of her friends or family.
She had gotten a job at Kreskies (Yankee for K-Mart). She lived with her parents in Wayne and used her salary to buy things for herself. Her dad loved her so he wanted her to have everything she wanted. Part of her being marked crazy by my dad’s family may have been; she was spoiled by her father. He had a nurturing character. He did the same thing to his wife. He made life as simple for my Grandma as he could. She was weak and nervous, also. With Grandpa Carte’s understanding she did not suffer the harassment Mama would in the following years.
She was not perfect; no one is. She lived in a far from perfect environment. Going with the flow was not really an option for her. She had the kindness within her that she didn’t show often. There were too many around her forcing her to take up for herself. She could not win. The visitors from Alabama were drinking. They used Joe’s Apartment as a place to vacation. Keith and his wife came on a regular basis. Uncle Keith would tell Grandmother that he was looking for work in the north. All he did was stay with his brother and rally all night, most of the time.
I was just barely walking on one visit. Mama must have just rolled with the punches of each visitor. She drank as many younger women did in the early sixties. Aunt Nell was fresh from leaving a child for a new man. She lived with guilt of leaving the child, along with uncertainty of how this post-affair marriage would work out. She had a small baby boy to take care of in a city she knew nothing about. In the mist of drunks she took the responsibility of taking care of me and her little boy. Mama sat back and let her, because she would. She sat underneath the tree hiding from Aunt Nell and her attitude. The attitude was that of a great mother. She was trying to prove she was good. Mama just was not willing to prove anything. She just hid under that tree letting someone else do it. Drinking let her escape from what she should be doing.