Chapter Four
After the visit to the hospital Lily and her grandma went home and the next day they woke up early and went back to the hospital. Lily’s Mom could now leave the hospital.
Lily rode home in Mommy’s car. The Miller’s owned two cars. They had two sedans; a blue one and a white one. They called the white car Daddy’s car because it was the one that Timothy used to get to the office. Mommy’s car was the blue one and it was used for errands and for doctor’s appointments and anything else Emily, Lily and now Andrew, did while Timothy was at the office.
Lily asked her parents. “Mommy what are we going to do when we get home.
“Grandma will help us decorate for the family party.” Timothy replied
“Weren’t we supposed to decorate before you got home?” Lily asked
“When you were born grandma did some decorating before we got home but we did streamers and things as a family.” Emily said.
“We will put up the ‘It’s a Boy’ sign and blue streamers and do our traditions when we get home.” Timothy added. “Why look. We’re there!” Emily got out of the car while her husband got Andrew out and handed him to her. Timothy then moved on to getting Lily out of the car. Lily’s grandmother was at home already and Lily ran around into the back yard and let herself in her house. Emily swaddled Andrew in a blue blanket and covered his face in her shoulder. Emily, Timothy and Andrew walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. Lily and her grandmother answered it and led them, silently, into the living room.
Emily suddenly said. “It’s a Boy! It’s a beautiful baby boy!” Everyone leaned over and looked at the baby.
Lily’s grandmother asked Emily. “What is his name, weight and length?”
Emily replied. “Andrew Timothy Miller, Six pounds, five ounces and he is eighteen inches long.” Lily’s grandmother wrote the information on a piece of paper. Lily then ran out of the room and came back with a morning glory. She handed it to her mother and Emily smiled. Emily walked into Andrew’s room with Timothy, their eyes down. Emily placed the morning glory into the vase. She and her husband looked up and smiled.
Timothy exclaimed. “What a marvelous room!”
Emily said gracefully. “I would like to thank all the children and women who so graciously helped with this baby’s room.” She continued. “Would the oldest woman of the Walter’s generation please step forward and explain to the children who helped, the origin of our tradition.”
Lily’s grandmother stepped forward and said. “Children gather round. I married Mr. Charlie Winters (of whom died ten years ago) and I took on the name Mrs. Jane Mary Walters Winters. My daughter, Emily Mary Winters, who married Mr. Timothy Miller, took on the name Mrs. Emily Miller. Yesterday, she gave birth to Andrew Timothy Miller. You have helped build his room and deserve to know the history of our traditions. Long ago, there were no hospitals for babies to be born. Instead there were midwives, who birthed the babies at the mother’s house. The babies were born in a special room of the house and none were allowed in the room while the baby was being born except, lest the midwives’ secrets be revealed. After the baby was born the father was let in. He helped the midwife and cut the cord attaching the baby to his mother. After the baby was cleaned and the mother was cleaned and her hair combed and she was in a new garment they would knock on the door. Birthing babies is a very messy business and sometimes it took a very long time before the mother and child were ready. Anyway, they knocked on the door and the grandmother of the child would open the door. The baby would be swaddled like Andrew was, with his face in his mother’s shoulder. The midwife, mother, father and infant would be led into the middle of the room in silence. The midwife would shout ‘The child is born’ and then she would leave. After the midwife leaves the mother would shout ‘It’s a boy’ or ‘It’s a girl’. Everyone would lean over and look at the baby. The Grandmother of the child would ask the weight, length and name of the baby. The time was unimportant because none would ever know the time the baby was born and only the midwife would know. This was another thing that Walter’s consider information only the midwife would know, it was another thing to keep midwifes sacred and important to the family. Anyhow, the grandmother of the infant (On the Walter side) would write this information down on piece of paper tucked away in the first page of Mathew. The page would list all the names of people in the family (on the Walter side, if the other family side had a peace of paper like it, their family tree would go next to the Walter family tree). Once the information was written in the family tree the oldest sibling would go pick a flower to give to her mother. She or he would pick blue for a boy and pink for a girl. If the infant had no siblings (like you) the father would pick the flower. The rule was that the flower must be picked by a member of the infant’s immediate family. After the flower was handed to the mother, she and her husband would walk to the infants room with their eyes down and the mother would place the flower in the vase and she would look up. Before the baby was born the children and women of the family would build the room for the baby. The mother and the father of the infant could not see the room. The women and children could not use anything that belonged to the mother and father. After the mother and father have seen the room the mother would call the oldest woman in the Walters generation to explain our tradition. After this is done the family would go and plant an Easter lily for the baby. There are no special rules for planting the Easter lily except that it must be planted next to the plant that the infant’s flower was picked. The plant that the infant’s flower was picked from is the infant’s plant. Once the Easter lily has bloomed the child is baptized and the lily is placed in the same vase as the flower the infant got on his birthday. Another blue or pink flower from the same plant is added every month until the baby is a year old. When the baby is six months old the older sibling is told how her or his birth went out. If a child doesn’t have any siblings before his six birthday he or she is told how his or her birth went out. That is our tradition. Our tradition is modified to suit the mother and child. My mother’s good friend was a nurse and she helped birth me at my father’s house. She couldn’t leave my mother and I until the next day so she didn’t leave but she went back into the birthing room. She was very good about our traditions and obeyed them all. My room was even made by my two elder sisters and my aunt. My mother was given a pink tulip that was growing in our garden. My second eldest sister was so dramatic that she brought a pink rose with swollen hands but my grandmother, strict as she was, sent her back to pick a tulip.”
Emily said. “Thank you Mother. Lily that Easter lily in your room is your baptism lily. Now let’s go plant Andrew’s Easter lily.”
The little family walked out side to the yard.
Emily asked Lily. “Lily, where did you pick Andrew’s morning glory?”
“By the bunch right next to the slide.” Lily replied.
“Than we shall plant the lily next to the morning glories.” Emily announced.
Timothy spoke up. “Darling you and the baby should sit and watch while we dig in the dirt and plant the seed.”
“Alright, I guess the baby shouldn’t get dirty but I didn’t get to plant Lily’s seed either. Honey can’t I help plant the seed.”
“(Sigh) Are you up to it?”
“Of course.”
“Alright. But who will hold the baby?”
“Mother can.”
Mrs. Winters spoke up against her daughter’s idea. “I think I should be able to help, too!”
“Well who will hold the baby? Lily’s only four and she would want to help plant the seed too.” Said Emily. Soon this argument increased in volume and everyone kept on pointing fingers at each other and telling them to hold the baby.
Lily quiet and observing said softly. “Why can’t we take turns?”
Timothy, in the midst of the argument said. “We have been fighting like children while the child has said something very wise.”
“What did she say?” Emily asked
“Why can’t we take turns.” Lily repeated.
“Ugh, you’ve raised Lily this far and yet you don’t realize that the baby would get dirty when we hold him.”
“Where gardening gloves.” Emily said.
Soon they were planting the Easter lily. Emily was sitting near the group of gardeners holding Andrew. Lily noted that Andrew slept a lot, now was one of the few times when he was awake. Emily was showing him the seeds.
Emily whispered to Andrew. “These are your lily’s seeds. When these grow into flowers you will be baptized and join the Christian church. You will have a happy life here. I think I’ve done a pretty good job with your big sister. Look at her, all happy and smiling. Look at the wonderland your father and I have built for you. Yes you will be very happy.”
Timothy said to his wife. “Honey we’re done with the hole. Let me hold the angel while you can plant his seeds.”
“Alright.” Emily replied. She passed Andrew to her husband and then walked over and put the seeds into the hole. The group started to bury the lily seeds in the ground.
Emily said. “I have a very good idea. Why not we start a new tradition and place a wooden cross into the ground - just a small one that will mark the spot where the lilies are planted.”
Mrs. Winters frowned at this idea but Mr. Miller loved it.
“I think that’s a great idea!” Timothy exclaimed. “But, where will we get wood for it?”
“Don’t you have some wood in the garage?” Emily asked.
“Hmm” Said Timothy, pondering the idea. “I think that will work.”
“Wonderful, when should we make it?”
“If I may step in, I would suggest that Timothy would make the cross while the rest of us bake a cake”. Mrs. Winters said. Andrew started to cry.
“That’s a good idea but you and Lily will have to bake the cake yourselves. I think that Andrew’s hungry.”
I really enjoyed writing this chapter and making up all the traditions. Joey and Julie have asked me if I'm going to get the book published:-) I told them that I would try. If I can't I will go to the public library and see if I can get them to let me start a club where kids would bring in their stories and their would be a 'by kids' section and people could read our stories.
Today I am going to do something amazing. Joey has piano lessons and we have to leave at three thirty to get him there. He always arrives early and has to wait for the other kids classes to be done. The reason he has to come early is so that we have time to drop me off at gymnastics. five to ten minutes after we leave joey discovers he left his books at home. We have to drive all the way back to our house to get Joeys books and I'm always ten or five minutes late for class. Joey is distracted by his DSI (which he brings for amusement while he waits for his piano lesson). So today I am going to remind him to bring his books. I have written this so I will remember to remind him.
with love to my loving readers,
Theresa
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