1984

My mom had a live in boyfriend between husband one and two. He came into my moms life by cheating on his wife and he exited in much the same way. While she lived in the small rented trailor by the highway with Ferlin she worked as a nanny for a family with three small children.

One weekend Mom and Ferlin were going to drive to the beach and visit my sister Margo and her family. It was about a three hour drive and I mentioned to my mom that she should take Marsha with her to visit aunt Margo and cousin DJ. DJ was only 10months younger than my Marsha.

Mom was quick to point out that Ferlin didnt like to travel with small children in his truck, but later I learned that they had taken a smaller child with them. Instead of taking her granddaughter with her to visit family my mother opted to take one of the children she babysat for instead. When I asked her about it she said, the childs mother had asked her to watch the little girl and she accepted the job at the last minute.

I said, "I thought Ferlin didnt like kids in his truck"? "Well they were paying me to take her with us", she said. "Oh, you would have taken Marsha if I paid you", I said. "Why do you have to be like that?", was her response to me.

I was very upset by what my mother did, but I am also thankful for the insight. It allowed me as a young mother to begin to see how much (or how little) my family and I meant to my mother.