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A CHRISTMAS MEMORY-1946 (Grades 3-6)
WELCOME TO OZZIE'S WORLD. OFTEN WHEN I VISIT A SCHOOL, STUDENTS WILL ASK ME ABOUT MY LIFE. WHERE DID I GROW UP? WHAT WAS IT LIKE BACK DURING WORLD WAR II? SO, I'VE DECIDED TO TELL MY STORY TO THE KIDS WHO HAVE COME TO KNOW ME BY SEEING MY ASSEMBLY PROGRAMS. HERE IS A SHORT RECOLLECTION OF A CHRISTMAS EVE BACK WHEN I WAS ONLY TEN YEARS OLD. A CHRISTMAS MEMORY.....1946
I REMEMBER IT WAS EXTREMELY COLD THAT AFTERNOON, AND SURELY TO GET COLDER AS CHRISTMAS EVE APPROACHED. THICK FROST COVERED THE KITCHEN WINDOWS OF OUR NORTHERN MINNESOTA FARMHOUSE. NO WONDER. THE ROOM WAS BATHED IN STEAM FROM POTS THAT BUBBLED AND HISSED ON THE OLD HOME COMFORT WOOD STOVE.
I WAS TEN YEARS OLD THEN, THE LAST OF ELEVEN CHILDREN BORN TO MY MOTHER, JULIA. MY OLDER BROTHERS WERE HOME FROM THE WAR, AND MOM AND MY TWO OLDER SISTERS WERE PREPARING A FEAST OF NORWEGIAN FOOD . AS DARKNESS CAME, FAMILIES ARRIVED IN OLD CARS THAT BATTLED DRIFTS OF SNOW. LATER, WE GATHERED IN THE LIVING ROOM TO LIGHT THE TREE. LITTLE CANDLES IN SMALL METAL HOLDERS WERE STRATEGICALLY CLIPPED TO THE BRANCHES. I PLAYED SANTA CLAUS FOR MY LITTLE NIECES AND NEPHEWS, DRESSED IN TWO RED SWEATSHIRTS (ONE FOR THE TOP AND THE OTHER FOR THE PANTS) MAKING MY ENTRANCE WITH A FEW SIMPLE TOYS IN A WHITE FLOUR SACK SLUNG OVER MY SHOULDER. I REMEMBER THE WOMEN LAUGHING IN THE KITCHEN, MY BROTHERS PLAYING CARDS AND THE KIDS PLAYING WITH NEW TOYS ON THE FLOOR . IT WAS ONE NIGHT WHEN WE DIDN'T FEEL AS POOR AS WE ACTUALLY WERE.
AFTER THE FAMILIES HAD LEFT, MY BROTHER LEONARD, WHO RAN THE FARM, TOLD ME WE HAD TO GO TO THE BARN. ROSIE, ONE OF OUR MILK COWS, WAS READY TO HAVE A CALF. I DRESSED WARM, AND MY MOTHER WRAPPED A FLOUR SACK AROUND MY HEAD TO PROTECT MY FACE FROM THE COLD.
THE THERMOMETER ON THE BACK PORCH HAD DIPPED TO 43 BELOW. MY BROTHER WALKED BEFORE ME ON THE SNOW-PACKED TRAIL TO THE BARN. I CARRIED A KEROSENE LANTERN AND NOTICED MY LEGS CAST SCISSORS-LIKE, CRISSCROSSING SHADOWS ON THE SNOW. OUR BOOTS MADE CRISP SOUNDS ON THE FROZEN PATH LIKE THE CHIRPING OF STRANGE BIRDS.
WE ENTERED THE BARN AND I HELD THE LANTERN OVER MY HEAD. THE ROOM WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A MAGICAL, WHITE WORLD. THICK FROST COVERED THE COBWEBS IN THE CEILING. WE STOOD IN A CANOPIED JUNGLE OF TANGLED, WHITE VINES. THE WALLS WERE WHITE, THE WINDOWS WERE WHITE AND WHITE STEAM ROSE FROM THE FRESH MANURE. PUFFS OF WHITE SMOKE EMITTED FROM THE MOUTHS OF COWS.
ROSIE WAS LYING DOWN. ONE TINY HOOF AND THE LOWER END OF A GLISTENING LEG PROTRUDED FROM THE MOTHER. THE CALF WAS COMING OUT BACKWARDS. I HELD THE LANTERN AND WATCHED MY BROTHER STRUGGLE WITH THE CALF. HE ROLLED UP HIS SLEEVES AND REACHED INSIDE THE MOTHER. HE FREED THE OTHER LEG AND BEGAN TO PULL. HE WORKED MANY MINUTES UNTIL THE CALF WAS FREE AND CRADLED IN HIS ARMS.
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