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| "Our Ruthie" |
By:
Sue Motz |
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On Easter Sunday in 1925, Ruth Ann O’Connor looked hard at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, moving so close to the glass that her nose was almost touching it. Her small, deeply set, blue eyes stared unblinkingly back, her high cheek bones bearing the promise of future beauty, but at the age of twelve, simply made her face look round. Her long hair, of course, was tied high in the back with a huge bow. Her mother, Frances, always said she looked like she was hiding something when she let it hang loose.
“Who would want to hide such a face?” her mother would ask in mock concern, and Ruth Ann could never tell what she meant. Was she pretty, or funny-looking? Frances never said things like that to Ruth Ann’s older sister, Grace, who was a dark-haired “beauty.” Although the girls shared the same wavy thickness in their hair, the two looked as different as night and day. Grace was short, her lovely tresses flowing well past her waist, and a flawless complexion that bore not one freckle. She was also endowed with rounded hips and breasts. Ruth Ann, on the other hand, was tall for her age, slender and much to her dismay, showing no signs of “development” at all.
Ruthie hated the freckles that appeared on every inch of her skin, including her face, the undeniable redness of her hair, and the fact that her mother was making her wear the biggest danged bow she could find for the pictures being taken in front of their house that day. Grace apparently was too mature and beautiful to wear such a contraption, but, to Ruth Ann’s relief and gratitude, her sister had been instrumental in convincing their mother to not make Ruth Ann wear the thing to Mass that morning.
“She probably would have been too embarrassed to have a sister with a bow bigger than her head,” thought Ruthie, but that was all right. Not having to wear it was the point and the bow could be saved just for the occasion of Uncle William’s arrival, and hopefully never worn again.
Uncle William, John O’Connor’s younger brother, was due any minute from Wisconsin. He was taking his family to southern Illinois where he had recently bought a farm and planned to live, along with cows and chickens and any other type of creature that belonged on a farm. Will had already let his brother know that they would arrive in Rockford at 1 p.m. sharp, take the family pictures, and not even linger for a bite to eat before being on their way again. No one had ever met Uncle William’s wife, and definitely not his children, so there was great excitement in the family, even if the visit was going to be short. Grace had told Ruthie that William had been away from Rockford for a very long time.
“Well, he’s been gone long enough to get married and have three children, so I can see that it has been a long time, Grace.” She thought that Grace was a big know-it-all.
Grannie Annie, as everyone called her, was already in the kitchen fixing a huge bowl of potato salad, along with baked ham, snap beans and cornbread. Even though Frances told her again and again that Willie would not be staying long enough for a meal, Annie just ignored her and continued working away. A comfortable woman, large, bosomy and loving, Grannie Annie was Ruth Ann’s favorite person in the world. Her second favorite was her Aunt Julie, while her mother Frances somehow always wound up being last on the list, for one reason or another.
The March day was barely sunny, more overcast than anything but every once in a while a ray of sunlight would peek through the clouds and turn the neighborhood into something that promised to actually recover from winter. In just a few more weeks, Ruthie thought, it might be warm every day, and the trees and flowers would bloom. The winter had been a long one and on this early Easter day, there were signs that it really would end.
Suddenly, they could hear Willie’s car from several blocks away. It was a low, rumbling, occasionally backfiring, engine sound that at first made the neighborhood children playing in the O’Connor yard pause in their game of catch and just listen, as if something terribly important were about to happen. The car from a distance, however, seemed much grander than reality when it pulled up in front of the house. It was a dark blue open-windowed affair, the paint chipped in places, and a long trail of black smoke was coming out of the back end.
No one in the yard moved as the auto finally came to rest at the curb. A woman in a billowing hat, her hand resting on its top, was seated in the front passenger side. Next to her was a man who appeared to take up more than half of the available space. In the back seat appeared three little heads, the bodies they were attached to sunk so deep in the seat that only the very tops of their blonde hair was visible.
The woman turned and smiled at the children in the yard, her face framed perfectly by the fox collar on her coat. Her nose looked red and cold, but Ruth Ann was immediately enthralled; the woman’s beaming face appeared to be a thing of great beauty.
Uncle William wedged his way out from behind the steering wheel and proceeded around to the other side in a much sprightlier manner than Ruth Ann would have imagined, given his girth. He was not smiling, however, and seemed unaware of his wife’s radiance and eagerness. William opened the door for her, and Ruth Ann watched in admiration as the beautiful woman daintily lifted her long coat and placed a pointed, delicate shoe onto the early spring grass. William then took her gloved hand, very concerned and gentlemanly, and assisted her out of the vehicle, where she stood for a moment adjusting her hat, straightening her shoulders and smoothing her hands over the front of her coat. Her smile never left her face, however, and as she turned to release the little ones from the back seat, Ruth Ann’s family also spilled forth from the house, screaming and calling “Willie!” over and over.
All of the children Ruth Ann had been playing with suddenly ran away from the yard, leaving only her and Grace to stand and watch the women of their family rush in a mad frenzy toward a man who had yet to crack even a small smile. His stoic expression seemed frozen on his face as his mother Annie got a hold of his shoulders and pressed her face into his chest. Ruth Ann suddenly realized with horror that it was not stoicism that was causing Uncle William to appear so stern; it was emotion.
Wide, strong arms wrapped themselves around little Grannie Annie and with his chin resting atop her graying head, unabashed tears made their way over dimpled cheek and chin. To her increasing dismay and shock, Ruth Ann was sure she saw his lower lip quiver somewhat, and had the immediate impression that Uncle Willie was a weak man, unable to control his emotions. She could never even imagine her own father John crying so openly in front of everyone, especially the women in the family.
Grannie Annie and William stood that way for several moments, with Frances and John, Aunt Julia, William’s wife, Grace and Ruth Ann simply looking on until it became awkward. Julia, not a small woman herself, finally gave up waiting. With a loud “harrumph,” she walked over to her sister-in-law and with no warning at all, hugged her hard. The dainty woman was so taken by surprise that her hat finally did fall off her head, revealing lovely blonde hair, tied neatly in a small bun at the nape of her neck. Since her arms were crushed between them, she could not hug Julia back, but in a move that Ruth Ann remembered forever, she simply closed her eyes and laid her head gently on Julia’s shoulder. Her smile never left her face. Finally, Grannie let go of William and he immediately turned toward his wife, who had also been released by the loveable Julia.
“Everyone, this is my wife Beulah. Beulah, this is my mother Annie, my sister Julia, my brother John, and my sister-in-law Fanny.”
“I’ve heard so much about all of you. And these are our children,” she said, reaching behind her, “Joseph, Cathleen and Theresa.” The two girls curtsied and the boy bowed, as they had obviously been taught, and then hung behind their mother again out of shyness.
Beulah then turned and approached Grace and Ruth Ann. “And who are these very lovely girls?”
Frances immediately spoke up. “The dark haired girl is our Grace. The redhead with the ball is Ruth Ann.” Ruth Ann winced inwardly, and not for the first time wondered why she hadn’t been introduced as “our” anything. She was always only the “redhead.” Beulah seemed not to notice, however, stepped forward and took both of their hands in hers, simply saying, “It’s so wonderful to meet you both.”
Grannie Annie was anxious to get everyone inside, Ruth Ann could tell, but William suddenly headed back to his car, calling over his shoulder, “It will just take a minute to get the camera!” |
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