Old Friends

I belong to a forum at QuiltsYourWay.com, a quilty message board. One of the members posted a pic of herself as a child out on the Canadian prairie back in the 50s. So cute.

It made me think of my childhood friends, and I realized what a nice childhood I had. Even though my parents were divorced (still a somewhat scandalous thing in the early 50s) and we were rather poor, I never wanted for anything. My mother was a wonderful seamstress and made clothes for me well into my 30s! Which was a good thing, as I was tall and skinny and had really long arms. Store-bought clothes that fit were very hard to come by.

Over the years, she made several Estonian folk costumes for my sister and me. We wore them at any big event when all the Estos in Milwaukee got together:
Mother's Day, when all the kids in our group performed for the community, Christmas, Jaanipaev (St. John's Day--the Scandinavian mid-summer festival) and Estonian Independence Day, which marked the end of WWI and independence from the Russians (the first time!).


Here is a pic of me and my friends Kathy (middle) and Sylvia at the old International Institute, a meeting place for all the ethnic groups in Milwaukee.
We've been friends since we were born. And I still see and talk to them now and again.
I am very lucky to have such great old friends!