This week we’re doing a different sort of blog. 9 has conducted an interview with Marjorie Jean (Sullivan) Abraham, our mom. So, with no further ado. . .

 

Hi, this is 9. This week I’m visiting Mom, aka Margie Abraham. Lily and Susan are here, too, in Port Townsend (where some of us grew up and others of us are still growing up). I know a lot about Mom, but I don’t know much about her when she was nine years old, like me. Let’s begin:

 

Me: Hi Mom. When did you turn nine?

 

Margie: 1934.

 

Me: Wow, that was a while ago! Something that bugs me as a nine year old is what you make me wear.

 

Margie: Yes, I understand the imitation leather jumper is not your favorite.

 

Me: What did your mom make you wear when you were nine?

 

Margie: Mother made all my dresses. They were much nicer than the store bought ones but I always wanted a store bought dress instead. The worst part was the stockings. She made me wear long white stockings with garters. When I was on my way to school, as soon as I was out of sight I’d unhook the stockings and roll them down to my ankles!

 

Me: So we kind of have that in common. What about your hair?

 

Margie: I was getting to grow out my bob a little bit, bangs included.

 

Me: Wow, you haven’t let me grow out my bangs yet. Did you have any pets?

 

Margie. Yes. We had a brown and white dog, a cocker named Patsy. We always had cats. The cats could come in the house but not the dogs.

 

Me: I started piano two years ago and we have horses, so those are my hobbies. What hobbies did you have?

 

Margie: I’ve always loved dancing, especially tap! Also, I raised cacti.

 

Me: Didn’t you play violin, too?

 

Margie: Yes, from first grade all the way through high school. But I didn’t much care for it. My dad wanted me to play because lots of Irish girls played violin. (Interviewer note: Margie’s dad, Denny Sullivan, was 100% Irish). I never really had the ear for it. I was always drawing though- -people and faces and houses, mostly. I used to ride bikes with friends, too. We’d ride out to Sandy Shore, swim across the lake and back, then ride our bikes home.

 

Me: Where’s Sandy Shore?

 

Margie: Out by the Nakanos’ Farm, on the way from Chimacum Valley to Eaglemount. That’s where my class had their senior sneak, too.

 

Me: Who was your best friend when you were nine?

 

Margie: Dustine Quinelle. Her family owned the Chimacum Café at one time. Sometimes she’d stay overnight.

 

Me: Did you have your own room?

 

Margie: I did in the summertime when the weather was warm. Our house then was small. My room was about the size of a bathroom. My brother, Dennie, slept on the enclosed porch in the summer. When it was cold, he got the room and I slept in the same room as my mom and dad.

 

Me: Wow. Did anyone else live with your family?

 

Margie: Yes, my dad’s mother. Her room was the living room.

 

Me: What did your mom and dad do for work?

 

Margie: Dad had a lunchroom on the spot that later became their grocery store. His mother, my grandma, made the pies for his customers. She was a wonderful baker, but she didn’t know how to read or write.

 

Me: Did your grandma have any hobbies?

 

Margie: Not really. She went to church and sometimes listened to the radio.

 

Me: How did you get along with your brother, what with him getting your room in the winter and stuff?

 

Margie: We got along very well! He was my best friend. We always loved dancing together, too, tap when we were younger. We did a dance to “Pony Boy.” Later, when we were teenagers and went to dances, our dad was in the band. Whenever I’d dance near the bandstand Dad would start playing “Margie”! It embarrassed me a lot, so I made my partners dance at the opposite end of the hall to avoid it.

 

Me: Anything else you want us to know?

 

Margie: Yes. Glenn was always in my sights!

 

Me: Dad?

Margie: Yes.

 

Me: Even when you were nine?

 

Margie: Even then. Our parents were friends so I was always aware of him.

Me: Wow, this is getting kind of grown up. Lily should probably be the one to interview you about that kind of stuff. Thanks for the interview, Mom!

 

Margie: You’re very welcome.

 

This is 9, direct from Port Townsend, WA, with Margie Abraham, and a question for you:

 

What was your mom like when she was nine?