We were a strange "mixed bag" of a family that lived in that frame farmhouse with the large wooded yard out on the edge of Des Plaines. Mother, still Mrs. Stewart, Eric Hopf, her live in lover, and father of her youngest child, baby Donald; Nancy, age 15 and designated "mother's helper"; Irving, age 13, who shared a sleeping porch with Eric with whom he had a "guarded" relationship. And, last but not least, ten year-old Helen, a follower who always managed to do whatever was expedient for Helen. Martha, age 17, was for the moment in Vancouver, B.C. staying with our Auntie Nan.
We all had one thing in common - we ALL LOVED baby DONALD!
I believe that mother was a little frightened by the fact that she no longer had Florence to cook and clean for her - no longer had Campbell's steadying presence in the living room sitting in his red leather wing chair - no longer had her spacious, comfortable house. She had enough money to provide us with food, clothing and shelter - but suddenly she was on her own, and she had to make the best of what she had now and that included Eric Hopf!
As a result, mother became bossy and militant. One Saturday morning when she was assigning us all our tasks for the day, she announced, "I'm the captain of this ship!" I remember smiling to myself and thinking, "Yes, you've buttered your bread and now you have to lie in it!"
But I loved my mother AND baby brother Donald. Eric would NEVER call him Donald because Campbell had given him that name, and chose to call him "Bud" or "Buddy". However, he did call him "Don" or "Donald" later when he and mother were finally married.
I took care of baby Donald when mother and Eric went food shopping as they both preferred the butcher shops and ethnic delis of Chicago. Also, they went out for fish every Friday night to a tavern on the outskirts of Des Plaines. Mother's younger brother Harry was a part owner of the establishment. I am grateful to say that no one in our family (father, mother, or indeed Eric) ever had a problem with drinking to excess - it just didn't happen!
I loved taking care of baby Donald when they were gone and I was grateful that mother trusted me with him. Irv continued to spend most of his time at Donnie Wendt's little farm. At the same time, Irv met the Voightlander brothers, Vensel and Chuck, who also lived in Des Plaines. Irv walked to school every day with them and spent a lot of time at their home. The three of them became lifetime friends.
I enrolled in Maine Township High School in the fall of 1935 as a freshman. I had stayed out of school for a year because of the family problems and anxiety attacks but now was completely well. I absolutely LOVED my new high school! I look back on those years as some of the very happiest of my life, and I must admit, that I did very well in school. I was appointed Art and Literary editor of my class year book, sang in the Acapella choir, and painted a mural in oils that hung over the entrance to the Music Department for 20 years! When Martha heard how much I loved my new school, she came home after two years in B.C. and enrolled in Maine, graduating the year before me in 1938!
Sadly, Irv did not fare so well. He started at Maine while I was in my senior year.
With it's emphasis on academic achievement, championship winning swimming team, and sports, debate and science, this was definitely NOT the place for IRV who loved horses, carpentry, and blacksmithing. Mr. Legg, the assistant principal called mother to school and told her that he thought Irv would be happier in "another setting." He was too young to go into a C.C.C. Camp, so the decision was made to have him live with the Conroy family in Webster, Wisconsin. Bill Conroy was a great guy our family had known for years as we had a cottage on a lake near his farm. Bill welcomed Irv who lived and worked on the farm alongside the Conroy boys for the next three years. He learned many skills from Bill that he put to good use throughout his lifetime. The decision to have Irv live with the Conroy family was made just in time as Irv had a confrontation with Eric that would have erupted in a full scale fight had mother not thrown herself on the ground in front of them. Irv was a lean, muscular, 16 year-old. Eric, a paunchy 36 year-old!
It was three years before the two of them could be in the same room together.
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