I am going to tell you a story
The story is called, “The Basket”
Hoping you will like to read it
Even before I ask it
His name is Joe and I think he likes me. He is my teacher in high school in the year 1960. I am Sheila and I tell my mom I’m going to lessons in my singing club in school when I want to meet Joe at night.
We go to the Village. We drink and dance. When I get back home my parents are usually out. They really don’t care too much about me. I’m glad I have Joe.
Then, for a few days my parents didn’t show up at all. There was no food in the house. Fortunately, I work in a bakery. Between what I take from the bakery and what they pay me, I manage. However, soon rent was due. I didn’t have the money to pay it. Fortunately, there was Mary. She told me she was a social worker and that she would take me to Teen Home.
“It’s a very nice place where you can live,” said Mary. “You will go to school there and plan for your future. Let’s pack your clothes and go there now.”
I had very few clothes. I put them in a basket and we were off. We got in the car and Mary drove for about 15 minutes. Then we arrived at Teen Home, where there was a big sign with the name over the front door.
As Mary and I walked into Teen Home, a boy comes over to us. He says his name is Dale.
“OK,” said Mary. “I’ll let you get to know each other. Dinner will be in about half an hour. You can enjoy dinner together. But first let’s find your room, Sheila, and put away your clothes.”
After looking around a bit, they found her room. The toilets and showers are in the hall.
“Wow,” says Sheila, “I never had my own room before. I always slept in the living room.” She then puts her clothes away.
“Thank you, Mary,” says Sheila
“OK, Sheila. There are always people here to help you if you run into any problems. Now it’s time for dinner.”
Dale and Sheila then go for dinner, a spaghetti dinner and very good. Then Sheila goes to her room. They gave her some extra clothes. Dale says he wanted to go to bed early because he had to get up early to milk the cows. I told him I’d join him tomorrow morning and talk to him while he milks the cows. Now I’ll take a shower and go to bed.
Milking Cows:
The next morning while I was sleeping I heard –
“Sheila. Sheila. Time to get up.
That was Dale. I got up and washed and dressed quickly. We went to the dining room, had a quick breakfast and went to milk the cows.
There were 10 cows and Dale sat on a stool and called one by one over. He knew each cow’s name. When he called Molly over, he called “Molly” and she would come over, and so on. He milked each cow by hand. It was beautiful.
“Let me try and milk one of the cows,” I said.
“OK,” he said. And I was able to do it. Three cheers for me!
The Letter –
From then on Dale and Sheila were always together. They went to high school together at Teen Home.
“What do you want to do in life?” Sheila asks Dale.
“I want to be a farmer,” says Dale.
“Me too,” says Sheila.
“Let’s start a garden,” says Dale, “like others have done in Teen Home”
“Yes,” says Sheila.
Then one day, before starting the garden, Dale seemed upset.
“What’s wrong?” asks Sheila.
“I got a letter,” says Dale.
“What does it say? Why are you upset about it?”
“I can’t tell you, Sheila.”
This went on constantly. Then Dale got another letter 2 weeks later. Well, he wouldn’t talk to anyone. And he just stayed in bed.
Finally, he talked to Sheila.
“You know those letters I got, Sheila?”
“Yes,” says Sheila.
“I have a son, Tony. He’s 3 years old and his caregiver wrote those letters about him.”
“Oh,” says Sheila. “That’s wonderful. We can finish high school and see Tony. Then we can both do farm work to make a living and Tony is our first child. He has to know that we love him.”
“That makes us a family,” says Sheila. I think one child is enough right now. We must be careful.”
“Yes,” Sheila. “Tony will be here next week to see me.”
“And me too,” says Sheila
“But, Dale,” who is Tony’s mother?”
“I don’t know, Sheila.”
“How can you not know?”
“Well, I do know. But she means nothing to me. This all happened in a sex shop. Tony’s mother had me tested. Please don’t hate me. I would never do anything like that again.”
“I don’t hate you, Dale. We all have our skeleton’s in the closet. But we can think of Tony as OUR son.”
“Thank you, Sheila.”
Tony Arrives –
Tony arrives at Teen Home in a few days. Dale and Sheila can’t get enough of him. He runs around the place greeting everyone. He arrived in early morning. Dale and Sheila took the day off to be with him. He loved sitting on their laps. But at 6pm he left.
Dale and Sheila thanked his caregiver for being so good to him. They also wanted to make plans for taking him back.
“You two are both very young,” said the social worker at Teen Home. “You are both 17.
“Well,” said Dale, “both Sheila and I want to work on a farm. Maybe we can do that and live as man and wife and bring up Tony.”
“Well,” said the social worker, “that is a plan. However, Tony is in good hands now and you are both very young. Why don’t you wait a while and see how things work out. Meanwhile Tony will come here once a month like today. I think that is the best idea.”
Both Dale and Sheila agreed.
“Also,” Sheila said, “both Dale and I should be finished with high school in about a year.”
“Yes, I know,” said the social worker. “That’s wonderful.”
Art Class –
Sheila walks into the dining room at lunch.
“What’s this sign on the wall?” she wonders. “Oh, they are giving art lessons every Tuesday after dinner. That’s great. I have a cousin who is an artist. I’ll do it too. Oh! That’s today. It’s Tuesday. I’ll go.”
“Oh, Dale,” Sheila calls when she sees Dale on the other side of the room.
“Hi Sheila,” says Dale coming over.
“Dale, we are having art lessons here on Tuesdays after dinner. I’m going. I love art. Will you go?”
“Naaaw,” says Dale. That’s not for me.”
“Oh, I’m going,” says Sheila.
Later Sheila arrives at art class and meets the group and teacher.
“Hi everyone. I’m your teacher, Laurie. This is a painting class. We can paint with charcoal, pastels, water color and/or acrylics. Our goal is to have fun. If you’ve never painted before I suggest you start off with charcoal and/or pastels.”
“Laurie,” says Sheila, “the colors of the pastels are so beautiful. I’m gonna start with pastels.”
“That’s good,” says Laurie.
Sheila’s Paintings –
Sheila was forever painting, not just in art class but usually twice a week in between.
“I hardly get to see you anymore, with all the painting you’ve been doing,” says Dale.
“That’s what happens when you have an artist for a friend,” says Sheila. “My teacher said she would frame some of my work and hang some of my paintings here.” And she did.
Graduation –
Soon came graduation. Dale moved out and moved in with a family who had a family farm. His son, Tony, was now 4 years old and Dale would visit him 2 afternoons a week.
Sheila also graduated and also moved out. She now lives in an artist colony with other artists. She lives in an apartment with three other artists. It’s small but they have enough room to do their artwork.
However, Sheila while taking a walk, passed by an art store that had a sign –
Help Wanted. She went in and told the salesperson in the store that she was interested in the job. The salesperson said to come by at 7pm when the owner, Judy, would be there and to bring 2 or 3 samples of her work. Sheila agreed.
Sheila came back at 7pm with three of her paintings and asked the lady in the shop if she could speak with Judy.
“I’m Judy,” said the lady “and who might you be?”
“I’m Sheila. I would like to apply for the position and I brought 3 samples of my work.”
“Let me see them,” said Judy.
Judy looked at Sheila’s paintings.
“Very interesting, Sheila. Are they for sale?”
“Yes.”
“Would you be interested in showing customers around and then doing the cash register when they buy something?”
“I’d love to, Judy. Just show me how to use your cash register.”
“I will Sheila and the position is yours. I’ll need some information from you, first of all your address and phone number. I see from your papers you are from Teen Home.”
“Yes, Judy. And I must ask you a question which I wish I didn’t have to ask you.”
“The answer is yes, Sheila. You want a small advance on your coming salary. Also, there is a small refrigerator behind the counter with some pie and coke. Help yourself.”
“Thanks Judy. How come you are so good to me? You don’t even know me.”
“That’s where you are wrong, Sheila. I know you. I’ve been there myself. We open at 10am Tuesday through Sunday, but you are to come at 9:30am. And we close at 8pm, which is soon. Come back at 7am tomorrow morning and I’ll teach you all you have to know. I’ll give you some pie and coke to take with you.”
With that done Sheila leaves and comes back the next morning at 7am sharp.
It’s then that Judy teaches Sheila everything she needs to know with a small notebook to put down the information. Later, when Sheila opens the refrigerator, she finds some sandwiches and apple juice.
Most of the time Sheila dusts and organizes the shop. Then she makes 2 sales, both were her paintings that were hanging. “I can’t believe this,” Sheila says to herself. Sheila’s job also was to decorate the store windows, which, by the way, Judy loved.
“You have inborn talent,” she told Sheila. “But keep working. Talent isn’t always enough.”
However, one of the paintings that was in the window was sold.
A week later, nothing was sold.
The next week, nothing was sold.
The third week just one small clay ashtray was sold.
“Sheila,” said Judy, “bring in some of your things – they sell. And if they don’t, that’s what happens when you’re an artist.
So Sheila brought in the last 4 of her paintings and put them in the window. At the same time she made time at home to do some of her work. One of the 4 paintings in the window sold in a week. Three weeks later another one sold.
Sheila brought some of her recent paintings to the shop and displayed them. Occasionally one sold.
Sheila wondered what Judy does all day. She found out from one of the customers. She teaches art in Art School.
Sheila was also grateful that Judy allowed her to take her art supplies from the store at no charge. It was tough being an artist. Sheila just about made ends meet.
She started wondering. “Can I continue going on like this? What if I taught? Would I do better? But then I’d be teaching, not painting. I just don’t know.”
“And what happened to Dale and his son, Tony? I was so close with them at one time. Now they are just memories.”
Then it happened – Tom. It was almost closing time and a guy walks in.
“Hi Sheila. I’m Tom, a friend of Judy.”
“OMG,” I thought, “where have I heard that before. However, this time things seemed a little different. So I said –”
“Hi Tom.”
“It’s almost closing time. I’d like to take you out for dinner after you close. But first I’d like to see some of your paintings.”
“OK Tom.” And I showed him my paintings. He said he loved them. They said something to him.
“What do they say, Tom?”
“They say you are a true artist.”
Then I closed up and we went to dinner in a very nice restaurant.
We sat at an outside table and told each other our life stories. Between the good company and the good food, I had a great time.
“When is your vacation?” asks Tom.
“I have no idea,” I say.
“I’d like us to go somewhere on my yacht,” says Tom.
Well, life sure has changed for Sheila. She went to all the fancy places with Tom and somehow still managed to work and do some artwork. As they say, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Then it happened. Sheila got a letter in the mail:
“I miss you. I miss milking the cows together. Please come home. Love, Dale”
And he wrote his present address.
“Well, that does it. I’m going home,” says Sheila.
Two weeks later they are together again.
They are signing greeting cards – Dale, Sheila and Family.
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