If You Knew Suzi

                                                       If you knew Suzi
                                                       Like I know Suzi
                                                       Oh, Oh, what a girl!

     Today is the birthday of our youngest sister, Suzanne Kay Scovil Godfrey. I was nineteen when she was born and so this is my take on that day.  This story really begins several months earlier when the parents told us at dinner that Mother was expecting again.  And my response - and one of the few times I "sassed" my parents - was "that I hoped the next baby in the family would be mine".  That statement backfired on me because our sister, Carol, was prompted to walk down the street four houses and inform Mary Kessler that I was pregnant.  Mrs. K, of course, came trotting up the back alley (The neighbors did not use the front door for some reason, all visiting was done through the alley to the back door) to get the 'news'.
       Mother woke that October morning - it was a Sunday - and got all of us ready for Church.  She was getting ready herself, when the pains started, so she kept David at home and sent Carol and Richard with Dad to 8:00 Mass as Dad sang in the Men's Choir at that Mass.  Vern and I were going to a later Mass as did Judy and Russ.  Our grandmother lived next door with our cousin, Ben Martin and his family and when she saw that Mother was not at Church with Dad at 8:00, she insisted that Ben bring her home immediately after and she came 'sashaying' - one of Mother's favorite words to describe Grandma's walk - into our house and told Mom that she could not have that baby until she had 'fixed' her hair.  So here we are, Mother is having labor pains and washing and setting Grandma's hair, (remember that women stayed in the hospital for a week at that time and although Eva, Ben's wife could have set her hair, she liked the way Mom did it)  three year old David is playing with his cars while watching television, various other siblings are coming from or going to Church, and Ben and family are in and out as well.  Quite chaotic!!
      About noon, Mother told Dad, who was dozing in his chair (choir practice for the men's choir was on Saturday night  and it usually ended with a few beers and a poker game at Deebs house), that it was time to go to the hospital - she was dressed and had her bag packed - and he jumped up and said:  "Let me take a shower", which he did while Mom waited, the pains getting closer together.  She gave instructions to all of us on what to do for the next few days and finally they were off in our gray Packard automobile.
     We sat around for the rest of the afternoon, with neighbors in and out, Sophie Reeves, Blanche Cruz and Mrs. Kessler, all wanting to know "what have you heard, Kid".   Judy made dinner for all of us.   I remember that Vern was pacing the Living Room back and forth and I asked him why and he said: "I never went with a girl before, whose Mother had a baby!"

     In the early evening Dad came home and said that we had a new baby sister, Mother was fine, he was exhausted and as he sat down in his chair, said: "Somebody get me a beer!"

     The picture on the left was taken at Thanksgiving, 1956. The one with the baggy diaper is Suzanne.  She has always said that she had the best childhood because she had all of her older siblings and her nieces - and cousins - our Leah was born two years later.
      I started this blog with an old Eddie Cantor song but the 'Suzi' song she grew up with was "Wake Up, Little Suzi" by the Everly Brothers.  She may have thought it was written for her. 

     Happy Birthday, Baby Sister.