Birthday Wishes


Halloween came and went in 1973 with little fanfare. It was in the middle of the school week and after the Halloween of two years previous (See the July 29th blog) it was rather sedate. Rose and I were the only the ones who went trick or treating. Another thing that threw us off a bit was we had never went trick or treating in Cambridge before. After years of living in the Quad City area we had a nice route we took every year no matter where we were living there. Another thing that was different was Geno and John thought they were now too mature to go trick or treating with us. Apparently they weren't too mature to steal our candy. Luckily Rose and I took an extra bag with us and told each house we went to that we had a sick brother at home. Rose was very good at that. She would give whoever answered the door her saddest face and tell her tale of woe. She was so good that she'd even have a tear or two roll down her cheek.
Hell, she was so good I wanted to give her an extra piece of candy every now and then. When we got home the only candy we let our two older brothers steal was the candy we had conned out of the homes we visited.
On November 1st I realized my birthday was only a month away. I hadn't given up on my dream of getting a G.I. Joe. Upstairs in the attic next to the teddy bear was a cigar box full of G.I. Joe equipment I had found all over my vast yard and house. I knew if I was going to get a Joe to go with that stuff my best chance would be on my birthday.
So I kicked into overdrive. I began to leave notes laying around the house for Mom and Dad to find. My notes would say stuff like,"Your son Tom has been a good son and deserves a G.I. Joe for his ninth birthday." Every Sunday I would cut out any adds in the newspaper that had G.I. Joe stuff and leave them on Dad's desk or on the kitchen table for Mom to find.
Mom would tell me that they would do their best but with the baby on the way they might not have the money to buy me a G.I. Joe. Not willing to give up I continued to leave my adds around the house. I even went so far as to mail my Grandma the same notes and adds. My hope that someone would take notice of my desire to have one.
With the cooling weather the chill in my room became very noticeable. Like Duke, my brother Steve would now not go in my room if he could help it. Steve was spooked easily and this was just too much for him. His girlfriend Kathy did come into my room. Her most vivid memory was holding her hand over the register vent. She could feel heat coming out , but it would just vanish about a foot away. When Steve heard that, and about Rose's ghost sighting he looked as if he wanted to leave immediately. Dad told Steve that we were looking for a new house and would be moving soon. That seemed to calm him down a little. When Steve left to go home he found in his car a note saying," Your little brother has been a good brother and deserves a G.I. Joe for his birthday." Next to it was an add from Sunday's paper for a G. I . Joe.
My thoughts were the more notes I left the greater a chance I had for getting at least one G.I. Joe. With a little luck I might even get two.
November soon began to drift away and by Thanksgiving weekend it looked as if Mom might have the baby any day. Mom still insisted on cooking the Thanksgiving Turkey anyway. She said that she was afraid that we'd blow the house up. Mom would always stay up almost all night cooking for the Thanksgiving meal. This year we made sure there was someone with her at all times, in case she went into labor. I remember sitting in the kitchen with her at during that long night. At one point before I fell asleep I remember putting my head on her belly and feeling the baby move.It was almost too exciting for a soon to be 9 year old. I came very close to running upstairs to the attic and grabbing the bear. I wanted to say, "See what I did? Now buy me a G.I. Joe!" The only reason I think I didn't was because I so tired. Geno soon relieved me and I went upstairs to my room and fell fast asleep.
The next day was like most of our holidays. Most of the family converged on our house. Besides eating we spent the day playing with cousins. I also told everyone who would listen about my birthday and my hope of getting a G.I. Joe. All in all it was as fun filled a day as I can remember. With the baby just days away everyone was very excited. No matter how much I tried to steer the conversation into the virtues of owning a G.I. Joe , everyone wanted to talk about the new baby. My Uncle Tim kept telling everyone who would listen that if Dad showed up at the hospital drunk he was under no circumstances to be allowed to name the baby. Everyone laughed when Uncle Tom offered to buy my Dad a case of beer on the day Mom went into labor.
That evening when various Uncles and cousins left they found notes in their cars saying , " Tom has been a good nephew /cousin this year and really deserves a G.I. Joe for his birthday." I was hoping that if I threw enough of these notes around one would stick.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving Geno , John , Rose , and I were sitting at the table waiting for Mom to finish cooking breakfast. Dad was sitting in the living room laughing at some Sunday morning televangelist. Mom was making bacon and eggs. Sitting on the stove were two heavy cast iron skillets. The stove and refrigerator sat on opposite sides of the kitchen directly across from each other. The kitchen table sat in between but pulled back a bit so someone could walk between the two without having to walk around the table.
Mom turned to walk to the refrigerator when the cast iron skillet that had the bacon in itfell off the stove. Half way to the floor it bounced on the air and flew towards Mom. It landed on the floor just behind her feet splashing the backs of her legs with hot grease. Mom started screaming. Rose and and I started screaming even louder. Even Geno and John were screaming a little.
Dad came running in from the living room and screamed,"What's going on? Why are you screaming?!"
I shouted ,"The skillet tried to kill Mom!"
Rose screamed,"It's the Ghost!"
Dad said very loudly and very harshly, "Are you all nuts? Just calm down!"
That it turned out was far easier said than done. Dad took Mom into the living room. The rest of us sat there for a moment before we all came to the conclusion we weren't hungry. Geno turned off the stove and we all followed Mom and Dad into the living room. We sat there a little in very uncomfortable silence. Dad finally broke it when he said that the house wasn't haunted , but we were moving anyway. He told the earliest we could break our lease would be January 7. That would give us enough time to find a nice house.
For lunch that day Dad went out and got us pizza. We all ate it in the living room.
That night I went upstairs and got ready for bed. I went in my bedroom and turned on my radio. As I sat on my bed I noticed that something was different about my room. It took me a moment to realize what it was. Then in a flash it hit me. My room wasn't cool anymore. It was odd. After almost 8 months I had gotten used to having a cool room. Now that it was gone it felt very unnatural. For some reason it made me very uneasy. A little later Rose knocked on my door. She came in and told me to come with her. I followed her across the hall to my parents room.
It was now cooler then any other room in the house. We pointed this out to Dad who told us we were nuts.
That Wednesday , November 28 1973 began like any other day. We all kissed Mom goodbye and rode the bus to school. During school all I could think of was my birthday was only 3 days away. I wondered that if the baby were born on my birthday would it ruin or increase my chances of getting my G.I. Joe. My teacher told me that I could bring my best gift in on Monday and show the class.
After school I got on the bus. As usual my brothers and sister sat as far apart from one another as we could. I was sitting next to my friend Paul, talking about G.I. Joes when we approached our house. The school bus didn't even slow down. As we passed our home Geno shouted out to the bus driver, "Hey you missed our house!"
The bus driver looked over her shoulder and said, "I'm to drop you off at one of your neighbors today."
We all looked at each with confused looks. Rose smiled and said loudly , "I bet Mom's having the baby!"
About a mile from our house and on the opposite of the road we pulled in front of a house belonging to a young married couple that had befriended Mom. We didn't know them very well , but Mom spoke very nicely about the lady who lived there. As we got off the bus she stood in her yard waiting for us.
Rose was the first to run up to her and ask if Mom was having the baby. The rest of us were close behind all asking the same thing. My last clear memory that day was the sound of the bus pulling away.
I don't remember her exact words. But standing outside in her yard on that cool November day our nieghbor told us that Mom was in the Hospital, and it looked like she was going to lose the baby.
I vaguely remember Rose crying hysterically and John holding her. Geno took two steps back and just sat on the ground with a confused look on his face.
I just stood there. I didn't cry. I didn't scream.
All I could think of was that glass of water I gave my Mom right before school started.