My Brother Was Born

Elsie and Ron

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My Brother Was Born
Written by Elsie Koski Waterman

After kindergarten, the summer brought a big event into my life as my brother was born. My father took my mother to Marquette to stay with my Aunt Fiina and Uncle Arthur Pelto to "wait for the baby." Then one morning when I was staying in the big city of Marquette, my Aunt Fiina told me that my mother had gone to the hospital during the night, and I had a baby brother, Ronald John.

While in Marquette, I learned about "sidewalks." I loved being able to ride a tricycle on the sidewalk rather than the gravel path or road like at home. My cousin, Leslie, showed me how to dig for water in a sand lot near their house. They lived in the Furnace Location where Uncle Arthur worked. It was very smelly -- the beginnings of pollution. I believe, it was then, when I decided that when I grow up I would want to live where there were sidewalks. I do remember, however, that those big city kids knew some bad words that we didn't know in Carlshend.

When I returned home to Carlshend and school in late August, I found that my mother was about the happiest I had seen her. She loved nursing the baby and despite her lack of conveniences, she actually seemed to enjoy boiling her diapers on the stove, running them through the washer and wringer several times, and then hanging them out in the icy weather. Then in late afternoon she would bring them in "like boards" and place them on an inside line to dry, and did they smell good! Our little house was meager with an outside toilet, no running water indoors until much later, and oh, how I remember those cold linoleum floors. There was no central heating, just the pot belly stove in the living room and the cook stove in the kitchen. The wood would burn down during the night, and I'm sure the temperature would be almost below zero in the morning. My father would always get up first, make the fire and the coffee. I think my brother slept in a crib in my parents' room for awhile, but eventually he was moved to the living room couch with me. Sometime later, my father built another bedroom and even a small room for me.  At one time, when I was about 10 or 11, my brother slept at one end of the bed and me at the other--kicking each other.

My brother had some different experiences in his beginning years at Carlshend School as he had to serve as an interpreter for some of his cousins who entered Kindergarten without knowing how to speak English. Some of my father's sisters never learned to speak much English either and continued to keep the Finnish the official language at home.

While I was gone to Rock, my family once again moved to an area where there was no electricity in a little section house in Stillman. Ron had to take a train to school as there was no bus service from this remote area. He would take the train to school in Munising, being a little late each morning. Then he would return in the afternoon, having to leave school before the end of the day. It was amazing that he also managed to do well in school despite these limitations. When I was teaching in Republic, I met his teacher from that time, and she was pleased with the progress he had made.  After about a year there, my parents moved to Marquette and then he was able to complete his education there.

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