~~Erich is Born~~
On Saturday
everyone, except Ma, went into the woods to pick butternuts. When they
returned with the nuts, Pa nailed a board to the edge of the corncrib roof
and the butternuts were spread out on the roof of the crib to dry. They
would be good to crack in the winter. Ma liked them for baking and for
fudge.
The heater stove was moved back into the living room and lit as it was
chilly these days.
Grandpa’s things had been moved out, and Berdina and Lydia’s bed was moved
back into the big bedroom. Now, Pauline was over three years old and started
sleeping with Berdina and Lydia. She had been sleeping in a crib in Ma and
Pa’s room.
Berdina woke one morning as she heard a strange noise. It sounded something
like a cat, but still different.
She ran downstairs and there in a pillow in the big rocking chair lay a
baby, all wrapped in a blanket. The baby was so tiny.
A neighbor lady was there but Ma was nowhere to be seen.
“What’s going on and where did this baby come from?” Berdina asked.
Mrs. Ormond said, “Berdina, this is your new baby brother. He was born
during the night.”
Berdina wanted to see Ma.
“You can go in the bedroom to see your Ma,” said Mrs. Ormond.
Ma was in bed but looked alright to Berdina.
“How do you like your new baby brother?” Ma asked.
Berdina said, “He sure is small. He is sleeping now but I heard him cry. He
woke me up.”
“I must rest now,” said Ma. “Mrs. Ormond will give you all your breakfast,
then you must go to school.”
Mrs. Ormond was a midwife; she had helped deliver some of Ma’s other babies
and had been called during the night. She would stay a couple weeks as Ma
had to stay in bed that long.
It was hard for Berdina to go to school. She wished she could stay home, but
it was exciting to go and tell the teacher and her classmates all about her
new baby brother.
As they walked home for dinner, Berdina said, “I wonder what Ma and Pa will
name the baby.”
It was different to
eat dinner without Ma. Mrs. Ormond had made tomato soup. Ma never made
tomato soup. Berdina didn’t like it much, but she knew she had better eat
it.
After eating, Berdina went in to see Ma and the baby, who was snuggled in
bed with her.
“What are you going to name the baby, Ma?” Berdina asked.
“His name will be Erich after your Pa. Our last baby, Pauline, was named
after me.”
Berdina really didn’t know Ma’s name was Pauline. Everyone called her Lena.
The big black apron Ma had worn everyday the last few weeks lay on the chair
by Ma’s bed.
Now Berdina remembered when Aunt Theresa was visiting this summer and Ma and
her were talking. Berdina had wondered what Ma meant when she said she was
“in the family way”. No one really told Berdina where babies came from but
she had figured it out pretty well by now. Being around farm animals, she
had seen where their babies came from.
Berdina liked her baby brother a lot and was real happy when Ma was out of
bed again and Mrs. Ormond went home.
When it was time for Erich to be baptized it was very cold, so the minister
came and baptized him at home. The minister and his family and some of
Berdina’s relatives all had dinner with them.
Erich filled the gap left in Berdina’s life when Grandpa died.
Now Pa was repairing shoes for the family and relatives in the little room
off from the kitchen that held Grandpa’s cobbler equipment.
As Erich grew, he was a good playmate for Berdina and her sisters. They
helped care for him.
Baby Erich made nine children for Pa and Ma and was the last child born in
the Schoenherr family.
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