A Whirlwind Romance...35º

I think back on their romance now and see that Marlene was very different from Helen in actions, looks, and everything else...She was talking about getting her ears pierced!...My mother was rolling her eyes, we didn't know anybody with pierced ears!..This turned into quite a production...Marlene did get her ears pierced, i assume in a Drs office, because supposedly it was done right and "catgut" was threaded through the holes to let them heal and keep the opening...She was doing everything right, but they got infected...Her earlobes were bright red, swollen, icky and sore...More eye rolling from my Mother...While Marlene was getting this under control, George was working in the potato harvest...One of his jobs was to sew the gunny sack, full of potatoes, shut...He and the other boys had needles and twine.

Picture a field full of potatoes that have to be dug out of the dirt and put into sacks...Not a very sanitary scene...I'm thinking that the potato digger broke down and the boys found themselves with some idle moments...So they decided to pierce one of their ears using what was at hand...Needle, twine and potatoes...Maybe they sterilized the needle using a match (they had all started smoking about this time), and cut a potato in half, putting the cut potato behind the earlobe and with a quick stab of the needle voilà, a hole appeared...I have no idea if they pulled the twine through the ear or just put an earring of some kind in there but the ears healed up nicely, no infection!...Marlene's ears were still red and swollen.

In love as they were with each other it was only fitting that they have matching earrings, now that they both had a hole in at least one ear...The earrings were engraved with "Tish and Tosh"...This is what I remember...If any of George and Marlene's girls heard this story and remember something different please let me know!...I think this was when my mother threw up her hands in despair, she had lost the battle, and the wedding plans went full speed ahead...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Our brother George and

Mom's favorite.