Happy Birthday Jeanne

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEANNE.
My sister, Jeanne, was born on this date - February 13, 1920 - midway between Lincoln’s birth-date and Valentine’s Day. She was born on Friday the 13th at our Mother’s parents’ (Elizabeth and Daniel Flood) home at 63 west Carleton Avenue, Hillsdale, Michigan. Jeanne was born only 20 months after I was.
Jeanne had a tough time growing up with three brothers - one older and two younger. She had the Irish red hair, and a “fiery” temper. You didn’t want to take her on one-on-one. So, my brother Bob, and I, would gang up on her. (pretty lousy brothers!) Jeanne would fight back by kicking. She had one powerful leg. We got pretty adept at defending ourselves. We would grab her outstretched leg and flip her over backwards.
As a teen-ager in Berea, (Ohio), she spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom. (We had only one.) Part of it was to get our goat - I am sure. So, we used to go into the bathroom and stay until she wanted to come in. Then, we would stay a little while longer. This was a major mistake, because she kicked in the lower panels of the door! Of course, my Mother and Dad were upset, as we were the first renters from Doc Schneider, in the new house that he built. I never brought up the subject afterwards, but I am wondering how they made restitution to Doc. My Mother was always very sensitive, and embarrassed, over owing anyone anything.
Another trick of Jeanne’s: Her chore was to wipe the supper dishes that our Mother washed. Invariably she had “the call of nature” at that particular time, and took off for the bathroom. She would wait long enough for someone else to dry her dishes. After my Mother would finish washing the dishes - no Jeanne - so she would start drying the dishes. I couldn’t watch her do this, in good conscience, and usually stepped up and took over wiping the dishes. When I was through, Jeanne would make her grand entrance.
When we lived in Hillsdale (Michigan) during the 20’s and 30’s, I remember an occasion when Jeanne wasn’t feeling well and our Mother gave her a dose of castor oil. (If you have ever tasted that horrible stuff, you can understand why we didn’t complain much.) Jeanne dashed over to the kitchen sink and spit it all out! There was a slight problem. Mother was soaking some spinach in the sink. Mother rinsed it off and served it for supper that night. I took one bite of it and had the second-hand taste of castor oil! I didn’t eat spinach for many years after that. Now, it is one of my favorite vegetables!
Jeanne and I became very close after I left home for the Air Force in March, 1941, even though she "lost my great record collection while I was gone. It included Bluebird, Decca, RCA Victor, Columbia and other bakelite 78's, during the five years leading up to the start of World war II. As I gathered, Jeanne would take my records to parties, but she never got back home with them! They were either broken, stolen or left behind. In spite of this, we were still "friends".

" She and her husband, Bob Gibbens visited us many times in Vallejo - especially, after our Mother moved here in 1985. We in turn visited them many times both in Michigan and in Florida.

Jeanne died in the hospital, in Stuart, Florida, after surgery for an aorta artery aneurism, on September 24, 1998 - at the age of 78. I still miss her, and her sense of humor, very much.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEANNE!