MOTHER’S DAY
The Isolation Blues;
reflections during covid-19
Since Mother’s Day is this week I thought I’d say a few things about my mother. Vera Stitham Hutchinson was born on December 10, 1934 to Ralph and Laura Stitham the third of four children. My mother is also a twin, she had a twin brother named Vance (twins run in the family). She attended Farmington Teacher’s College majoring in Home Economics and took her first job in 1956 at Ricker Academy in Houlton. She married George Hutchinson in the summer of 1959 and a year later she had a family on the way. As the story goes, no one in the family was expecting twins, not even the doctor. My mother was starting to get suspicious as the pregnancy progressed, but what are the odds of her having twins? It was early on a Sunday morning July 24th, 1960 at the Aroostook Hospital in Houlton when my mother went into labor.
My sister, Debra arrived at 6AM and the nurse ran into the waiting room where my grandparents and my father were awaiting the news and she announced, “Congratulations Mr. Hutchinson, you have a baby girl!”
Thirty minutes later the same nurse came running back and said, “Congratulations Mr. Hutchinson, you have a baby boy!”
My Dad was dumbfounded and asked the nurse, “Which is it?!”She said, “One of each!”
My father (still in shock) looked at my grandparents and said, “Oh my…you’ll have to take one of them!”
As it turned out my sister and I were each over six pounds so my mother was carrying a lot of baby weight. I try to keep that in mind whenever my mother asks me to do something for her even to this day. The above photograph is my mother with her roommate and best friend from college, Verna Mitchell who was visiting and helping out with the twins for a couple of days. My mother decided to take several years off from teaching to care for the family (I think she had her hands full) and then started teaching at Houlton High School in 1964. She taught junior high reading while the new home economics department was being built and then switched to teaching home economics where she had a long and fulfilling career. I’m always amazed when former students (from years and years ago) approach my mother and I when she’s eating out in a local restaurant and express their appreciation for her teaching and her classes. It’s makes me appreciate my mother even more.
Thanks Mom!
Happy Mother’s Day.
In the woods,
Dave
May 5, 2021