Growing up with Mom

 My Mom was absolutely the best Mom a kid in the 60’s could possibly have. She was loving, caring, nurturing, smart, curious, adventurous… the list goes on and on.

Winnefred Lorean “Loree” Elder was born in Weatherford, Texas, on 27 February, 1939. She was the third of six sisters born to Cora Jo Robeson and Frank H. Elder. Her sisters were Carolyn, Bonnie, Cora Jo (Jocie), Virginia (Gina), and Lilli Sue (Susie).

Growing up she moved a couple times between Parker County, Texas, and Washington State. Grampa Frank served in the Navy during World War II as first a gunner on PBYs in the Aleutian Islands, and then as maintenance (From what I hear from my cousin Dennis, Frank did not like flying). I’m not sure of the sequence of events, but I believe when he got out of the service, his family stayed north of Burlington so he could use his GI bill and go to college. They then moved to Texas. At some point, after more education, he became a teacher, a girls basketball coach, and the Principal at Brock High School, where my Mom went to school.

The story goes that her cousin, Olin Howard, was a good friend of my Dad’s in Pilot Training at Laredo, Texas. He got them together to go to a dance at the base, so Dad drove to Brock, picked her up, drove back to Laredo (6-1/2 hours away), then drove her home. He spent the night in his car out front of her house. Grampa’s first glimpse of Dad was his feet sticking out the window. He went back to Laredo and began a letter exchange (from what I can learn from people who Mom talked to, only 4-5 back and forths), until he invited her to come to Las Vegas, which was his new training base for the F-100, to get married.  And she did!

My recollections those first couple years are pretty sparse, but I remember thinking she was always very active with us. Of course how could you not be, with two boys for 5 years, and then twin girls suddenly adding to the mix? It was either be overwhelmed or take charge. It felt like dad was gone a lot, so it was the five of us a lot of the time, especially once he left for Vietnam.

Somehow she moved me and Dave up to Washington, set up a household and got me into school. I think I was in 1st grade, and went to Fidalgo Elementary School, just up the road from our beach. I loved it. Our cousins Mike and Lane were  just a couple blocks away, and our older cousins, Kenny, Becky, Rick and Kathy were probably two houses down, on the hill abouve their Grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. Holland. So there were 3-4 houses we just rotated through. Mom was pretty strict, but no overly so. We had the length of the beach to roam around without issue, and lots of woods to play in. We probably went to Grandma and Grampa Elder’s house in Anacortes, and then Burlington ( when they moved) at least once a week, or they came to see us.

Once Dad came home we moved back to California for him to train up as an Instructor Pilot. The girls showed up about nine months later. That was wild, having twin sisters show up. Lots of help from the neighbors, and we immediately moved off base into a bigger house. I remember starting 3rd grade in Victorville at a new school that I walked to. Then we received orders to Libya, so Mom packed us up and moved us up to Washington for a couple months. 

Getting up to Washington, we had Dad with us. When it came time to leave for Wheelus, it was just her and four kids, all under 10. Somehow she pulled it off, including a stop in Minneapolis and McGuire AFB, to tend to two sick daughters.

Wheelus and Aviano were the places that I really bonded with my Mom. She carted us around to school and sports activities, was my Den Mother in scouts, took us swimming, made do with Commissary fare that had been shipped from Europe or the States and was usually stale, out of date, or otherwise suspect. I think the canned spinach, brussel sprouts, beans and peas during this time really turned me off to vegetables. Somehow we managed: probably with the help of a tex-mex background that could make ground beef taste good no matter what the meal was.

Back in the States meant back to Washington while dad went “Remote” to Korea for a year. We were there my 7th and most of my 8th grade year. More time with family, which I’m sure took a lot of pressure off her. Then it was to Las Vegas, Nevada, where I spent the last half of 8th through part of 11th grade. We lived on base at Nellis AFB, and had a lot of adventures, including boating on Lake Meade, and camping in Colorado in our Shasta pull-behind. She was very supportive of me doing things like skiing with the HS Ski club, playing sports both on base and at school. She pretty much taught me to drive. Dad would get so upset trying to teach me to drive a stick shift, that I’m sure Mom stepped in to keep the peace and things on track.

She was also my #1 confidant as I went through those chaotic HS years. We spent lots of time talking about things like grades, girls, where I wanted to go to college, dealing with Dad, etc. I don’t remember too many things I wanted to do that she didn’t support, and always thought she and Shirley Partridge (The Partrige Family TV show) were like sisters. Very even keeled.

Naturally I did my share of getting in trouble. She spent a lot of time being the only parent to four diverse children, and I think she handled it pretty damn well. Everyone went to college, Got jobs, got married, and all have had good lives. As a parent, what more can you ask for?

As a child, because of her, we got the love, nurturing and support we needed to grow and thrive in a very turbulent and adventure-filled world.