The Apron By Linda Stowe
Every morning when my mother got dressed, the last thing she would put on would be her apron. She had several, all homemade, and the only time she was not wearing one was when she left home for errands, church, etc. Otherwise, an apron was part of her uniform. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I imagine aprons were common among most of the housewives in the area.
It used to annoy my mother that I refused to wear an apron, but even though I couldn’t clearly explain my feelings I knew that I could not allow an apron to become part of my normal attire. It was the symbol of the life I did not want. I never did own an apron, although I could have used one a few times.
This reminds me of a poignant memory from the early ’70s when I went to visit a senior housing facility in inner East Dayton called Park Manor. This was well before senior housing was common and Park Manor was considered cutting edge at the time. As I recall, it was a large facility, perhaps a converted school building. I can still remember going into an area that may have been a gymnasium or a cafeteria. On one of the walls there was a large banner that said “Park Manor – Our Home.” There was seating arranged around the perimeter of the large room where the residents spent their day. All the men were wearing baseball hats, like they were going outside to work. And all the women were wearing aprons.
Wordle guess words: about, allow, apron, annoy
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Polly here.
I think the message in this is superb. It is pretty incredible that Linda had that awareness, at an early age, of what the apron meant in her life. Or more to the point, what she didn’t want it to mean in her life. This was profoundly astute for any child, no matter what age at the time.
Conversely, my mom never wore an apron. Not ever, that I recall. Maybe she did when the other kids were younger, I don’t know. But she never donned one, no matter what she was cooking or doing that I ever saw.
With that, I have to say that my parents were uniquely wonderful. When I was young, so many of my peers talked mostly about getting married and having children when they got older. That seemed to be one of their main goals. They must have learned it somewhere.
That message was never instilled in our home. There was this underlying reality that we were supposed to keep learning. My dad taught us lessons every day. Intentionally. But he also did this by example. My mom offered these things too. But to a lesser degree.
What I’m trying to say is that they didn’t expect us to put on an apron in our lives. They wanted us to grow into the best people that we could be.
This was such a great piece about awareness.
