Monday, 5 May 1969

Up by 8:30—but had a headache—had breakfast, took aspirin—but the headache lingered. I didn’t get much done in the morning—my head was bothering me too much. But I did make some progress in cleaning my desk, filing. We had lunch about 1:00, shaved, about 1:45 I got up to Hannibals, at 2:30 I went to see Bertha Wicky to talk about the current turmoil in the church—didn’t leave there utnil almost 4:00. Came home; books had arrived from Cokesbury, Gideon, by Pritchard—for the Bible class to give to Helen Evarts. I took it over to her home—saw her briefly—very ill. Helped Bonnie with supper; called Dr. Richardson to have him send me a map to his home for Wed. evening. About 6:30 we took Debby to Patriquins, then headed to Lawrence to see the movie, Lion in Winter—back to Patriquins by 11:20; home; snacked; bathed; off to bed; lights out 11:55.

Tuesday, 6 May 1969

Up about 9:30. Breakfast; spent the morning making a door for the top of the stairway (back) to prevent Debby from falling down stairs on way from bedroom to Bonnie’s sewing room. This was finished by about 12:30 or so. Had lunch after shaving. Went calling; saw Mrs. Parsons, Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Leary, Anna + Alvina—also Virginia Bate. Home about 5:30. Had supper; typed stencil of proposed letter + questionnaire for Admin. Board approval. Picked up Hazle Lord for baby sitting about 7:00, went to the church, trustees meeting briefly at 7:15—then the Administrative Board meeting at 7:30. A divisive meeting—I was again attacked + insulted by Alice Marr. Quite an uproar. Announced at the beginning of my report that we’re moving to England; meeting broke up about 9:30. After we got home, we went to the Patriquins; Winnie Gamage was there. Stayed to about 11:15; home again;bathed; off to bed; 12:20.

Wednesday, 7 May 1969

Don’t recall when we got up—much of the day was very blah. After breakfast I set out to get the lawn mowed. Got the mower out of the basement. Changed oil, cleaned, put in new gas—but wouldn’t start. Went + bought new spark plug but still wouldn’t work. We had a late lunch—after which I napped. Up about 3:00. Typed stencils for the letter and questionnaire to be sent. Then got ready to go. About 4:30 we left, took Debby to Busseys for the evening, then drove to Newton to Dr. Richardson’s for supper. Arrived about 6:30—left about 10:00. We had an enjoyable supper and socializing with class members and wives. We played a game of probe [1] with Les + Jeannie [?] Strong. We got to Busseys about 11:00, home by 11:30. Debby didn’t awake on way home. Bathed, off to bed; lights out 12:30.

Thursday, 8 May 1969

David and Debby, Spring 1969

Up at 8:00. No breakfast; immediately did the mimeographing. This was finished by 8:45. Then had to call Emma Last to be organist. Went on errands—Ornes, post office, to see Jean Crowell at the Bank. Got gas, home about 10:15. We got ready to go; left about 10:45. Arrived in Avon at 12:10. Went 128 around Boston to the west. The object of the visit is to relax. In the afternoon played cards and napped. We had supper at 5:00. Relaxed; Grandma’s friend Merle and husband Tom came over about 6:40. We watched TV and visited; then we showed them our slides. We didn’t want to have to spend an evening in conversation with them—so we decided that slides were the best preoccuption. They left about 9:00. Debby was still going—has had little nap today; finally asleep by 10:00. Bathed; off to bed; lights out 10:52.

Friday, 9 May 1969

A do-nothing day. Up at 9:00; had breakfast. Finally got around to shaving—just sat around in the morning. After lunch, relaxed, read, about mid-afternoon Bonnie and I went shopping. At Sears I got a new pair of casual shoes—very comfortable. Then at Kings I bought a new pair of slacks—green plaid, and a belt. Several other items; we got back to Grandma’s about 4:45. I called BU to renew a book. About 5:00 we had supper. Then watched TV. At 7:30 we began to get ready to go. Left Avon at 8:00—went to the west 128 route around Boston—75 miles to Rockport; we were home by 9:20. Our cat was desperate for attention—and to get outside. But we didn’t allow her out. Got everything in + put away; called Pat + Gary Holmes—they were expecting us this evening; read, relaxed, bathed; off to bed; lights out 11:45. θ+

Saturday, 10 May 1969

Up with Debby by 8:30. Bonnie stayed in bed—didn’t get downstairs until almost 11:00. I fed Debby breakfast, worked on sermon. Mother called shortly after Bonnie came downstairs—wants us to come to Indiana for their 40^th wedding anniversary. We have decided to do this since she called. Had lunch, shaved, finished sermon, typed + ran off the bulletins. Then set out with Debby on my back; we went down to Bear Skin Neck and bought Bonnie a Mother’s Day gift. Then went to call on Esther Longley. Home about 4:30. Then helped with supper—put a pie together; after supper we went over to Wesley Church in Gloucester to the Arts, Crafts, Hobby show—in which some of Bonnie’s sewing is displayed. Home about 8:45. Entertained Alan Fedrich and his parents—showed slides hurriedly—pausing at those with Alan. They went home after 10; bathed; off to bed; θ+; lights out 11:55.

Sunday, 11 May 1969

Awake around 8:00. I had hidden Bonnie’s Mother’s Day gift under the bed, and Debby and I gave it to her after Debby’s bottle: two blue glass candlesticks. Then I got up and did more work on the service—small breakfast, shaved, dressed. Off to the church at 10:00—had to go through things with Jim Tanner. Had 38 at the service—communion. Alice Marr asked to be friends. Didn’t get home til almost 1:00. After lunch we finished 3 rolls of film—in 3 different cameras. Napped, at 3:00 went to the church; we had a meeting with Roxbury people about placing students here in Rockport. This was over about 5:00; came home—after taking more pictures around the church—fixed supper, baked 2 pies. After supper, at 6:30 went back to the church for Joint Youth meeting; home at 7:30. We went to Wesley church to Hobby Show; 9:30 to Patriquins, stayed there until after 11:00; home again; too weary to bathe; off to bed; lights out 11:45.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probe_(parlor_game)

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/06/04/davids-diary-may-5-1969/