Don and Jean Clark were a couple that lived across the street from Bump and I as we were growing up.
They had a couple kids of their own Karen and Steve but even so they opened up their home to Bump and I and it became our refuge from the storms of life. Its no great secret that there was alot of anger and fighting that took place in my home. My dad tryed to run things and had problems making a living and he and mom could not get along. It was tough times, little money and my mom was always working and had her friends. Mom missed out on what should have been her fun teen years but as it turned out she went right into having children and responsibilities at a very young age. thinking she was fifthteen when she married. Well she rebelled and many a evening when things were messed up at home Bump and I would run over to our neighbors the Clarks and stay till felt safe to go home. were over there till near time to go to bed. There at Clarks we found peace! It was where would hang after school. Jean would give us snacks, all the soda we wanted and do little things for us that we missed out on at our home. Anything we needed done, she did, sometimes sewing a rip or fixing something that we wore, she did it, hungry she fed us, needing pampered, she gave it. I think she knew the circumstances in our home and she was so giving. I cry right now just thinking of her kindness to Bump and I.
Poor Don, her husband, their were times i know he would have given anything if we just would leave and go home so he could have time with his wife. i can remember him wanting her to come to bed sometimes. she would say you go and we would go ahead and stay up with her late into the night watching her favorite show on tv , Jack Parr. It was funny and for sure we needed a laugh! Jean was funny, she could always crack a joke. almost like Lucy and could make you laugh, seemed to me she was always happy. it was fun being there! She never ever made us feel we were a burden to her. She truly seemed to enjoy having us there. We ate many a meal there. Drinks were plenty as well as all her baked goods.
I know Joe and Marianne do this same thing for the kids across the st. from them, they are like grandparents to those kids. . Of course Jean & Don were too young to be grandparents . I often think about Karen and Steve their children and how they had to share their mom and dad with us. I really think they were ok with it, they were young and think they enjoyed us being there.
I will post pictures of these two wonderful people as soon as i get them located. IF EVER anyone deserves a crown in the next life Bump and I both feel these two people do. So giving and never begrudging. I will always be grateful for them and that they were there when these two kids needed them and that they went out of their way to give us a safety net , a place where we could go in times of trouble and made to feel the world is ok and we are safe!! Thank you Don and Jean, thank you from the bottom of my heart! I will always be grateful for each of you and for being there for Bump and I.
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