| Biographical Non-Fiction posted July 24, 2020 | Chapters: |
...51 52 -53- 54... 
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The children bring home some wild pets.
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
Possum Tales
by BethShelby
| Background Evan is transferred with his Drafting department to New Orleans. After moving from Mississippi to Louisiana, we live in an apartment for a while. This chapter is about things that happen while we are |
The kids hadn’t been in school many days when they came home excited to tell me that Lyndon, the boy who they rode home with in the afternoon, had gone to his grandparent's farm in the country over the weekend, and he'd found some baby opossums, abandoned when the mother was hit by a car and killed.
“Mom, you should see them. They’re adorable. They curl their little tails around his finger, and he holds them up, and they just hang there. His parents won’t let him keep them. He’s going to have to get rid of them. Could we have them? Please?” Carol begged.
I’m like a kid when it comes to baby animals. I wanted to see the baby possums too. I knew it wasn’t a smart idea. We didn’t have a pet deposit, and I wasn’t even sure if we could get one. Then I thought, they would be so tiny. How would anyone know we had them? The apartment manager had never been around. I hesitated. “I doubt if we could keep them here. I’m not sure your daddy would let us. Maybe we can keep them a day or two, until Lyndon can find someone to take them. We’ll ask your dad when he gets home.”
“Are you nuts?” you asked me. “We can’t keep possums in this place. We’re in the city. Possums can’t live in apartments.”
“Well, I told the kids maybe we could keep them until Lyndon can find someone else who could take them. Kids need pets. They learn about animals that way. They had to give up their dogs, you know.”
“You do what you want to, but I’m not having anything to do with them,” you said, stalking off toward the bedroom to take off your tie.
The following morning, I gave Carol a large woven wood purse with a latch at the top. It had enough small openings that I figured the babies could breathe without escaping. “You can bring them home today, but tell Lyndon he’s going to have to find someone else to take them.”
That afternoon when I got home, all three of my kids had a little possum hanging by its tail on their finger. I picked up the fourth one, and it opened it’s pointed mouth, showing two rows of tiny sharp-looking teeth, and hissed at me. “Ooh…I don’t think he likes me. Those teeth look dangerous. I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“He won’t hurt you. They’re just babies," Don assured me.
“Well they can’t live in that purse all the time. We need to fix up a place where they can have water and something to eat. What do they eat?”
“Lyndon said he tried some cereal and they ate a little with milk, but he said just try some stuff and maybe they’ll start eating.”
We decided that since the middle half-bath was a small room, it might be a good place for them. As long as we kept the door closed, they wouldn’t be able to get out. We put some water and food in there to see how they would do. Before the day was over, someone had left the door open long enough for one to escape. After searching the apartment for nearly an hour, we gave up.
Two days later we heard a strange noise coming from behind the refrigerator. We moved it back enough to find and rescue the tiny creature. Someone left the commode top up in the bathroom, and I found one floating in the water. To my surprise, he was still alive and seemed no worse for the swim. They were constantly escaping. Before long we'd moved every piece of furniture in the apartment more than once.
****
By the weekend, we’d been in the apartment two weeks, and you were ready to go back to Mississippi. We went to my parents first, and the baby possums came with us in the wooden purse. My dad wasn’t pleased. Those were not creatures he wanted any part of. Naturally, a couple of them escaped in his house while we were there. We found one of them, but the other was never seen again. I couldn’t prove it, but I suspected my dad had something to do with its disappearance.
When we left my home, we went to visit your mom at her apartment in Newton. She was still grieving the loss of your dad, but she seemed happy to see us. When we left her place, we went to our place in the country and spent Saturday night.
Even though the house was still just a shell with unsealed rooms, we did have some beds there now. Mom had given us the twin beds and mattress sets which were the ones I'd grown up with. Your mom had loaned us a double bed, which she had no room for when she moved to Newton. We also had a folding cot, so we had enough to make this a good place to camp.
We had a hotplate for making coffee and doing light cooking, so we didn't go hungry while there. We spent Sunday morning walking over our hundred and forty-three acres, much of which was woodland. You had a neighbor looking after our cattle. and he had a couple of his horses on the land.
For a while, we went back to Mississippi every other weekend. It was less than a three hour drive on the highway. On the weekends, when we stayed at home in Metairie, we would attend church.
The church usually had a game night over at the school on Saturday night. People would bring board games and the kids and other young people would sometimes play volleyball or basketball in the gym. There was always popcorn and other refreshments available. I enjoyed the games. It was a good way to get acquainted with people. You weren’t into games, and sometimes the kids and I went alone. You seemed happy to stay home and watch TV or listen to music.
Often during the week, you and I would get out of the apartment and walk around exploring the neighborhood. There were mostly apartments around us, but we weren’t far from the West Esplanade canal and Lake Pontchartrain. In a construction site near us, Carol found a red leather wrist band, and it became a part of her daily attire.
****
We hadn't been living in the apartment long when your mother decided she wanted to come spend a week with us. When your mom traveled, she always brought every garment she owned. She couldn’t have worn them all if she lived with us for a year.
At the time, one of the little possums had been missing for nearly a week. We put your mom on Don’s single bed, and I made him a bed on the couch. In the middle of the night we heard the most piercing series of yelps and screams. Your mom ran out of her room into the hallway in her nightgown. with her head tied up in curlers. She was shaking all over and sputtering something about a wild animal in her bed. Of course, what we discovered was the missing baby possum. He was ready for some food and water.
I’m sure your mom wasn’t at all pleased, that I was choking back the tears, while trying to control my laughter. It was not at all appropriate behavior for a daughter-in-law, but she couldn’t have known how funny she looked and sounded. It is a wonder she ever came to visit us again..
“Mom, you should see them. They’re adorable. They curl their little tails around his finger, and he holds them up, and they just hang there. His parents won’t let him keep them. He’s going to have to get rid of them. Could we have them? Please?” Carol begged.
I’m like a kid when it comes to baby animals. I wanted to see the baby possums too. I knew it wasn’t a smart idea. We didn’t have a pet deposit, and I wasn’t even sure if we could get one. Then I thought, they would be so tiny. How would anyone know we had them? The apartment manager had never been around. I hesitated. “I doubt if we could keep them here. I’m not sure your daddy would let us. Maybe we can keep them a day or two, until Lyndon can find someone to take them. We’ll ask your dad when he gets home.”
“Are you nuts?” you asked me. “We can’t keep possums in this place. We’re in the city. Possums can’t live in apartments.”
“Well, I told the kids maybe we could keep them until Lyndon can find someone else who could take them. Kids need pets. They learn about animals that way. They had to give up their dogs, you know.”
“You do what you want to, but I’m not having anything to do with them,” you said, stalking off toward the bedroom to take off your tie.
The following morning, I gave Carol a large woven wood purse with a latch at the top. It had enough small openings that I figured the babies could breathe without escaping. “You can bring them home today, but tell Lyndon he’s going to have to find someone else to take them.”
That afternoon when I got home, all three of my kids had a little possum hanging by its tail on their finger. I picked up the fourth one, and it opened it’s pointed mouth, showing two rows of tiny sharp-looking teeth, and hissed at me. “Ooh…I don’t think he likes me. Those teeth look dangerous. I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“He won’t hurt you. They’re just babies," Don assured me.
“Well they can’t live in that purse all the time. We need to fix up a place where they can have water and something to eat. What do they eat?”
“Lyndon said he tried some cereal and they ate a little with milk, but he said just try some stuff and maybe they’ll start eating.”
We decided that since the middle half-bath was a small room, it might be a good place for them. As long as we kept the door closed, they wouldn’t be able to get out. We put some water and food in there to see how they would do. Before the day was over, someone had left the door open long enough for one to escape. After searching the apartment for nearly an hour, we gave up.
Two days later we heard a strange noise coming from behind the refrigerator. We moved it back enough to find and rescue the tiny creature. Someone left the commode top up in the bathroom, and I found one floating in the water. To my surprise, he was still alive and seemed no worse for the swim. They were constantly escaping. Before long we'd moved every piece of furniture in the apartment more than once.
****
By the weekend, we’d been in the apartment two weeks, and you were ready to go back to Mississippi. We went to my parents first, and the baby possums came with us in the wooden purse. My dad wasn’t pleased. Those were not creatures he wanted any part of. Naturally, a couple of them escaped in his house while we were there. We found one of them, but the other was never seen again. I couldn’t prove it, but I suspected my dad had something to do with its disappearance.
When we left my home, we went to visit your mom at her apartment in Newton. She was still grieving the loss of your dad, but she seemed happy to see us. When we left her place, we went to our place in the country and spent Saturday night.
Even though the house was still just a shell with unsealed rooms, we did have some beds there now. Mom had given us the twin beds and mattress sets which were the ones I'd grown up with. Your mom had loaned us a double bed, which she had no room for when she moved to Newton. We also had a folding cot, so we had enough to make this a good place to camp.
We had a hotplate for making coffee and doing light cooking, so we didn't go hungry while there. We spent Sunday morning walking over our hundred and forty-three acres, much of which was woodland. You had a neighbor looking after our cattle. and he had a couple of his horses on the land.
For a while, we went back to Mississippi every other weekend. It was less than a three hour drive on the highway. On the weekends, when we stayed at home in Metairie, we would attend church.
The church usually had a game night over at the school on Saturday night. People would bring board games and the kids and other young people would sometimes play volleyball or basketball in the gym. There was always popcorn and other refreshments available. I enjoyed the games. It was a good way to get acquainted with people. You weren’t into games, and sometimes the kids and I went alone. You seemed happy to stay home and watch TV or listen to music.
Often during the week, you and I would get out of the apartment and walk around exploring the neighborhood. There were mostly apartments around us, but we weren’t far from the West Esplanade canal and Lake Pontchartrain. In a construction site near us, Carol found a red leather wrist band, and it became a part of her daily attire.
****
We hadn't been living in the apartment long when your mother decided she wanted to come spend a week with us. When your mom traveled, she always brought every garment she owned. She couldn’t have worn them all if she lived with us for a year.
At the time, one of the little possums had been missing for nearly a week. We put your mom on Don’s single bed, and I made him a bed on the couch. In the middle of the night we heard the most piercing series of yelps and screams. Your mom ran out of her room into the hallway in her nightgown. with her head tied up in curlers. She was shaking all over and sputtering something about a wild animal in her bed. Of course, what we discovered was the missing baby possum. He was ready for some food and water.
I’m sure your mom wasn’t at all pleased, that I was choking back the tears, while trying to control my laughter. It was not at all appropriate behavior for a daughter-in-law, but she couldn’t have known how funny she looked and sounded. It is a wonder she ever came to visit us again..
 Recognized |
I'm continuing to recall memories of life with my deceased husband as if I am talking aloud to him. I'm doing this because I want my children to know us as we knew each other and not just as their parents.
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