We left off with me, my mother and new baby brother back in Marshalltown, IA. I mentioned that my newly adopted dad was home for the holidays. That fact was reinforced by the news shortly into the year that my mother was pregnant again. My brother Jason had just been born in October and by December my mother was set to have another child. Seems like a short window, but these crazy kids were in love. That and my dad was away in the Navy most of the time in the previous year.
With my father away and two kids at home, my mother was not rushing back into the workplace. We were living in a single wide trailer in a small trailer park placed right next to a creek. At age three, I loved going down to the creek (really just about 20 feet from our home) and I would marvel at the little minnows and crawdads in the water. The creek never got very deep, so you could wade into the water. It was located at the bottom of a ravine that was about a three foot drop from the bank of the stream. The ravine was probably the more dangerous of the elements of this natural playground. Falling from there onto the rocks in the stream was the easiest way to hurt yourself. There were many trees that lined the creek. Trees to climb and build forts in.... Of course, I was strictly forbade to play in or around that stream. That never seemed to stop me.
To make extra money, my mother took in other children to care for during the day. She would babysit these kids and take care of my brother and I. Sometime in this year I learned how to lock the front door to the trailer. I thought that was the funniest thing. Locking my mother out of the house. She would pound and yell. I would laugh and laugh.
One time, my mother had gone to the wash house to do laundry. While she was gone I got out the Flintstone's chewable vitamins. I poured them all out on a paper plate then me and the other kids my mother was watching proceeded to eat all of our favorites! I liked the car. Well, you can imagine what happened when my mother came back to the trailer....she was mortified and rushed us all to the emergency room. We had to have our stomachs pumped. I guess the vitamins had iron in them as well and too much iron is a bad thing for kids.
In the midst of this year, my father returned home full time. With a third child on the way....we were quickly outgrowing the single wide trailer. So, we arranged to move into a house. A house located just on the other side of the creek!
A few other things that happened this year. I had a teenage babysitter who showed me her Barbie collection. I was amazed and instantly hooked. When ever she babysat for me I asked her about her Barbies. The clothes and everything were fascinating to me. I then found that my grandparents also had a lot of Barbie toys as well. I was told that these things were not for boys....but that never stopped me from wanting to play with them. I loved all the little clothes and shoes! But, I always had to leave the Barbies at grandma's house at the end of the day.
Also, I am told I got up in the middle of the night and placed a can of soup in the oven and turned it on. The trailer was filled with smoke from the burnt label on the can and everyone was really freaked out that I would turn on the stove. No one was hurt and I guess I just was hungry for some soup.
My youngest brother, Joseph Donald Frohwein, was born on August 5, 1970. And by the end of the year we were moved to a new home. A real home. One with three bedrooms and a basement! This is the first address I ever remember having as well. 1208 Fairmeadows Road. This is where the next few year of my life would take place....
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