Sentimental Journey

Or, My friend, Pam

I rarely blog anything personal and try to keep this blog on knitting related things.

This time, I am going to tell a story that began 40+ years ago. I was married with 4 boys, 2 toddlers and a new born.  I worked at the local Ford agency, as a bookkeeper and I shopped at the greatest store ever. The Hub. The Hub plays a pivotal part in this story.

The Hub Building                                           125 W. Central (click on thumbnails for larger pica, or go to historical buildings, Coos Bay, OR.) Built in 1914 by the Chandler family, the southern portion was completed in 1919 with a second floor added in 1951. A penthouse was added in 1934 for the Kohler family, owners of the Hub Department Store. Originally, an American Renaissance design in brick, the facade was changed in 1941 to a restrained terra cotta and stucco streamlined Art Deco style.

Everyone shopped at the "Hub" department store for close to 100 years. I bought everything there, including my shoes. This store was huge, and true to its name it had many entrances and 2 1.2 stories, ( maybe 4+ if you include the hallways) and the Hubs across the street for cloth, needlework and KNITTING YARNS of the finest quality). It was the anchor of Coos Bay, Oregon's downtown area. The place you saw all your friends. The biggest retail store with quality merchandise. Pam's Dad was the shoe store manager. He saved all the small, high heels, (usually store displays), and sold them to me, and others with smaller feet, at discounted prices after they had been on display.

On my lunch hour one day, I was trying on several pairs of shoes. Mr. Anderson told me he was concerned about his young daughter. She had a new apartment and no car. It was starting to rain and he worried, for it was a long walk to town. I happened to drive right by the corner where she lived on my way to work. She didn't have a phone yet, so the next morning, I went to her apartment, knocked on the door. Being 5'2" in my bare feet, I stared up at the statuesque, most beautiful, blond girl, in Coos Bay! She answered the door with the world's 1,000 carat smile. A smile that made a person feel welcome, and something more... felt cared about. This was Pam.

Thus began our story.  Our paths separated along the way. I raised children, and Pam went on to star in many Little Theater on the Bay plays.  Her first play was , "Call Me Madam, then many starring roles came her way, including ," See How They Run; Don't Drink the Water; Time of your Life; Twig"s; mostly in the 70's and 80's. That incredible smile lit up the stage too. And, she also became a wonderful artist.

Sadly our beloved Hub closed in the 80's. There were strip malls to buy cheaper goods from. Hub was independently owned and couldn't compete. So, Pam went to Bon Marche, and I saw her there when I came back to Coos Bay. She was the Display Manager for 7 years and then took a 3 year hiatus when her baby girl came along. After that, she was the Homeworld Manager. She still loved people, and retail selling was where it was at for Pam. We didn't see each other for a long time during those years.

My children grew up and I went to live in Eugene, for what seemed like a life time, to study at the U of O. Twenty years passed and even eventually, I retired early, which was not for me, so, I looked around for a part time job for I love working with people too.

I interviewed at Hospice.  Guess what?  Pam was the Outreach Manager, and she was to be my Manager. I couldn't have been more pleased or overwhelmed. Of course, I said YES. I spent nearly 2 years at Hospice and I re-retired. Hospice was a highlight in my life.

Recently, Pam had a one woman show at Unity on the Bay. Once again, I was fortunate to buy the painting I wanted. It will eventually be in a grouping with all the gorgeous hand painted cards she has given me over the years.  THERE IS A PICTURE OF THE NEW PAINTING AT BOTTOM OF POST, SO STAY TUNED, or go to end to see it.

***Time for a few photos of the kidlets. Out of kindness to both of us, no photos of our young years because they aren't important now, these photos are what are important to us.

***Here we are both proud Grandmothers ~ This is Pam's Granddaughter. She is a blue eyed, redhead. Just like I predicted. Carmin is a year old now, running all over the place, and talking. The absolute love of Pam's life

. I pestered Pam today for an up-to-date picture and she sent one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam and CARMIN. The love of her life!

                                                                 

Check out Pam's smile! Still lighting up the world! 

The adorable baby boy is son of a friend of ours. He and Carmin are the same age. He is a big boy, they were both 8 months at the time, and the two kids will probably be engaged someday.  Who knows? <g> You can see my blog category, Babies Play Day, and all the pictures of that day are there. I don't know about Pam, but I was tired after the babies went home.  And I didn't do much of the work.  The babies were a little young and didn't interact liked we had hoped, but I bet they would now that they are both past a year old. I'll have to arrange a new Play Day 2. 

New picture of Carmin. Pam read the post and sent me a new picture. I think Carmin was eating some cake. She has grown some, running all over the house and is adorable.  Pam says she has now learned the word NO. So, we all know what that means...

I lost all my good pictures of my G-kids in the great spring Computer Crash, but I am expecting a CD, with all the old pictures and new ones on it from my DIL of 23 years, Terri. She is a daughter too me really. She has never forgotten me, and never let me down, even when I was down and out or a PITA (which is frequently).  What more can I say, aside that Terri is the best daughter any woman could have. She is a pretty girl too. I have some new pics from Terri, the kids and her wonderful husband, Frank, of the Orlando trip but I couldn't reduce their size for this limited format. I spent hours trying too. I also lost my HP program from the old computer that I loved for cutting down pictures to blog format.

I'll have the Orlando Disneyland trip on another page soon, Rochelle's 21st birthday trip

My son Rick and his wife Sue. My Grandchildren, Bethany, Rochelle and Thomas, the loves of my life, that's me beside Rick.

Back to the 2nd reason for this post.  During the hiatus years, Pam, the artist emerged.  A brilliant artist IMHO. Her medium is colored pencil. I have many of her cards, all done in colored pencil.  However, I have the privilege of owning her only painting, called Hydrangea.  It hangs in my front room.  I'll have a picture of it here soon.

I bought the first picture at Pam's show. It is a large, colored pencil picture in my favorite colors. I am proud of Pam's accomplishments. And here she is:

~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ LADYSUN  ~ by my friend Pam

 

I sincerely hope that Pam and I will be like these two dear ladies in another 20 years.  Trudging down the street, talking about our kids, grand children, and hopefully, our great-grandchildren by then.

 

All my love to you Pam,

junieann

Comments

[Lorraine]

Junie- What a great story. There are special people that touch our lives in ways we could never imagine.
The last picture is what I imagine me and my twin sister will be.

[Laritza]

How sweet :D

[Romi]

What a wonderful wonderful story. True friends are so very precious.

[Pru]

What a lovely story, and what a talented artist Pam is - beautiful use of color; does she knit, lol? Loved the photo of you with your family too. When can we see a photo of Rochelle wearing her Beadwork?

[Helle Reed]

Ohh, how sweet.....I can surely understand why you get a bit sentimental!!:-)

[colin]

That is a beautiful painting and Pam is fortunate to have a friend like you.

[AnneB]

What a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing. Love the old photos and the one with your kids. Pretty talented people!