Marriage, Family, Moving to Longmeadow

While living in West Springfield, I became pregnant and I was so excited! Growing up when I did, it was expected that one would get married and within 2 years have a child, settle down, have another and so it goes. Women were not really in the workplace; they were in the home. It was the 1960's and those of us who had graduated from college were secretaries, dental hygienists, nurses, or teachers. Other options were not really talked about; after all, if we chose one of the aforementioned ones and wanted to continue in one of those professions, we could do the job part time and still have time to be at home with our kids. How times have changed! Also, if you were a teacher, you were not allowed to teach once your pregnancy started to show. Unreal!! I mean did they think kids didn't know how one got pregnant or had never seen a pregnant woman before! But whatever...that was the deal so I left my teaching job just before the Thanksgiving holiday. The students threw me a party and gave me a beautiful bathrobe and slippers. Actually, being finished with teaching did give me the opportunity to fix up the baby's room. Back then,m we did not have the option of knowing if we were having a boy or a girl, so I decided to use neutral colors. I made ducks out of cardboard and all the ducks were dressed differently. Then, I adhered them to the wall and had them going around the perimeter of the room. I made a blanket for the bed, curtains for the window, b out sheets and bumpers for the crib and was all set to go! The nursery looked adorable! The baby was due the end of April, but in the wee hours of April 7 I knew it was time. My water broke, I called to Michael, who naturally being the calm, neat person decided he would go shower and shave first. After all, he had to look good as the new father! So I waited. Once in the hospital, things happened quickly and along came Andrew Jay after about an hour! What an easy time I had! He was little and wiry. To me, he was beautiful and I felt as if I were the only person in the world to have given birth and to have become a mom! Once in my room ( we did not have babies in our rooms, but were in lab or rooms and then moved), I looked outside and was shocked to see it was snowing! I stayed in the hospital for 3 days and spent my time looking adoringly at Andy and nursing him. Andy was named for Michael's dad, Aaron Jacob. Once home, I had a baby nurse named Mrs. Wheatley. She stayed for two weeks and showed me how to care for the baby. I had just turned 24. Most gals my age all had baby nurses to show them the ropes. My folks would come visit as would my in-laws, but they did not stay to take care of Andy. During the 60s, most gals did not nurse. Most used formula. But I wanted to nurse, I wanted to feel the closeness of my child and experience what nature had intended. Our dog, Farfel, was incredible. He took ownership of Andy. Always by his side, Farfel would stand guard over Andy. When I would put Andy in a carriage. Farfel would be there and lie down right nest to the carriage. By the fall, Mike and I decided that we would like to own our own home and move to Longmeadow where many of our friends lived. I took my retirement money from teaching and with some help from my parents, too, Mike and I purchased a home on 228 Bel-Air Drive. We still live in the same home today. Actually, the house had some drawbacks. It was a raised ranch with a really tiny kitchen, the family room was in the basement, there was no basement for storage and the bedrooms were not large, but the street was lovely and the neighborhood was filled with young families. The good news was that we bought it from the owner so the price was right. Today one could not buy a car for what we paid for the house!!!! Over the years, we have added on to the house and now it is quite comfortable. I would not consider moving anywhere else since this home is filled with the memories of my family. I have just to close my eyes and I can picture them all interacting! We settled in and soon I was pregnant again. In January of 1970, Jonathan Alan Cohen was born. This guy was 3 weeks early, weighed about 5 1/2 pounds and was born in 20 minutes time! Unlike Andy, he was fair and not as wiry. Andy was thrilled to have a brother! We had to wait to have the Bris for Jonathan since he did not weigh enough, but after 10 days we were able to hold it and we named him for both of my grandmothers- Lena Cohen and Fannie Simons. As you can tell, we just used the Hebrew names! At the time I did not even realize that Jon's and Andy's initials were reversed - JA and AJ!!!



Andy seemed very bright and very energetic, so although he was not quite 3, I decided to send him to a little nursery school, Tiki Tak Academy for Tiny Tots. Located in a woman's basement in East Longmeadow, it was small, very nurturing and opened up new vistas for Andy. He thrived there and enjoyed going.



Once Jon was older, I became bored just staying home. I was active in some organizations - Council, the Mr. and Mrs. Club at the Jewish Home, AMD, and our Temple, but I needed more stimulation, so I decided to do some substitute teaching, I loved the kids, but I did not enjoy subbing since I was never sure when I would be called. I did decide to return to school and went to Springfield College to obtain a master's degree in Guidance and Psychological Services. I would go several afternoons a week and a babysitter would come in to watch the boys. I found the studying and learning to be stimulating.



Jon, a very active and smart little man, was in nursery school and Andy was in kindergarten. Having some urinary problems, Andy would double over in pain and after taking him to specialists, it was determined that he needed to have a ureter re implanted. Luckily for us, the doctor whom everyone suggested was in our own backyard, right here in Springfield. Dr. Verilli was truly a find. Kind, bright, compassionate and skillful, he was an excellent doctor. Andy had the surgery at Springield Hospital and missed about 2 weeks of school. He recuperated beautifully but I found the whole deal to be very traumatic. Thank goodness my little guy was free of pain and healthy!!!



The boys were very active, played well together and fought well together. I remember driving in the car ( no one sat in car seats) and I would draw an imaginary line down the middle of the backseat and tell them not to cross the line!!! When I wasn't looking, Andy would give Jon a little poke, just a little one but enough to egg him on and then of course, he would put an angelic look on his face as if to say,"I have no idea why Jon is complaining...I didn't do anything!"



So, one might think with the fish, the dog, two kids, and my husband, my family was complete, but I didn't think so. I still wanted another child. Actually, I wanted 6 but I had already had miscarriages and the doctor didn't think I would have another child. Was he wrong!!! Along came Daniel Walter Cohen on August 22, 1976. I don't know what excited the boys more - the fact that they had a new brother or that he was born on Carl Yastremski's birthday!!! Dan came 3 weeks early, but he was the biggest of the 3 - weighing in at over 6 1/2 pounds!!! Both boys came with Mike to take us home from the hospital. I put Danny in Andy's arms and he carried him as Michael drove home. Imagine that happening today!!!Before Danny was born, I had taken a teaching job as an Assistant Professor of English at American International College. So, after he was born, I would simply take Dan in his infant seat with me to the college, prop him on the desk and teach. He was an easy baby and I schlepped him everywhere! I had no option. The other two were 6 and 81/2 so they had things to do and places to go. Danny's nap time was often in the car bed that was placed in the back of the car. Today that would never be allowed!