Mom Danced the Charleston

mom, on the right, dances the charleston, 1956

When we moved to Tachikawa Air Force  Base in Japan in 1955, I was in the third grade. My mother blossomed. She entered a social realm, had more friends, as couples they gathered for dinners. She participated in a events at the NCO Club, non-commissioned officers club. It was not as “Country Club-ish” as the officers club, but better than what the airmen had, which was no club at all. Airman didn’t seem to have families. They must’ve gotten out of the military if had not made the rank of sergeant. 

While in Japan, Mom learned the Can-Can and the Charleston and they would perform at dinners at the Club.

Mom and Dad relax after her can-can performance.

Mom modeling

She sewed her own clothes and modeled them herself in fashion shows,  also at the club, probably at a women's luncheon. 

New Year’s Eve, 1956 Photo by Dad

Dad got into photography. He met Japanese photographers, bought state of the art, wide lens cameras. He developed his own film in a dark room on the base. He took me with him at times. When we moved to Topeka, Kansas, he set up a dark room in an unused utility room off of my added on bedroom. There are photos Dad took of us dressed for Easter in front of the house we lived in. At first, when I saw them, I couldn’t understand why his focus was so off-center. Now I appreciate it. We are all standing to the right in front of the decorative gas yard light. To the left you can see the house we lived in, and VW bus, and another sibling waiting for their turn to be photographed.

Looking back I see it’s not so much what my mother taught me directly, it’s what I absorbed. Today I model what I’ve sewn.

repurposed felted from old clothes