Memories

I remember washing dishes with my sister. We washed the dishes together almost every evening during the 1950s. It was never one of my favorite activities. There was an advertisement for a dish soap that stated, "No wash, no wipe tonight." I simply could not understand why my parents would not buy that particular dish washing powder. The request to buy came from my lips many times. I guess it really didn't work. If it had, my sister and I would not have had the opportunity to sing many of the duets we did.

Dishwashing time was definitely the time for singing. One of our favorites was "White Choral Bells." We sang it as a round. My sister was always better at it than I was, so I always got to start (once she gave me the starting note). She was the one who knew when to come in to make the harmony work. We also often sang a Kingston Trio song, "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley." Certainly, many hymns became part of our repertoire. Our singing was limited to our house. We never sang together in public, and many people are glad of that. My sister did go on to sing many solos in local churches. She had and still has a beautiful soprano voice.

Back to the dishes. my sister almost always washed, probably because she got the dishes clean, and I wasn't nearly as particular as she was. The tea towel always got increasingly wet as it was used, and it got harder and harder to get the dishes completely dry. Of course, they couldn't be put away wet, so I would have to change tea towels part way through the dishes. As the evening chore continued, the drying rack got fuller and fuller. It seemed that washing was an easier job that didn't take as much time as drying. My sister could always wash the dishes faster than I could dry them and put them away. At least it seemed washing was easier and faster until my sister let me wash and she dried. Then the drying rack was always empty and she was ready to grab the dish from my hands as soon as it was washed. How did that work? The job she did was always faster than the one I did. No, washing dishes was definitely not one of my favorite acitivties, but my memories of it now are pleasant and enjoyable ones. Maybe I'll call my sister and see if she remembers all the words to "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley."

Did you do the dishes with your sister? Call her. Maybe she'll remember all the words to "White Choral Bells."

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