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This is a story often told to us by my grandmother when she was alive. She was born in 1910 and when she was a young adult, there wasn't central heat and parents always wanted to make sure that the babies were kept warm during the night. It was common practice at that time to "pin the babies" That meant a parent would place the baby in the crib and then cover the baby with a blanket as we would today, but then they would pin it to the bottom crib linen with large diaper pins. This prevented the baby from kicking off the blanket and potential harm from very cold temperatures during the night.
My grandparents owned a grand older home. They lived on the main floor of the house that had a large living room, a very large dining room, huge eat in country kitchen, a bathroom and large bedroom. The upper floor of the house was divided into one large apartment and two separate rooms with an adjoining bath that were rented out to borders. The lower level of her house had a lovely one bedroom apartment. The coach house on her property was made into a garage, and there was another apartment above the garage. I loved visiting because I found her house so mysterious, but it was also very creepy and getting me anywhere other than than the main floor was next to impossible.
As the story goes a family relative, a young mother passed away leaving her young baby behind. My grandmother, having the only house large enough to accomodate a large number of people opened her home to a wake for her cousin. As the evening progressed the father put the baby in my grandmothers bedroom surrounded by pillows so she would not fall off the bed. The evening was solomn, with people speaking in hushed tones about what would happen with the baby, who would care for it etc. when someone mentioned it was a chilly night. It was then someone at the wake said that someone should go in and "Pin the baby" so it did not catch a chill. The father looked through the babies bag and found 2 diaper pins and along with another family member went into the bedroom to pin the poor child. Immediately you heard gasps and the other family member came running out of the room telling everyone to come quick. As my grandmother entered the room she saw the baby's father kneeling beside the bed praying, tears streaming from his face and the two diaper pins in his hand. She then looked on the bed and saw the baby sleeping soundly, the covers tucked up snugly around her and pinned to make sure the baby stayed warm.
My grandmother didn't know whether to laugh, smile or cry. She, as everyone else at the gathering knew, without a doubt, that the baby's mother had paid a visit and made sure that her baby was pinned. No one questioned what would happen to the baby after that, they knew she would be fine, her mother would be there to take care of her. |
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