A TRIBUTE TO CREATIVITY & MY PARENTS

CREATIVITY AS A GIFT

As I was awakening this morning, I started thinking about creativity and its influence in my life and felt inspired to write about it today. It has a lot to do with my birth family and the gifts my parents gave me. So I write this blog to honor my Dad for Father’s day this month, and in memory of my mother who departed almost two years ago from this plane. I hope you enjoy my reminiscing; I wish I had done it to be read at her memorial.

My parents are both creative beings, but in very different ways, and each of us six kids demonstrate creativity in our own individual ways. Everyone has unique talents but we certainly were inspired by our upbringing. I can recall few times when either parent would specifically sit down with us to teach us a skill. Apparently, we learned by watching, asking questions, and polishing skills on our own. Most skills, including walking, can be learned along the way. Somehow I think we were also born with the gift of creativity which clearly shows up in the hand markings on my own palms.

My parents’ talents differed and complimented one another in many ways (they divorced when I was 18). Mother was talented in so many ways! She could plan and throw a large party at church or create a small tea party at home. She loved to entertain, and didn’t often like to be alone. Mother could make something from a photo or picture without a pattern whereas I need one. She hosted many church women’s events and group parties putting together the program, food and entertainment. Mother and Dad together painted Christmas nativity scenes on the large windows at church and sometimes on the picture window at home. One holiday season they made paper Mache’ crèches spray-painted in gold and sometimes gag gifts like a 50-carot mirror that had carrots glued and painted on.

On the other hand, Dad is more meticulous than Mother ever was, and he can fix or make most anything from lettering, drawing, or repairing plumbing or electrical issues. He built me a dollhouse in kindergarten, an office desk that one sister now has, and added a room on our house, plus the tree house and often helps his daughters with repairs for which we are very grateful!

My parents honestly had a bit more creativity than most I must say. They also encouraged us to make things out of nothing or make up games while traveling in the car using our imagination only. We would play for hours in the leaves outside making houses or hospitals with outlines of leaves. Thanks to Dad, we had a big sand box under one of the oldest trees in the city. My dad built a big tree house in it too with a winding staircase, and we had a tire swing, and playhouse (renovated from an old chicken coup). Neighborhood children always gravitated to our yard, and unlike kids today, we were often outside in all seasons, making things in the sand, playing tag, creating shows, or building snowmen.

We also learned to appreciate music as it was always playing, from classical to movie soundtracks. I recall our first stereo in the 60’s that had a deep well in which to store albums, a turntable and radio and short narrow legs. It got a lot of use for many years. My mother having come from a musical family, urged me to start playing the flute in third grade which I did until about 7th grade. She played the clarinet and all of her siblings played instruments, and many of her family are musically-gifted. I don’t think any siblings took up instruments, but my son played trombone for one year. It taught me about reading music, but unfortunately not the discipline to practice. She also encouraged us to learn songs and we were often lined up to sing for friends of the family. We were no VOn Trapp  family, but we did our share of entertaining. We would put on little shows with costumes and songs for many holidays and when company came to dinner.

In the summer, we also gathered our blankets and picnic to go to City Park for the free concerts, which frequently featured orchestras. Mother had a nice collection of Christmas music too, especially the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We watched many musical shows on television in the 60’s as well such as the King Family, Andy Williams, and Mitch Miller where we learned the words to songs that were displayed on the screen with a bouncing ball to ‘sing along with Mitch.’ We watched Name that Tune, and American Bandstand, and also learned many songs in church.

Both parents came from a small farming community and appreciated the growing of flowers and gardens. They were somewhat disappointed in the sandy soil that Denver offers, but often planted a garden. We had a huge yard with lilac and peony bushes and many trees. Back then we used a hand mower, but the large trees provided so much shade that the grass was never a big issue. Yet we learned a little about gardening and appreciating nature.

Creativity also meant sewing and crafts for us. Mother was quite a seamstress and purchased a decent Singer machine in about 1965 that she used through the rest of her life, and I acquired one just like it in the 1970’s that I still use. They were built to last back then not made of plastic and even have the ability to make fancy stitches and buttonholes. She often made matching dresses for us five girls especially for holidays and also for summer vacation. The church people came to expect the Reavey girls to be dressed alike. We have many photos together. As we got older, we really didn’t want to dress alike any more, and my brother never really wanted to look like the girls either, even if it was just a bow tie. As adults we surprised our mother at one of her birthday parties by dressing alike in paper outfits. And we wore the same color to her memorial.

Later on she began making wedding dresses for my sisters and it grew into a business for her; ultimately she made over 250 wedding gowns including veils, bridesmaids, flower girls and mother of the bride dresses. She was often seen sewing on beads, or designing and fitting brides at her home. I took sewing in home economics class in 7th grade, as well as cooking and it gave me a good foundation. Other than putting buttons on a string, I don’t recall mother teaching us to sew, but many of us picked up that skill as well. And she taught me the basic knitting stitch, but she never really knitted. We took a knitting class together when I was in high school, but I am the only one who really knits in the family, and then learned to crochet as well. Now all of us girls do various sewing.

Mother loved to cook; a good thing with a big family! She really liked to entertain and we hosted interesting parties from Luaus to Chinese New Year’s. Often we had church ladies over for dinner after church or for holidays where we might put on a show, decorate the table and cook special dishes. Having worked as a waitress, she picked up tips on folding napkins, and how to place silverware, so we learned those too. We often baked cookies for our ‘cookie tree’ by the front door to give as gifts at the holidays and we came up with some creative outfits for Santa cookies! She surprised us one Christmas with her own published recipe book and had to have a second reprint as so many church and family wanted copies. Most of us are pretty decent entertainers and cooks now thanks to her influence. My Dad is a decent cook too, though my childhood memories of him were onion dip, popcorn and bbq’ing.

As a large family we often played games, board or cards, and even outdoor games like badminton. In her later years, Mother loved to play Scrabble and it is one of the things we played on her last Mother’s day. Even when we were out to dinner, we would play hang man on napkins, and look for signs and letters on trips in the car. Imagination was strongly encouraged! Even now our holiday gatherings usually include a game of Pictionary, Balderdash, Scattergories or cards.

We can also thank our parents for our great senses of humor! We often told jokes and spent many hours listening to funny albums, like Bill Cosby. When Laugh In was on TV, we even incorporated the characters into our shows at church and our daily repertoire by mimicking the people on that show and Carol Burnett. Mother was telling jokes up to the end in hospice. We learned certainly learned to laugh!

Everyone has a spark of creativity in them. Whether you choose to use it or not is up to you. Creativity takes on many forms. You can be a problem-solver, a listener, a healer, an organizer, an author or a fashion designer. I urge you to explore whatever calls to your soul. Don’t let it lie, let it blossom! As the saying goes, “Don’t let your music die within you”. Our world needs creative solutions, and beauty to enjoy so everyone’s talents are important. I encourage you to find your mark of creativity and share it! Take some classes, practice, and find the joy that creativity brings to you and others. Your primary life purpose is to use you’re the gifts and talents you have been blessed with!

Happy Father’s Day to everyone who is or had a Father!

p.s. Please check out some of my creative endeavors on my website. And sign up for future blog notifications under the Newsletter tab.  Thank you for visiting.