After about the first of April every year, it didn’t much matter what you asked for. It might be a new record or socks or just about anything. The answer was always, “After April 15.” It was like a mantra, and life sort of came to a standstill until After April 15.
During the San Antonio years, which started in 1967, Mom and Dad both did taxes for H&R Block. Dad was, by profession, an accountant. Mom had started as a math checker when we lived in Charleston. (Kind of hard to imagine in this day and age what a math checker did!) But in San Antonio, Mom took the tax preparers’ course at Block, and was soon doing taxes too, eventually serving as manager of the main office in San Antonio.
Mom worked every day and Dad would work about one night a week after he got off work. Around the first of April, Dad would take a couple weeks off his regular job and work taxes every day. It was hard to make ends meet, and every little bit helped.
By the first of April, things were just crazy. Mom and Dad were both working full tilt, and the three of us kids were mostly unattended. Meals were quick and household cleanliness and laundry took a nosedive. I say that rather sheepishly, because I was old enough to have been much more help, but not mature enough to know it yet.
I don’t know anyone else who got presents for April 15. And maybe it only happened once; I’m not sure. But I know at least once, we all got presents for April 15, which was Mom & Dad’s way of thanking us for hanging in there through that very busy time.
During the San Antonio years, which started in 1967, Mom and Dad both did taxes for H&R Block. Dad was, by profession, an accountant. Mom had started as a math checker when we lived in Charleston. (Kind of hard to imagine in this day and age what a math checker did!) But in San Antonio, Mom took the tax preparers’ course at Block, and was soon doing taxes too, eventually serving as manager of the main office in San Antonio.
Mom worked every day and Dad would work about one night a week after he got off work. Around the first of April, Dad would take a couple weeks off his regular job and work taxes every day. It was hard to make ends meet, and every little bit helped.
By the first of April, things were just crazy. Mom and Dad were both working full tilt, and the three of us kids were mostly unattended. Meals were quick and household cleanliness and laundry took a nosedive. I say that rather sheepishly, because I was old enough to have been much more help, but not mature enough to know it yet.
I don’t know anyone else who got presents for April 15. And maybe it only happened once; I’m not sure. But I know at least once, we all got presents for April 15, which was Mom & Dad’s way of thanking us for hanging in there through that very busy time.
2 comments:
Oh how I remember!
love the stories!
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