Of Mountains and Rivers
Mrs. Mabel’s story shared with Rachel Kvamme
Portland, OR
I had the pleasure of spending one Saturday morning in April 2009 getting to know Mrs. Mabel, a resident at Providence ElderPlace and an Oregon resident for almost all her life. In those few hours we spent together I learned many things about Mrs. Mabel – including her love of reading (especially books about history and real people), her years working at a beauty salon in downtown Portland (where she worked for a man who later became her father-in-law when she married his son, a dental technician), her Scottish and Irish roots, and her preference as a child to play football with the boys rather than staying in the kitchen “cookin’ biscuits” with her grandmother.
When Mrs. Mabel was born in 1926, Oregon had only been a state for 67 years. Though she was born in North Dakota, Mrs. Mabel’s family had moved to Boring, Oregon, by the time she started primary school. She lived with her mother, step-father and siblings (her biological father passed away when she was very young). At the age of 14, Mrs. Mabel and her family moved to Forest Grove, Oregon, where she attended Forest Grove Union High School, graduating in 1944. After graduation Mrs. Mabel moved to Portland and got a job as a hairdresser at The Master Wave Beauty Salon, which was located downtown on SW 5th & Washington. The owner of the salon introduced her to his son and in 1948, when Mrs. Mabel was 21, they were married. [Interestingly, they got married on Oregon’s 89th Anniversary - February 14, 1948 - though I somehow doubt that had much to do with their decision to marry on that day].
At age 22, Mrs. Mabel had her first son. At age 33, she had her second son. Though 11 years apart, she says her sons were very close. Tragically, Mrs. Mabel’s husband was killed in one war when he was just 39 and she later lost her eldest son to the Vietnam War. After her husband’s death, Mrs. Mabel worked very hard to raise her two sons as a single mother, telling herself, “Get up out of this bed and take care of these boys because you have to do that. You can’t sit there and feel sorry for yourself. It was lucky that I had a profession because a lot of people don’t have anything to turn to.” She worked for 15 years at her father-in-law’s salon and then switched to working as a receptionist (after tiring of hairdressing) at a salon in Washington Square, where she worked until she retired at age 65. In retirement, Mrs. Mabel worked as a volunteer for a few years in the cafeteria at Portland’s Centennial Middle School, endearingly referred to as “The Taco Lady” by some of the students.
When asked what her favorite things about Oregon are, Mrs. Mabel replied, “I like the mountains and the rivers and the scenery here. I think it’s a beautiful place to live. It’s a beautiful state all over. It really is. We have everything – we have the rivers and the forests and the ocean. Ooh, the ocean is beautiful.” Each year, Providence Elderplace organizes a trip out to the Oregon Coast for its residents. Mrs. Mabel had to miss this year because of a conflicting doctor’s appointment but says she fully intends on attending next year.
When telling me how things just don’t seem to be as safe as they used to be and how she usually regrets reading the newspaper because it’s filled with sad stories, Mrs. Mabel perked up when she told me that the one thing she loves to read about in the paper is news about the Portland Trailblazers, whom she’s been a fan of for “forever and a day,” and vividly remembers when they won the Championship in 1977 (“That was a REAL big thing”). Her favorite player used to be Clive Drexler but these days she likes Brandon Roy.
Ms. Mabel is one of 3,790,060 Oregon residents. From the bits and pieces of her life I was able to gather during our time together, it is clear to me that this woman is a shining example of the ordinary, but extraordinary, lives of those living in our state. Mrs. Mabel showed me that she is resilient, self-reliant, and funny (telling me, “You have to have a sense of humor. If you lose that, you lose everything”). She appreciates the natural beauty of her environment and is a die-hard fan of her city’s basketball team. Losing her husband and eldest son was devastating, but it has made the relationships she has with her youngest son and his family (her daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter) all the more valued and appreciated.
