Balancing

I wrote earlier that my Mom spent a lot of time on the telephone, talking with patients. I'm not surprised that we have dozens of photos of my Mom chatting on the phone.

Mom usually knitted when she spoke with patients. She kept a phone rest on her shoulder so that she'd have both hands free.

This photo is a little different from the others because not only is Mom balancing her knitting—and a two-color project, at that—on her lap, but she's also managing the non-stop motion machine that is a pet hamster.

Suburban Chicago, April 1964. Mom's on the phone, and she's sitting in the master bedroom chair. It was an ugly chair with blue, floral upholstery and a gilded frame. Mom's in her "stay-at-home" clothes, namely, a simple, paisley blouse and a pencil skirt.