Mama's Bank Account
(1)
I am Katrin. When I was a child, all my family lived in a small house
in San Francisco. My family members were Mama, Papa, my elder brother
Nels, my younger sisters Christine and Dagmar, and I. We were
immigrants from Norway.
I remember that every Saturday night Papa brought home a little
envelope with his pay in it. Mama would sit down by the kitchen table
with a serious look. She was counting it out. There would be several
piles of coins on the table.
"These are the rent," Mama would say, and set aside a big pile of coins.
"For the grocer." She set aside another pile of coins. "For Katrin's shoes,"
and Mama counted out the coins. "I'll need a notebook this week." Nels
said, and Mama put aside a ten-cent coin. At last, Papa would ask, "Is
that all?" Mama would nod and say, "That's good. We don't have to go
to the bank to withdraw money."
