Doris's Talents

Mom had her own band at the age of 16. She could sing, whistle, play the saxophone and the drums. She wrote music as well as stories. Her pen name was Jade Greene. I have copies of original music. She was a saleswoman and had a business of Christmas cards, all occasion cards and gifts. Boxes full of gifts were either piled in our '55 pale green Chevy to make house calls or against the wall in our tiny living room. If we wanted to earn money we'd sell a box of cards for $1.00 or $1.25 and make a quarter. This was good money considering a candy bar was 5 cents. She also earned money as a professional clown and we'd walk with her in parades in downtown Vallejo. I remember pushing a doll buggy with a sponsor's name on the side. Mom painted house interiors and cleaned homes as well. Her bedroom was painted chartreuse and she let us paint ours flamingo red.