Cherish family in any form
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, March 26, 2002
BY MARGERY STANWICK TIESSEN
I grew up in an Everett orphanage during the Depression era of the 1920s and 1930s.
An orphanage was an institution that housed homeless children until they were either adopted or old enough to care for themselves.
They say your home is your castle. My castle was the Parkland Lutheran Children’s Home. That’s where my brother and I lived from 1939 to 1943. Before that, we were raised in an orphanage in New Westminster, British Columbia, from 1933 to 1939.
I never knew my mother, because she abandoned us when I was 3 years old and my brother was 5. I grew up knowing my father, who was always there for us. He came to visit every weekend. When we got older, we were able to visit him at his apartment on weekends.
After the summer of 1943, I never returned to "the home." I was 12 going on 16. When you’re raised in an orphanage, you are never a child, just a young adult.
Parkland was a college before it became an orphanage. It was located high on a hill next to Forest Park zoo and playground. In those days, it was also a farm, with cows, chickens and gardens on several acres.
The huge four-story building had a basement with a kitchen, dining room, gymnasium, laundry and furnace. On the first floor were the office, library, reception area, auditorium and living quarters for the staff. On the second floor were the dormitories for the young boys and a nursery for the babies. On the third floor were the rooms for the girls and older boys.
What was it like living in an orphanage? Not any different than the way you live, except:
My family was my dad, brother and the children’s home — the only home I ever knew. You can’t miss what you never had.
I had good care, lots of love, excellent training for when I became an adult, and I was never lonely because I was never alone.
I now have three sons and five grandchildren. That’s all you have in this life: your family. Love and cherish them.
Margery Stanwick Tiessen has lived in Everett her entire life. She attended the old Jackson Elementary School, South Junior High School and graduated from Everett High School in 1949. The children’s home has been torn down.
