Kari, almost five, and Lori, almost three, were excited about Christmas. Paul and I had planned to purchase each of them a nice doll, and the C & P Hardware store had a lovely display from which certainly anyone might select their favorite. Kari knew exactly what she wanted…a “Toodles” baby doll. [...]

My mother did not sew…at all. If we needed an alteration, Mrs. Norlin, our crusty but industrious Norwegian neighbor, would come to the rescue. But we had a sewing machine - Grandma Olander’s treadle. The machine stood next to our Philco radio in the dining room. It intrigued me, and I think [...]

When my girlfriends begin lamenting the loss of the “good old days” when our kids were toddlers, and we had total control, they are actually being a bit delusional. My recollections in those pre-Pamper” days still make my head swirl. My world revolved around a stinky diaper pail and three dozen cotton [...]

We rented the Hernsmeier farmhouse on Cottage Grove Road in the early 1960’s. Paul, the handsome young teacher and coach at Monona Grove, left his stay-at-home wife and little daughters for work Monday through Friday. But when the weekend arrived, the itinerary changed a bit. I had a few hours opportunity to [...]

As they aged, my mom and her older sister Anna began to show a close physical resemblance.  Growing up, the three sisters - Anna, Esther and Dorothy (my mom) had distinctive individual appearances. Anna, the eldest, lived in a lovely home in Wahoo, Nebraska, married a Swede and was very active in [...]

Mary Lou Lewis, Shirley Perau and I were all seniors looking forward to graduation from Osage High School, May 1954. Chatting, we discovered we each had sixth period open our last semester, and investigating options, discovered there weren’t any - we’d be in study hall. But then we discovered a possibility - [...]

Paul and I married June 18, 1955 - he was a senior at Luther College, I was a sophomore. We spent our wedding money on tuition, plus Paul worked for Jacobson Bros. Construction summers and Saturdays. I cleaned dormitory rooms that first summer. We rented the basement apartment on North Street for [...]

Remember “Mr. Ed’s” theme song? After we moved to the country in 1967, Kari became envious of her new friend Leslie’s horsemanship. She began a campaign to own her own horse. We owned one acre, certainly not enough space for such but Paul talked to Warren Bass, who owned the undeveloped land [...]

Curious, four-year-old Jonathan found some interesting objects in the bathroom wastebasket. He showed them to his father, who recognized the tubular compressed paper tampon holders, but for who-knows-what-reason thought of a project the two of them might undertake. “Would you like to make a Christmas present for Mom out of these?  I [...]

So exciting...we were going to have Christmas in our own house!  After twelve years of renting, we’d become homeowners November 1, 1967! I don’t remember what gifts we’d purchased for the girls or for one-year-old Jon, but I do remember five-year-old Chris’ gift.  Paul and I both agreed he’d love a coaster [...]